I’ll admit, it’s a bit of an odd choice for a child’s favorite Christmas song. There are no cheery jingle bells, nary an upbeat mention of the man in the red suit bringing presents down the chimney. And yet “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was my favorite song in my elementary school caroling days.
Even though the song strikes an almost mournful note, I was drawn to its invitation to quiet in a loud and busy season. Always spiritually hungry, I was captivated by the space the low notes created for hushed wonder and awe. The silence that enveloped the sleeping town on that first Christmas assured me that great and holy mysteries were unfolding beyond my sight, that God was always working in ways that didn’t depend on my notice. Angels kept watch in the night, and the stars on which God taught Abraham to count his descendants lit the skies.
Long before I’d ever heard of Ignatian spirituality or imaginative prayer, I tried to envision what this little town of Bethlehem looked like, its humble streets and structures silently bearing witness to such a joyous and improbable miracle. I tried to imagine what it would be like to wake to this incredible news, to feel the slow-dawning realization of Jesus’ birth light me up like morning rays of sun.
My favorite line, “the silent stars go by,” still feels like a quiet summons to contemplate the cosmic nature of the Incarnation, the way that this one moment, in a lowly barn in an unassuming town, changed everything. Suddenly, God had taken on a human body, and no element of human experience would be foreign or distant from God ever again.
I’m sure I didn’t fully grasp this as a third-grade caroler in my green velvet Christmas dress, but now when I hear the line, “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight,” I have the unshakeable sense that Bethlehem is my home, too. That the angels keep watch, lit by the same stars, still. It was a miracle then. And a miracle it remains, this year and every year.
Click here to listen to the song. | Click here to find our Advent playlist. | Click here to find more Advent reflections.
