I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY

Today, I want to talk about the song “I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day”. I'm sure you've heard the song. And you've also probably noticed that it doesn't quite have the happy tone that a lot of other songs do. 

Originally a Poem

The words for that song were written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the famous poet.  And he actually wrote it on Christmas Day, 1863. What led him to write such a sad song? 

Well, two years before he lost his wife of 18 years in an accidental fire in which she was burned to death. This was also about the same time that the American Civil War was cranking up. And I can't imagine that that was a very happy time either.

Fast forward to 1863. His son decides to enlist in the Union Army and didn't even tell his father. Longfellow eventually finds out and of course, as a father, he was definitely worried about his son’s safety. It turns out it was with good reason. In November of 1863, his son was severely wounded in battle. But he did return home.

Christmas Day, 1863

On Christmas Day, 1863,  Longfellow is sitting there imagining those Christmas days past when you would hear the church bells ringing in celebration. He likely did not really want to hear them that day with his wife gone for two years, he son severley wounded, and the Civil War raging on. It just didn't seem to make sense.

He ultimately wrote seven verses. A couple of those, ones you don't generally hear, are very specific about the Civil War. I recommend you look it up online and read all of those verses because there's some really powerful imagery in it. 

Ultimately, he was trying to grapple with it, and reconcile the happiness typically associated with the holiday with the sadness and despair all around him.

Many Still Struggle

There are others who are dealing with this even today. You may see people who don't seem to really get into the spirit of holidays or just don't seem to be happy about things. 

One thing you don't want to do is say, “Come on, Scrooge, lighten up, enjoy the holidays!” Because you don't know what they're dealing with inside. It could be a past trauma or memory that Christmas triggers. 

What we can do is we go about and celebrate the holiday the best that we can. Show our enjoyment of it. Hopefully some of that good cheer will lift the spirits  of those who are really struggling. 

But just make sure that you don't needle or press people into enjoying the holiday.

Because, for some, it's a tough thing to do and it's best to really be supportive of people in any which way that they're coming to this holiday.

Let's not make it worse for them, let's try to make things better. 

We NEED Christmas. Have a great day.

THE PICKLE

We need Christmas. Today, I want to talk about the tradition of the pickle. You know what I'm talking about. Some people actually take a pickle ornament and it gets hidden in the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. 

The Pickle Tradition

Then Christmas morning, the first thing people do is try to see who can be the first to find that Christmas pickle.  In some cases, they get a special present from Santa. In others, it just gives them good luck and good health for the coming year. It's a great tradition. I used to even do it myself at times. 

Is it REALLY and old German Tradition

But where did it come from? Well, you'll often hear that it was an old German tradition, and it kind of came over from that. But here's the thing. When you start researching, you find out there's really no evidence that it was an old German tradition. In fact, there's two origin stories that kind of pop. 

The Union POW

One story comes from the Civil War. It is said a Union soldier who was originally born in Germany was in a prisoner of war camp and he was starving.  So he begged the guard to give him just a single pickle to get him through the night on Christmas Eve. And he credited that pickle with saving his life. So he would then make that a part of the tradition every year at Christmas to remember that. 

A Marketing Ploy

The main story that people seem to come up with is that it actually grew out of a marketing campaign in the late 1800s.  Glass ornaments which resembled vegetables were getting really popular. So one major department store  wanted to market them. To do so, they created this story around the pickle ornament being an old German tradition.

Does it Matter?

That' last story is kind of  cynical. And even if it's true, does it matter?  Because this tradition has taken on so much more for people, right? Does it matter if it started as just a way for somebody to sell a bunch of ornaments? 

It has became part of family traditions, and what means most to those who practice it is keeping that tradition year in and year out. Keeping that tradition alive.

The Challenge

So even if you see this Christmas some traditions you don't understand, don't get, or  worse, see a cynical, negative or even evil origin of that tradition, I want you to look at it and think about it in terms of the people who celebrate it. Do they have that same opinion or that belief that you think is wrong about that? Or is it something different for them? 

If it's something different for them, then let them enjoy it for exactly what it is. 

And this is an idea that I'd like you, once we get past the "peace" of this season to keep in mind in the future on bigger issues. Because it may just help us extend the peace of Christmas.

Have a great day.