Best Wishes This Holiday Season

I am going to take some time off over the holidays, and so I will likely not be providing any posts over the next week or so. It is time for a break. I offer this link to my favorite rendition of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” by Casting Crowns: Casting Crowns – I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day Live

The song is based on a Civil War era poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow wrote this poem on Christmas Day 1864 after suffering two devastating personal tragedies – his wife’s death in a fire and his son’s severe wounding in the Civil War. The poem reflects a deep melancholy about the state of the world, but at the same time offers hope. We are reminded that “God is not dead, nor does He sleep.”

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with hope!