A Wonderful Message of Hope to Share with Your Children
Another song that our son John sang and played for us on New Year’s Day was “O Sing a Song of Bethlehem,” written by Louis F. Benson in 1889. I enjoy reading the words of poems and hymns from long ago because they reveal that people of many time periods have been devoted followers of God. Those authors are like the great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12:1. When our Bethany was five years old, she had a close friend whose mother began joining us at church. I remember thinking how wonderful it was that the mother was hearing many people singing the words of the hymns and learning that many people believed them. They were like a great cloud of witnesses, too.
“O Sing a Song of Bethlehem” teaches about Jesus’ birth while also telling about what happened throughout His life. It reminds us that “The light that shone on Bethlehem continues to fill all the world today.”
O sing a song of Bethlehem,
Of shepherds watching there,
And of the news that came to them
From angels in the air:
The light that shone on Bethlehem
Fills all the world today;
Of Jesus’ birth and peace on earth
The angels sing alway.
Road to Bethlehem, c. 1925
O sing a song of Nazareth,
Of sunny days of joy,
O sing of fragrant flowers’ breath,
And of the sinless Boy:
For now the flow’rs of Nazareth
In ev’ry heart may grow;
Now spreads the fame of His dear name
On all the winds that blow.
Nazareth, 1945
O sing a song of Galilee,
Of lake and woods and hill,
Of Him who walked upon the sea
And bade the waves be still:
For though, like waves on Galilee,
Dark seas of trouble roll,
When faith has heard the Master’s word,
Falls peace upon the soul.
Shore of Galilee, between 1898 and 1945
O sing a song of Calvary,
Its glory and dismay;
Of Him who hung upon the tree,
And took our sins away:
For He who died on Calvary
Is risen from the grave,
And Christ, our Lord, by heav’n adored,
Is mighty now to save.
Since the 300s, Christians have believed
that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
is the site of Calvary, photo c. 1910.
The reality of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus has been great comfort to me, as I continue to grieve the death of our older daughter last July. Because Jesus came and died and rose again, her story is not finished either. You have a wonderful message of hope to share with your children every day this semester and always.
Jesus said to [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life;
he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”
John 11:23-24a
All photos by the American Colony in Jerusalem or its successor the Matson Photo Service and are courtesy of the Library of Congress.