The nation is grappling with tragedy this holiday season, just as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow dealt with tragedies during Christmas seasons long ago that elicited his famous “Christmas Bells” poem. The poem concludes with a renewed hope for peace among mankind, a feeling that undoubtedly permeates the nation after the horrific events at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. We continue to keep the families and community of Newtown in our thoughts and prayers, and have put together a list of resources to help parents, schools, and children cope with this tragedy.
I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men! 
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
