O Little Town Of Bethlehem

 In 1865, an American Episcopal Priest by the name of Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) visited the largely Christian Arab town of Bethlehem in what was then Palestinian territories under Ottomon (Turkish) administration. He was so taken with the experience of actually visiting the site of the traditional birthplace of Jesus, that within three years, he composed the poetry that would become the famous Christmas Carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. Although it is sung to different tunes in America and Britain, the tune that is most familiar to Americans is the tune called “St. Louis”.

Because the typical singing of this popular Christmas Carol usually only involves the first two verses which speak more of the setting and the beauty of the village itself, it is often overlooked that the hymn actually features some rather thoughtful religious sentiment and teaching. The three verses that follow, for example, include many important traditional Christian theological themes. The third verse, for example, refers to an individual opening their life to Christ “entering in” even as they turn away from a “world of sin”:

How silently, oh 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.

The fourth verse speaks of the hope for people that is represented by the meaning of the birth of Jesus, and refers to the important Christian virtues of charity and faith in response to those who, in their despair or “misery”, cry out to God:

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.

Finally, the last verse speaks not only of “casting out sin” but celebrates the continued life of Christ in the individual and the Church, thus turning away from only speaking of the meaning of Jesus as a new born baby, but the importance of the meaning of Jesus as the center of the Christian tradition:

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

Singing the famous Christmas Carol through the entire five verses allows us to appreciate not only Phillips Brooks poetry, but his profound faith as well.

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 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.

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