Henry Van Dyke - The Spirit of Christmas

It was the hour of rest in the Country Beyond the Stars. All thesilver bells that swing with the turning of the great ring of lightwhich lies around that land were softly chiming; and the sound oftheir commotion went down like dew upon the golden ways of the city,and the long alleys of blossoming trees, and the meadows of asphodel,and the curving shores of the River of Life.

At the hearing of that chime, all the angels who had been workingturned to play, and all who had been playing gave themselves joyfullyto work. Those who had been singing, and making melody on differentinstruments, fell silent and began to listen. Those who had beenwalking alone in meditation met together in companies to talk. Andthose who had been far away on errands to the Earth and other planetscame homeward like a flight of swallows to the high cliff when the dayis over.

It was not that they needed to be restored from weariness, for theinhabitants of that country never say, "I am tired." But there, ashere, the law of change is the secret of happiness, and the joy thatnever ends is woven of mingled strands of labour and repose, societyand solitude, music and silence. Sleep comes to them not as it does tous, with a darkening of the vision and a folding of the wings of thespirit, but with an opening of the eyes to deeper and fuller light,and with an effortless outgoing of the soul upon broader currentsof life, as the sun-loving bird poises and circles upward, without awing-beat, on the upholding air.

It was in one of the quiet corners of the green valley calledPeacefield, where the little brook of Brighthopes runs smoothly downto join the River of Life, that I saw a company of angels, returnedfrom various labours on Earth, sitting in friendly converse on thehill-side, where cyclamens and arbutus and violets and fringed orchidsand pale lady's-tresses, and all the sweet-smelling flowers which areseparated in the lower world by the seasons, were thrown together ina harmony of fragrance. There were three of the company who seemedto be leaders, distinguished not only by more radiant and powerfullooks, but by a tone of authority in their speech and by the willingattention with which the others listened to them, as they talkedof their earthly tasks, of the tangles and troubles, the wars andmiseries that they had seen among men, and of the best way to get ridof them and bring sorrow to an end.

"The Earth is full of oppression and unrighteousness," said thetallest and most powerful of the angels. His voice was deep andstrong, and by his shining armour and the long two-handed swordhanging over his shoulder I knew that he was the archangel Michael,the mightiest one among the warriors of the King, and the executorof the divine judgments upon the unjust. "The Earth is tormented withinjustice," he cried, "and the great misery that I have seen amongmen is that the evil hand is often stronger than the good hand and canbeat it down.

"The arm of the cruel is heavier than the arm of the kind. The unjustget the better of the just and tread on them. I have seen tyrant kingscrush their helpless folk. I have seen the fields of the innocenttrampled into bloody ruin by the feet of conquering armies. I haveseen the wicked nation overcome the peoples that loved liberty, andtake away their treasure by force of arms. I have seen poverty mockedby arrogant wealth, and purity deflowered by brute violence, andgentleness and fair-dealing bruised in the winepress of iniquity andpride.

"There is no cure for this evil, but by the giving of greater force tothe good hand. The righteous cause must be strengthened with might toresist the wicked, to defend the helpless, to punish all cruelty andunfairness, to uphold the right everywhere, and to enforce justicewith unconquerable arms. Oh, that the host of Heaven might be called,arrayed, and sent to mingle in the wars of men, to make the goodvictorious, to destroy all evil, and to make the will of the Kingprevail!

"We would shake down the thrones of tyrants, and loose the bands ofthe oppressed. We would hold the cruel and violent with the bit offear, and drive the greedy and fierce-minded men with the whip ofterror. We would stand guard, with weapons drawn, about the innocent,the gentle, the kind, and keep the peace of God with the sword of theangels!"

As he spoke, his hands were lifted to the hilt of his long blade, andhe raised it above him, straight and shining, throwing sparkles oflight around it, like the spray from the sharp prow of a moving ship.Bright flames of heavenly ardour leaped in the eyes of the listeningangels; a martial air passed over their faces as if they longed forthe call to war.

But no silver trumpet blared from the battlements of the City of God;no crimson flag was unfurled on those high, secret walls; no thrillingdrum-beat echoed over the smooth meadow. Only the sound of the brookof Brighthopes was heard tinkling and murmuring among the roots of thegrasses and flowers; and far off a cadence of song drifted down fromthe inner courts of the Palace of the King.

Then another angel began to speak, and made answer to Michael. He,too, was tall and wore the look of power. But it was power of themind rather than of the hand. His face was clear and glistening, andhis eyes were lit with a steady flame which neither leaped nor fell.Of flame also were his garments, which clung about him as the fireenwraps a torch burning where there is no wind; and his great wings,spiring to a point far above his head, were like a living lamp beforethe altar of the Most High. By this sign I knew that it was thearchangel Uriel, the spirit of the Sun, clearest in vision, deepestin wisdom of all the spirits that surround the throne.

"I hold not the same thought," said he, "as the great archangelMichael; nor, though I desire the same end which he desires, would Iseek it by the same way. For I know how often power has been given tothe good, and how often it has been turned aside and used for evil.I know that the host of Heaven, and the very stars in their courses,have fought on the side of a favoured nation; yet pride has followedtriumph and oppression has been the first-born child of victory.I know that the deliverers of the people have become tyrants overthose whom they have set free, and the fighters for liberty have beenchanged into the soldiers of fortune. Power corrupts itself, and mightcannot save.

"Does not the Prince Michael remember how the angel of the Lord ledthe armies of Israel, and gave them the battle against every foe,except the enemy within the camp? And how they robbed and crushedthe peoples against whom they had fought for freedom? And how thewickedness of the tribes of Canaan survived their conquest andovercame their conquerors, so that the children of Israel learned toworship the idols of their enemies, Moloch, and Baal, and Ashtoreth?

"Power corrupts itself, and might cannot save. Was not Persia thedestroyer of Babylon, and did not the tyranny of Persia cry aloud fordestruction? Did not Rome break the yoke of the East, and does not theyoke of Rome lie heavy on the shoulders of the world? Listen!"