December12, 2024 - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, December 12.
It’s less than two weeks to Christmas! And we continue today with our two-week series “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. This morning we’ll explore the story behind the favorite American-made carol.
Phillips Brooks was a giant of a man - six foot six, 300 pounds. In 1865, he was the 29-year-old pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia, and was considered one of the finest preachers in the country. He brought the sermon at Abraham Lincoln’s funeral. But, more than anything else, Brooks enjoyed being a pastor. And he was never happier than when sitting cross-legged on the floor of a children’s Sunday School room, letting the laughing kids of his church crawl all over him!
But the stress of guiding his church through the Civil War years had taken a toll on the young pastor. Being a shepherd during times of crisis can do that to a man. At the end of 1865, the leaders of Brooks’ church, and his doctor, urged him to take a break, and he made plans to journey to the Holy Land. On Christmas Eve he found himself in Jerusalem, and decided to ride on horseback to Bethlehem. It’s only six miles away. At dusk he came over the top of a hill, and there, laid out before him, was the little town, looking much as it had on the first Christmas night. It was a moment that took his breath away, a moment he would never forget. On returning to Philadelphia, he was inspired to write a Christmas poem for the children of his church, a poem that was soon set to music, and has become the favorite American carol.
Bethlehem today looks nothing like it did in the 1st Century. When you drive there from Jerusalem, you must pass through several military checkpoints, and the city is surrounded by a 20-foot wall. It gives the impression of an armed camp. It looks very much like a prison. It is a place of conflict, and tension, and danger. The angel’s message to the shepherds - peace on earth - can only faintly be heard there now. But when we sing Phillips Brooks’ carol, the little song that he wrote for the children of his church, it gives us a glimpse of the Bethlehem of the past. And it gives us a glimmer of hope for the future.
O little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
