{"id":4271,"date":"2024-12-13T15:01:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T20:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4271"},"modified":"2024-12-13T15:01:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T20:01:35","slug":"o-little-town-of-bethlehem-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/13\/o-little-town-of-bethlehem-2\/","title":{"rendered":"O Little Town of Bethlehem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

The Episcopal vicar Phillips Brooks was moved by his visit to the village of Bethlehem in 1865 \u2013 the same year America\u2019s Civil War finally ground to a halt.

Standing in the traditional Field of the Shepherds, he watched the shadows of night fall upon the ancient streets.

Three years later he transformed his memories into four verses that became O Little Town of Bethlehem.<\/em>

Brooks asked his church organist, Lewis Redner, to write a tune simple enough for Sunday School kids to sing.\u00a0He even promised Redner that if the tune were any good he would give it the formal name \u201cSt. Lewis.\u201d

The organist had no compelling ideas until the night before the service in which the song was supposed to debut. Awaking from a deep sleep, he scribbled the familiar notes.\u00a0Then he fell back to sleep without even sounding them out.\u00a0

Brooks loved the melody so much that he kept his promise.\u00a0But as a concession to Redner\u2019s humility, he christened the tune \u201cSt. Louis\u201d instead of \u201cSt. Lewis.\u201d

With its lilting, peaceful phrases, O Little Town of Bethlehem <\/em>is one of the gentlest of all the traditional carols.

But let\u2019s do a reality check.\u00a0Would it really have been accurate to say of Bethlehem, when Jesus was born, \u201chow still we see thee lie\u201d?

Bethlehem was not a peaceful place when Jesus came into the world.\u00a0That\u2019s because of Herod the Great, who had ruled Judea for almost 40 years.

Herod was a monster.\u00a0He had either 10 or 11 wives (apparently it\u2019s possible to lose count), and in a suspicious rage executed the only one he really loved.\u00a0He also ordered the violent deaths of one of his mothers-in-law, two brothers-in-law, two of his sons, and even his old barber, who had quietly spoken up on behalf of the boys.

Caesar Augustus once said, with disgust:\u00a0\u201cIt is better to be Herod\u2019s pig [ous<\/em> in Greek] than Herod\u2019s son [huios<\/em>].\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s an excellent pun, not only because the words sound so much alike, but because the emperor figured that since Herod had Jewish roots, a pig was more likely to avoid slaughter than his own children.

Ethnically, Herod was half-Jewish and half-pagan. The Jews despised his pagan pedigree, while the Romans disdained his Jewishness. His life and thus his reign were overshadowed by insecurity.

That\u2019s why Herod didn\u2019t spare the children of other people, either.\u00a0We know from the Gospel of Matthew that he was so paranoid about reports that a new \u201cking of Israel\u201d had been born in Bethlehem that he ordered the extermination of every male infant in the vicinity.

No one has yet written a Christmas carol about the Slaughter of the Innocents.\u00a0But that tragedy looms in the background of the Messiah\u2019s arrival in the world.

In his book Who Is This Man? <\/em>John Ortberg writes, concerning Jesus: \u201cHe entered the world with no dignity. He would have been known as a mamzer<\/em>, a child whose parents were not married.\u00a0All languages have a word for mamzer<\/em>, and all of them are ugly.

\u201cHis cradle was a feeding trough. His nursery mates had four legs.\u00a0He was wrapped in rags.\u00a0He was born in a cave, targeted for death, raised on the run.\u201d\u00a0Just as families today are fleeing murderers in Sudan, the Congo, and Sierra Leone, Jesus\u2019 family fled a murderous head of state under cover of darkness.

The end of Brooks\u2019 first verse is powerful:\u00a0\u201cthe hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.\u201d\u00a0

In every age, in every place, in every heart, there are reasons to be afraid.\u00a0But when hopes and fears intersect in the person of Jesus, hope wins.\u00a0

Every December this carol reminds us that even in a scary world that can break our hearts, \u201cwhere meek souls will receive him still,\u201d God offers his gift of peace:

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!\u00a0Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.<\/em>
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.<\/em>

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.<\/em>
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.<\/em>

O holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.<\/em>
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.<\/em>

Here\u2019s a quiet version<\/a> by Reawaken Hymns of a carol that helps us remember that the true Light shines.

Even when the world feels dark.
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here The Episcopal vicar Phillips Brooks was moved by his visit to the village of Bethlehem in 1865 \u2013 the same year America\u2019s Civil War finally ground to a halt. Standing in the traditional Field of the Shepherds, he watched the shadows of night fall upon the ancient streets. Three years later… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,842],"class_list":["post-4271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas-carols","tag-herod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4271"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4273,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4271\/revisions\/4273"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}