O Little Town of Bethlehem is the carol that came to mind this morning. In 2009 on a pilgrimage to Israel, a phrase from this carol rang in my soul as I sat in a cave in the hills and fields outside of Bethlehem that could have been where Jesus was born. It is still an area of political tensions that I acutely felt during that visit - so much conflict, so much darkness, still so much in need of the Light of the World. ...yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting Light, the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight. Philipps Brooks wrote these words in 1868 for a Christmas Eve sunday school program, three years after a horseback ride from Jerusalem to Bethlehem for the Christmas Eve celebration at the Church of the Nativity. He asked the organist to set the words to music a week before Christmas. Redner said that he was busy with the Sunday School program, but woke up with the melody in his ears and wrote it down hastily. Neither one thought it would become the enduring carol that we sing today. Philipps, for all his ecclesiastical accomplishements, had the heart and soul of a child that found expression in his verses. What a beautiful gift he gave us in this balad style carol of the Christmas story. It seems fitting to hear it sung by a child...Connie Talbot: https://youtube/watch?v=PQoEwiOttYo An interesting read about Philipps Brooks (who later became the Episcopal Bishop of Trinity Church Boston, namesake for Brooks Academy, North Andover, Ma.) hymnsandcarolsofchristmas/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/o_little_town_of_bethlehem.htm
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 14:28:26 +0000
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