Thought for December 23, 2023

•  1788: Maryland votes to cede 10 square miles for the District of Columbia
• 1815: Jane Austen published "Emma"
• 1823: Clement Moore publishes "A Visit from St. Nicholas"
• 1888: Vincent Van Gogh cuts off his left ear
• 1893: Opera "Hansel and Grtel" premiers
• 1913: President Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act1946: University of Tennessee refuses to play Duquesne because they suggested they might play a black player
• 1947: Transistor invented at Bell Labs
• 1954: First human kidney transplant
• 1968: Jim Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders are first men to circle the moon
• 1972: Immaculate Reception--Bradshaw to Franco Harris by way of either Raiders safety Jack Tatum or Steelers' receiver John Fuqua
• Born: Joseph Smith, Paul Hornung, Susan Lucci, Jim Harbaugh
• Died: John Cotton [father of Congregationalism in New England], Anthony Fokker, Jack Webb, Victor Borge, Oscar Peterson, Mikhail Kalashnikov [AK-47]

Thought:

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. In 1223 Francis of Assisi assembled the first nativity scene. Francis invited his neighbors to a Christmas Eve Mass. They came singing Christmas hymns carrying torches. Upon arrival, they found a manger in a cave with a wax doll depicting Jesus. There were two people dressed as Mary and Joseph, a donkey and an ox. Francis chanted the story of Christ's birth from the Gospels and preached a sermon. 

We really don't know who wrote "Away in a Manger." In 1887, the hymn appeared in "Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses", a songbook compiled by James Murray and published in Ohio. Only two stanzas appeared. A note in the book said that this hymn was composed by Martin Luther and sung to his children and called the hymn "Luther's Cradle Hymn." The words were sung to over 40 different tunes and the hymn became very popular. In 1945, the first two stanzas were found in an 1885 songbook titled "Little Children's Book" published by German Lutherans in Pennsylvania. In an 1892 songbook, a third stanza was added in a songbook by Charles Gabriel. So we are not sure of the author. But we all love the message. So we sing, "stay by my cradle till morning is nigh," and "Be near me Lord Jesus I ask Thee to stay, close by me forever and love me I pray . . .and take us to heaven to live with Thee there. "

I think the most popular Christmas song is "Silent Night". We all know something of the story. Priest Joseph Moore was in a predicament--Christmas Eve 1818 and the church organ was broken. He wrote a little song and handed it to Franz Gruber the organist to write the music--he did for his guitar. The two sang the song that night in Oberndorf in the Alps--a song for their village. A few days later, the organ repairman arrived and heard of the carol, got a copy and carried it all over the region--now it is an Austrian carol. The Strasser family made fine gloves and sold them at trade fairs. To attract customers, the four Strasser children sang the carol. The King heard abut the carol and invited Caroline, Joseph, Andreas, and Amalie to sing for him. Now it was a German carol first appearing in a hymnal in 1838. In 1839, the Rainers, a Tyrolean singing group, toured the U.S. singing the carol. Now it is an international carol. Amazing--a broken organ, a desperate priest, an organist playing a guitar, an organ repairman, a commercial business, a children's singing group--and a carol blesses the world. Nothing is impossible with God. 

Now if Jesus is Lord, if Christ the Savior has come to you--then all is calm and all is bright--sleep in heavenly peace. 

Blessings

Larry