Devotional 12-6-11

"But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel." (Micah 5:2)

Hearing about Bethlehem is not the same as being a part of it. Reading about the birth of Jesus is not the same as worshiping in the Church of the Nativity on Christmas Eve. These thoughts may well have been what went through Phillips Brooks's mind after his visit to the Holy Land in 1865. When he returned to Philadelphia and his pastorate at Holy Trinity Church, the heartwarming memories never ceased.

Several years later when he wanted a new song of Christmas for the children to sing at church, he reached back for inspiration to his Holy Land visit. The poem he wrote in 1868 painted the sights and sounds of the little town he had visited. What came from his heart was a Christmas carol that has lived to become a world wide favorite, "O Little Town of Bethlehem".

Brooks asked the church organist, Lewis Redner, to compose a simple melody for it. But nothing seemed to fit the mood of the melancholy words. One night, during a fretful sleep, Redner thought he heard music. Immediately he wrote the melody just as we sing it today. "I think it was a gift from heaven," Mr. Redner joyfully admitted.

Phillips Brooks was a beloved and respected evangelist. Born in Boston in 1825, and educated at Harvard, he became the bishop of the Boston area Episcopal churches. This giant of a man, who stood six feet, six inches tall, also had a big heart that endeared him to young and old alike. When he died unexpectedly at age fifty-eight, his extended family was overwhelmed with grief.
A child put his death in perspective. When told by her mother that Bishop Brooks had gone to heaven, the little girl simply replied, "Oh Mama, how happy the angels will be!"

Our Lord Emmanuel, thank you for coming to us and abiding with us. Amen.

'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.'

Phillips Brooks, ca. 1868
52 Hymn Story Devotions by Lucy Neely Adams
Abingdon Press Nashville 2000

Kay Lewis