Thursday, December 15, 2011

Ring the Bells

I'm happy I joined in the December photo challenge over at Susan's blog. My brain is swimming these days and the photo prompt gives me a jumping off place for a blog post. Today's prompt is 'silver bells' and instead of a photograph I'm sharing a video. If you've never heard Casting Crowns version of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day then you've missed something beautiful.

The words to this old hymn were originally a poem written by Longfellow following a serious injury to his son and the tragic death of his wife. As the story goes, the Civil War had started and that, combined with his personal tragedies, made him wonder if he'd ever know peace again. On Christmas Eve, 1863 he sat down to write a poem. As he listened to the bells ringing over and over again he recognized that God isn't dead, that as long as there is Christmas there is the promise of new life. You can read more about the history of the carol here.

I love the old hymns and in general don't like them messed with but this is one I think has been made better by a haunting melody and Casting Crowns beautiful clear sound.

13 comments:

  1. Love that song and their rendition of it! Gives me goosebumps! I just found you on Pinterest...YAY!

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  2. Casting Crowns version is my absolutely favorite rendition of this song. Thanks for sharing! The challenge HAS been fun hasn't it? :) Tomorrow's will be a tough one though. :?

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  3. I *LOVE* this! Blessings - and thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  4. HAHAHAHA!!!!! We have the exact same song in our posts. I chose a different video, but the same Casting Crowns song. Too funny. So glad you are playing along in the challenge. Have a great day. Blessings, SusanD

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  5. Casting Crowns is one of my favorite groups, along with Mercy Me. This is a beautiful song. I didn't know it came from Henry Longfellow. I remember studying his poems in high school, but don't remember this one. I must admit, high school was over 20 years ago and my memory is probably failing at this point.... ;-)

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  6. I love their rendition of that sweet Christmas carol. I'm not normally a fan of the re-done classics, but they did such a sweet job on that.

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  7. What a beautiful version of this wonderful carol. Thank you for sharing.

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  8. I've never heard this version of that song. In fact I didn't realize the song was an old hymn. This version is different from what I'm accustomed to hearing, but beautiful.

    Lee
    A to Z stories starting 12/12 and the official A to Z Badge is now revealed
    Blogging from A to Z

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  9. What a sad story behind that hymn. I do like the rendition better than the original though!

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  10. Beautiful....thanks for sharing! Have a wonderful day!

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  11. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful piece of music. I absolutely love Casting Crown's version. Can't he belt one out?!

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  12. I love Casting Crowns & that song!! :)

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  13. Joyce it is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing this video.

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