How Silently, How Silently

You're Most Welcome!

The pineapple is the symbol of "welcome" in many places. Later today, *we* will welcome our friends to "Open House" at our home. This morning, I find myself thinking about what it means to hold "Open House", and about how the inn in Bethlehem was anything but "open" the night Jesus was born into this world.

"Open" is about "welcome", and about being receptive to visitors and events of the day. In some cases, "open" and "welcome" are both about "preparation", and I find my  "wonderings" including the asking of questions to myself about whether or not I work as diligently and as hard preparing for the arrival anew of Jesus into my heart and life as I have for the party today.


Hymn of the Day
"O Little Town of Bethlehem"


One of my favorite Christmas hymns is "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,

All praises sing to Christ the King and peace to men on earth

How silently, how silently the wondrous Gift is given.

So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven

No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Christ enters in.

Where children pure and happy pray to the blessed Child,

Where misery cries out to Thee, son of the mother mild,

Where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door,

The dark night wakes, the glory breaks and Christmas comes once more.

O, Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray.

Wipe out our sin and enter in. Be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angel the great glad tidings tell.

O come to us, abide in us, our Lord, Emmanuel!

The birth of this beloved Christmas carol was rather dramatic. Its appearance was as sudden as the announcement of the angelic host concerning the birth of Christ, to the Shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem. The seeds of the hymns were sown in 1865 on Christmas Eve in Bethlehem. Phillips Brooks, a noted Episcopal Bishop, who was often referred to as the “Prince of the Pulpit”, attended services in the ancient basilica, which was believed to have been built by the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century.

He was a young minister at the time, and the simple service made a permanent impression on his heart. Three years later while he was rector of Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia, at the request of the children in the Sunday School, he wrote a new Christmas carol. His trip to the Holy Land came back to his mind vividly, and he wrote the verses of this beautiful hymn. Thoughts of that little town of Bethlehem were so strong in his mind and heart that Brooks completed the entire hymn in just one evening.

The next day when Lewis Redner, organist and Sunday School Superintendent, came into Brooks’ study, his friend handed him the poem and asked him if he could write some music for it so it could be used during the Christmas season. Redner waited for inspiration but none came. On the night before Christmas, he woke up suddenly, in the middle of the night, with the melody of the song ringing in his ears. Grabbing a piece of paper, he wrote down the music that he heard so clearly in his mind, and went back to sleep. The following morning he harmonized the melody, and that same day the little children of Holy Trinity Church sang for the first time one of the most loved of all Christmas carols.

Brooks was born in Boston, MA, in 1835. After his graduation from Harvard and the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia in 1859, he began a long, distinguished career in the ministry, serving as pastor in Philadelphia from 1859-69, and at the Trinity Church in Boston from 1869-1891. He was appointed Bishop of all of the Episcopal Churches in the Massachusetts short before his untimely death in 1893. His many published volumes of sermons have since become American literature classics. He loved hymns and memorized them easily. At the time he entered college he could recite well over 200 of them. He used them often in his preaching.

This hymn paints a beautiful word picture for us of the little town of Bethlehem as it might have been on that wonderful night so long ago, when Jesus was born. We can almost “see” the Holy Family and the events that unfolded in the little town, lying so still beneath the starry night. Brooks characterizes the little town as sleeping deeply and without dreams, while silent stars go by overhead. Despite the darkness of the night, the picture he paints for us is one of great Light - - - the light of Christ come into the world, shining so brightly throughout the dark streets of the little town and in our time throughout the dark places in our own lives.

In the third verse we are reminded that the wondrous Gift that night in Bethlehem was given in great silence. There were no trumpet fanfares to announce the arrival of the Baby King. It’s likely that many who were present in and around Bethlehem found it hard to believe that God would choose such a way to come to earth. They were probably very skeptical. I wonder if I would have been otherwise? It’s hard to visualize a King and a Baby in the same person. It seems that a King should arrive with all sorts of people in his entourage - bands playing - bodyguards - the trappings of royalty. I think in some ways it would be easier for me if His arrival had been a little more “obvious” and “celebrated”. We all go for the “sensational”, don’t we?

We may not hear His coming at all, but we have the assurance that no matter whether we hear His approach or not, wherever He is received by the meek, He enters in. He did thousands of years ago, and he does so “still”! He enters in and casts out our sin and our fears if we are just willing to let Him do so. What a wonderful assurance it is.

Prayer - Lord, the calendar shows us that we are rapidly approaching that day set aside for the celebration of the birth of your Son into our lives. Help us to remain alert to His coming, lest we miss Him in the silence that surrounds the glorious event. We thank you for the Gift, and that you give it to us anew year after year. We thank You for the love that was so great that Jesus left His throne and His crown, and came to the earth to be born of a young girl. We pray for forgiveness of our many sins, and we bless your Holy Name as we thank your for that forgiveness. Amen ~

Activity - Hire a student to do odd jobs for you. There are always a lot of “odd jobs” to be done during this season …boxes of decorations to carry down from the attic or up from the basement, Christmas trees to be put in stands, leaves to be raked, outdoor lights to be rigged up, windows to wash, floors to clean, gifts to wrap, goodies to bake, babies to sit for, pets to sit for, errands to run - the list is endless. There are many kids who need spending money for Christmas. Hiring one does BOTH of you a favor!