Between the ringing of bells and the musical
clang of chimes
I hear a sound like the breaking of chains, all through these
Christmas times.
For the thought of the world is waking out of a slumber deep and
long,
And the race is beginning to understand how Right can master
Wrong.
And the eyes of the world are opening wide, and
great are the truths they see;
And the heart of the world is singing a song, and its burden is
‘Be free!’
Now the thought of the world and the wish of the world and the
song of the world will make
A force so strong that the fetters forged for a million years
must break.
p.
93Fetters of superstitious fear have bound the race to
creeds
That hindered the upward march of man to the larger faith he
needs.
Fetters of greed and pride have made the race bow down to
kings;
But the pompous creed and the costly throne must yield to simpler
things.
The thought of the world has climbed above old
paths for centuries trod;
And cloth and crown no longer mean the ‘vested power of
God.’
The race no longer bends beneath the weight of Adam’s
sin,
But stands erect and knows itself the Maker’s first of
kin.
And the need of the world and the wish of the
world and the song of the world I hear,
All through the clanging and clashing of bells, this Christmas
time o’ the year;
And I hear a sound like the breaking of chains, and it seems to
say to me,
In the voice of One who spoke of old, ‘The Truth shall make
men free.’
All books are sourced from Project Gutenberg