6th Day of Christmas: O Little Town of Bethlehem

Perhaps we could say that today's Christmas carol was written by a "one hit wonder." Although Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks was a prolific theological writer and great preacher of his day, I found no other record of him writing any other hymn besides "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

The carol was inspired by a trip Brooks took to Bethlehem in 1865. He rode on horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem were he attended the Christmas Eve celebration at the Church of the Nativity. It is said that this experience inspired him to write his thoughts down as a poem in 1867. Then a year later, in 1868, he took his poem to his church organist Lewis Redner who wrote the music. The new hymn was then preformed during the Christmas season that year by the children in the church's Sunday school classes.

The hymn itself paints a nice tranquil almost romantic picture of Bethlehem. I don't doubt that in 1865 that is the way Bethlehem appeared to Brooks, but one has to wonder if that was the case when Jesus was born? Did Bethlehem lie still? Or was it more likely that with all the people in town due to the census so that their was no room in the inn that the town had it's own 1st century hustle and bustle?

And I must add that Bethlehem today is anything but still and peaceful. Lying just inside the Palestinian border with Israel today, Bethlehem is often the scene of violent skirmishes. So the next time you sing this Christmas carol, lift up a prayer for the peace of Bethlehem.

(P.S. I read on Monday, December 31, that violence broke out in the Church of the Nativity this year. It was between two rival groups of priests. The church is controlled by several different branches of Christianity, each with its one space that they diligently guard. Apparently, on December 29 the church was being cleaned when an Armenian priest noticed that a Greek Orthodox monk's ladder was "across the line." This resulted in a full fledged fist fight! So another reason to pray for peace in Bethlehem.)

"O Little Town of Bethlehem"

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.

For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth!
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is giv'n!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heav'n.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him, still
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel.