Thought for December 23

 History:

• 1788: Maryland votes to cede 10 square miles for Washington DC
• 1815: "Emma" by Jane Austen published
• 1823: "Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Moore published
• 1888: Vincent Van Gogh cuts off his ear
• 1913: President Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act
• 1946: University of Tennessee refuses to play Duquesne because they suggested they might play a black athlete
• 1947: Transistor invented at Bell Labs
• 1954: First human kidney transplant
• 1968: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders are first men to circle the moon
• 1972: Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris--the Immaculate Reception
• Born: Joseph Smith [Mormon], Paul Hornung, Susan Lucci, Jim Harbaugh, 
• Died: John Cotton [father of New England Congregationalism], Anthony Fokker [airplane], Jack Webb, Victor Borge, Oscar Peterson [jazz], Mikhail Kalashnikov [AK-47]

Thought:

I know it's not Christmas Eve yet, but two of our favorite hymns are "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Silent Night." 

"O Little Town of Bethlehem" was written Phillips Brooks, a powerful Puritan preacher in Boston and Philadelphia. During a trip to the Holy Land he rode a horse from Jerusalem to Bethlehem for a Christmas Eve service. There he heard many speak of the wonderful night of the Savior's birth. Three years later her decided to write a hymn for the children to sing on Christmas Eve. He gave the words to his organist, Lewis Redner, to write the music, but Redner had trouble finding the right notes. Then on December 23, he woke from his sleep with the music in his head. The next morning, the 24th, he gave the words and music to 6 Sunday School teachers and 36 children who sang it for the first time that night. I have written before that I love the part where the song says, "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight." This encourages me--all of the hopes of all of the ages and all of the fears of mankind meet at Jesus. Our hope in Him drives out all fear. In Him we have a blessed hope that will not disappoint. And in Him there is no fear because His perfect love casts out all fear. 

We all know the story of "Silent Night." God used a broken organ, a priest, a school teacher/organist, and organ repairman and a children's group to bring this carol to the world. And for icing on the cake, it was first sung in the Church of St. Nicholas. Surely, "God causes all things to work together for good." Christmas Eve 1818, the organ was broken, so Joseph Mohr hurriedly wrote a song and handed it to the organist, Franz Gruber, who wrote music for his guitar. Mohr and Gruber sang the song in the little village of Obemdorf in the Alps. And that was the end, except Karl Mauracher, organ repairman, heard the carol and took it throughout the Alps. It became known to the Strasser Family, makers of gloves. They had their 4 children sing it at their booth at trade fairs to drum up customers. Everyone loved it and the King invited the children, Caroline, Joseph, Andreas, and Amalie to sing for him. So the Austrian carol became a German carol. Then in 1839, the Rainers, a Tyrolean singing group, toured the US and sang the carol. So we sing, "Christ the Savior is born." And because He came, we sleep in heavenly peace.

Blessings

Larry