COVID CANNOT DIM THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS!
This holiday season is unique to all other
Christmas seasons in that we cannot gather as friends and family around a
beautifully lit Christmas tree surrounded by an abundance of brightly wrapped
gifts. This is a season of no church
gatherings to hear to Scriptures telling the birth of Jesus or foregoing any
other social contacts, normal for the season for fear of contracting the deadly
Covid virus which has, in one year, topped many of the death rates from the wars
and other diseases combined.
It is because many restrictions
surrounding this holiday season that has caused great depression and anxiety in
a normally happy and festive season of cheer and good will towards men.
In order to find some happiness amid the somber tone of this Christmas season, the many carols of Christmas have brought me smiles and a peacefulness I thought was not to be found. One of my favorite Christmas songs is “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” as played so beautifully by the late Virgil Fox on the Royal Albert Hall organ with chimes accompanying the melody.
This song, above all others, gives the listener the true meaning of the Christmas season as you read the lyrics of the song. Wanting to know who wrote this song and why I delved into the history of the carol as compiled by Ace Collins and learned the following about the author, Phillips Brooks:
On December 24, 1865, Phillips Brooks was
a half a world away from his home and feeling like an older man than his thirty
years. He was already recognized as one of the most dynamic Christian voices in
America. Only six years into his ministry, Brooks was called upon in May to give
the funeral message over President Abraham Lincoln’s body.
That solemn honor, in tandem with leading the congregation of
Philadelphia’s Holy Trinity Church through the bloody years of the Civil War,
had taken a great toll on him. Needing a spiritual rebirth, he took a sabbatical
to tour the Middle East.
On Christmas Eve in Jerusalem,
Brooks felt an urge to get away from the throngs of other pilgrims who had
journeyed to the Holy Land for the holidays.
After a warning he might encounter thieves, he borrowed a horse and set
out across the desolate and unforgiving countryside. Being alone with only his
horse he had many peaceful hours with his thoughts as he studied a land which
had changed little since the days of Paul and Timothy. December 24th
was a wonderful time for prayer and meditation for the weary minister.
As dusk approached, a sudden sense of awe fell over Brooks. Under a clear sky, the first stars beginning to emerge, he rode into the still tiny and remote village of Bethlehem. He recalled the story of the birth of his Savior, and by being present in the place in which Jesus was born
Add to was able vivid detail to the
familiar tale in Scripture. The
renowned speaker was all but speechless as he considered the heavenly King born
in such modest surroundings. On the streets almost unchanged since biblical
times Brooks felt as if he were surrounded by the spirit of the first Christmas.
He was so overpowered by his experience he told family and friends it
would forever be “singing in my soul.”
Like the path from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, Phillips Brooks’ life had
been rocky and winding. At age 22,
the Harvard graduate was a struggling teacher at Boston’s Latin School. Being
an expert of the subject, he found it nearly impossible to teach because his
students wouldn’t devote the effort Brooks felt necessary to master the
course. In grave frustration, he gave up.
Lacking in faith, the young man turned to
prayer and Bible study hoping to find a place for himself in the world. Unsure
of his future, he entered the Episcopal Theological Seminary and began pastoral
studies. Graduating in 1859, he
began his ministry in Philadelphia.
What Phillips Brooks lacked in the classroom, he made up for it in the pulpit. His messages were powerful and dramatic. He became so popular he was asked in 1861 to lead the congregation of the Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia. Hardly unpacking only his Bible he contacted well-known real estate agent Lewis Redner and convinced him to serve as superintendent of the Sunday school and organist at Trinity. Within a year, thanks to
Brooks’ preaching and Redner’s music,
services were filled to overflowing and a thousand children attended Sunday
school each week. Over the next few years the attendance numbers continued to
grow.
As the church grew and his fame spread across the country, Brooks was
growing physically and spiritually tired. By 1863 the Civil War had taken a
great toll and the national spirit was dying as quickly as the soldiers on the
battlefield. Everyone in the church knew of someone injured or killed in battle.
While the preacher tried to fight it, darkness fell over every facet of
the services. The congregation
looked to Brooks to be inspirational and believe the good things they had once
known in life would once again be theirs. They wanted to war to end and trying
to make a valiant effort, Brooks could not give his flock what the needed
most…..peace.
With the war’s
end Brooks hoped the sweetness of life and restoration of the soul would return
to his congregation.
It was difficult for Brooks to relate to
his congregation his incredible experience of walking where Jesus walked. His
great oratory skills failed him in his ability to share the stirring imagery,
leaving him frustrated.
Thinking back to his trip and what he experienced, he wrote in his
journal: “Before dark we rode out of town to the field where they say the
shepherds saw the star. It is a fenced piece of ground with a cave in it where
they put the shepherds. Somewhere in
those fields we rode through, the shepherds must have been.
As we passed, the shepherds were still keeping watch over their flocks.
I was standing in the old church in
Bethlehem, close to where Jesus was born, when the whole church was ringing hour
after hour with the splendid hymns of praise the God. It seemed as if I could
hear voices I know well, telling each other of the Savior’s birth.”
When the holiday season of 1868 approached Brooks began thinking of once
again riding into Bethlehem at dusk and the church service that followed.
Instead of writing it out as a story, he simply relived the experience,
jotting down lines that floated in his head which took the form of a poem. When
he finished he shared it with Lewis Redner.
Redner understood the power of what
Brooks had experienced and the organist tried to compose music to accompany the
poem. After struggling for hours, unable to compose a majestic rhapsody to
convey the preacher’s words, Redner went to bed on December 24th,
admitting defeat in his attempts.
Tossing and turning in his bed for hours
and finally falling asleep, he woke suddenly with an unadorned and
straightforward tune in his head. The tune which came to him in his slumber fit
Brooks’ words perfectly, as if blessed by God himself.
On Christmas morning, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was complete.
Over the years the song was a Philadelphia favorite. In 1874 William
Huntington published Brooks’ impressions with Redner’s
music and by the time of Brooks’ death in 1893, “O Little Town of
Bethlehem” had become one of the most beloved Christmas carols in the world.