The Suburban Times

A community bulletin board for Western Pierce County.

  • Home
  • To Know
  • To Do
  • To Ponder
  • Obituaries
  • Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • More
    • Share your story
    • Submit an Event
    • Contact

Letter: Hanging up the harp at thoughts of home

December 19, 2018 By David Anderson

‘The back-eddies of the flowing river reflected our tears, the drooping willows – on which we hung our harps – matched our spirits,’ describes the Israeli captives in Babylon of ancient history as they thought of home.

What is it about the fireside hearth of home, especially at this holiday time of year, that brings tears brimming like the incessant rain, causes the shoulders to droop like cherry blossoms in the spring (even beautiful trees as these are said to weep), and how is it the sound of carols are drowned of peace on earth, good will to men?

An empty place at the table, a missing child from the cradle, all pieces in place but one, forever lost, in the traditional holiday pastime puzzle.

Emptiness.

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”, the words penned on Christmas Day, 1863, issued from a broken heart. 

“In 1861, two years before writing this poem, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s personal peace was shaken when his second wife of 18 years, to whom he was very devoted, was tragically burned in a fire.  Then in 1863, during the American Civil War, Longfellow’s oldest son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, joined the Union cause as a soldier without his father’s blessing.”

He would be seriously wounded, and would recover, but with that as an emotional background Longfellow wrote, “hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth good will to men.”

Ironically, the long-ways-from-home Israelis were mocked by their captors to sing one of their songs of home.

They refused.  And instead hung their harps from the branches of the drooping willows, their tears dropping into the stream, mixing with the back-eddies, carried away by the flowing water.

Perhaps therein is our answer for how to handle grief.

Go ahead and cry.

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Comments

  1. David Anderson says

    December 21, 2018 at 12:15 pm

    www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-grieving-people-wish-you-knew-at-christmas?fbclid=IwAR32uwWhb-DhLhPR_sJWaMME48bFfACrO4BlC8LyxDVQUEPAxON0q3k3nFQ

    An excerpt:

    “Tears do not reflect a lack of faith. Tears are a gift from God that help to wash away the deep pain of loss.”

Top Stories

  • COVID in Lakewood
    COVID in Lakewood
  • Obituary Notices - February 23, 2021
    Obituary Notices - February 23, 2021
  • A Search for Office Chairs
    A Search for Office Chairs
  • 103 new Pierce County COVID-19 cases, 5 new deaths confirmed Feb. 22
    103 new Pierce County COVID-19 cases, 5 new deaths confirmed Feb. 22
  • Update on Attorney General’s Office review of Manuel Ellis’ death
    Update on Attorney General’s Office review of Manuel Ellis’ death

Become a better informed citizen.

Join over 30,000 readers each month and get real-local news and information direct to your inbox, Monday-Saturday.


Recent Comments

  • Jaynie Dillon Jones on A Search for Office Chairs
  • Scooter on The Long Song – Slavery and Beyond – PBS Series Review
  • steve on A Search for Office Chairs
  • steve on COVID in Lakewood
  • Mary Clare Benson on A Search for Office Chairs

Contact Us

The Suburban Times
P.O. Box 39099
Lakewood, WA 98496

Ben Sclair, Publisher
253-312-1804

Stephen Neufeld, Marketing Executive
stephen@thesubtimes.com

Copyright © 2021 The Suburban Times • Log in • Privacy Policy

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.