The Story Behind “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
Posted on Dec 27, 2023 by Heather Lewis
There are so many rich histories behind our favorite hymns and carols! Since we’re doing our Lessons and Carols service this Sunday, I’d like to share one of my favorite carol stories:
Phillips Brooks was a young preacher when he gave the funeral address for President Abraham Lincoln. Not long after, he took a sabbatical from preaching to visit the Holy Land, hoping to find peace after many years of war.
While there, he visited Bethlehem and looked out at the landscape at night, and these thoughts came to his mind: “O Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, a silent star goes by.” Several years later, he came back to the poem and completed it. His organist, Lewis Redner, added the music. It was first performed by the children’s choir in his church, and very quickly, the carol was included in hymnals to be sung during the Christmas season.
But one child, who wasn’t born yet, would find special meaning in Brooks’ song. Helen Keller, who was born blind and deaf, met Brooks years later. He was the one who explained the gospel to her for the first time. Through her teacher and translator, Anne Sullivan, she told Brooks, “I’ve always known there was a God, but until now I’ve never known his name.”
The carol’s third verse, though written years before Brooks had met Keller, captures perfectly the joy of salvation to a deaf and blind child whose ears could not hear his coming, but whose heart had long recognized his presence:
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.
You can read Phillips Brooks’ story in his own words here: https://themondayheretic.wordpress.com/2018/12/10/advent-stories-o-little-town-of-bethlehem/
I hope the music of this beautiful season brings you joy and peace.
In Christ’s love,
Heather Lewis
Director of Music and Worship