December 18, 2025 - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, December 18.
Americans really love Christmas carols! And so, it’s a bit surprising that most of the carols we sing... aren’t American. They’ve come to America from other countries, kind of like our ancestors did. The majority of them traveled here from England, songs like “Joy to the World” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Many came from France, like “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “O Holy Night.” And then there’s the beloved “Silent Night” from Germany. There are American-born carols, of course, including “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” “Away in a Manger,” and “We Three Kings.” And our featured song for today - “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
Phillips Brooks was a mighty man of God. Standing six feet, six inches and weighing in at 300 pounds, he towered over his pulpit at the great Trinity Church in Philadelphia. In 1865, he was one of the most famous preachers in the United States, so famous that when Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train came to Philadelphia, in April of that year, Brooks was asked to deliver the sermon.
Pastoring a church can be a very stressful job, and after bringing his congregation through the Civil War, it had taken a toll on the health of Phillips Brooks. His doctor urged the young minister, just 29 years-old, to take some time away, and so he planned a trip to a dream destination, to a place that Abraham Lincoln had dreamed of visiting. Phillip Brooks traveled to the Holy Land.
On Christmas Eve,1865, he found himself in Jerusalem. Most of my family lives in San Antonio, and when I drive there next week for Christmas, I’ll travel over 300 miles. Here in Texas, we’re accustomed to distances like that, but in Israel, the towns and cities are close together. The trip from Jerusalem to Bethlehem is just five short miles. And that evening, Brooks decided to make that trip on horseback. As he approached the little town, he came up over a rise, and suddenly Bethlehem was laid out before him, illuminated by torches and candlelight. It must have looked much as it had 2000 years before.
Phillips Brooks was so inspired by this experience, that he wrote a poem about it, words that were set to music by the organist at his church. Soon this new American carol spread across the country, and then around the world. It remains a favorite today, 160 years later. It’s included in every hymn book, and it’s on our lips every Christmas.
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
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
