Christmas bells: they’re festive, they “jingle all the way”, they’re the “first gift of Christmas” in the modern classic The Polar Express. They’re the inspiration for Longfellow’s I heard the bells on Christmas Day, as church bells rang “peace on earth good will to men” while civil war ravaged our nation. It wasn’t till 400 AD that bells were first heard in churches as Paulinus of Nola introduced bells as part of church services. In the Bible Zechariah sees bells on victorious ceremonial horses inscribed with HOLY IS THE LORD. In Exodus 28 bells are attached to the hem of the High Priest robe so the sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will not die. And that’s the marvel of Christmas bells today; not announcing we’re coming to God but that God himself has come to us! EMMANUEL. And so may you, with each sounding of a bell, receive hope as Longfellow penned: Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men.” PK
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