The carol, It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, only mentions Jesus once, saying, “Peace on the earth, good will to all, From heaven’s all gracious king.”  And that was God’s message to us.

The words the angels brought to a fallen and broken world was of peace and goodwill.  Angels proclaimed their message to a weary world. Isn’t that like our world today?  Isn’t that like us?  I think of the homeless, bending low, who toil along the way with painful steps and slow; the people who struggle with addictions and life threats; the people who have lost loved ones; the families who don’t speak to each other anymore.

We all long for peace.  These words are for us on days when our steps are painful and slow, when our forms are bent low. They give us hope of a better day when peace will reign on earth.  They assure us that eventually God will heal our brokenness. And this Christmas season we can be a part of bringing God’s peace to the needy and hurting by blessing them; by giving of our abundance.  We can bring the message of God’s love and peace to the hurting in our world.
1.It came upon a midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold.
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The World in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing

2. Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heav’nly music floats
O’er all the weary world.
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing.
And ever o’er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

3. And ye beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow:
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing.

4. For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,
When, with the ever-circling years,
Comes round the age of gold.
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.

The lyrics of “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” were born out of a pastor’s struggle to make the message of Christmas new to his congregation.  His people, like us, heard the same message every Christmas; Jesus is born.  After a while it becomes mundane and we value it a little less.

But Edmund Sears, who was thirty-nine at the time and a Unitarian minister from Wayland, Massachusetts, found a way to make the message new. As he read the Christmas story of how the angels proclaimed Christ’s birth to the shepherds, he must have thought, what else is there to say about God who came as a baby to save us from sin and despair?

This all happened in the year of 1849 long before The War Between the States.  Slavery with the poverty and hopelessness it brought reigned in the US. Edmund Sears cared about the poor and wanted to reach out to them. So he wrote the poem which became a treasured Christmas carol, lasting through the centuries.

The poem was published in a church magazine and made Sears famous with his profound words.  Later Richard Storrs Willis, who is thought to have been a student of Felix Mendelssohn, composed the melody for this carol. Willis was an editor and music critic for the New York Tribune. Here is an interesting fact: the acceptance of this carol was the beginning of celebrating Christmas in New England as a holiday, which has been prohibited by the Puritans until now.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, the well known American poet, said that this is one of the finest and most beautiful hymns ever written.  And I believe as we sing it this Christmas season the same thought resonates in our hearts.

In the same way that Dr. Sears wanted the Christmas message to touch his church’s heart again I too wanted to make the Christmas story real to our children.  That is why I wrote and published a new Christmas book, A Christmas Present for Goliath.  This story is about the camel who carried the Magi’s gifts to Jesus that first Christmas so long ago.  You can learn about this book and order it at my website www.ruthwillms.com/goliath.html

Camel Trivia
Please circle the right answer.

1. Bible experts think that more than three wise men on camels travelled to visit Jesus?
a] True       b] False           

2. Tradition says the Magi used dromedary camels.  If so, the camels had how many humps?
a] one             b] two           c] three

3. People usually have five toes on each foot.  How many digits does a camel have on each foot?
a] 5                b] 4              c] 2

4. How many stomachs does a camel have?
a] two           b] three            c] four

5. A camel stores water in its hump.
a]  true          b] false

6. Baby male camels are called:
a] foals          b] bull calves          c] colts

7. Camels are unpredictable animals. They are basically:
a] bad-tempered and obstinate   b] good tempered and intelligent

8.  How is a camel equipped to keep the blowing sand out of its eyes?
a] it  has a double row of eyelashes   b] it has two lids  c] it has thick bushy eyebrows

9. The  normal life span of a camel is:
a] 20 years      b] 30 years     c] 40 years

10. What part of a camel acts like an air conditioner?
a] its chest      b] its mouth      c] its nose

 
Answers to Camel Trivia

1.  False.  The Bible does not say anything about the Magi riding camels.  Some Bible experts even say they must have used many horses.

2. One hump.  The dromedary camel has one hump. The Bactrian camel has two humps.

3. Two.In camels the 3rd and 4th foot bones are fused to form the cannon bone.  They have 2 foot digits that are not encased in hooves, but are toes with large nails.

4. A camel has 3 stomachs. It used to be rumored that the camel has a special stomach for holding water. This idea, however, is not true, but in the first and second stomach of the camel, there are cavities which can hold a certain amount of water which is not mixed with food, since most of the food immediately moves on to the third stomach.

5. False. Myth tells us that the camel stores water in its hump. The truth is the hump, or humps in the case of the Bactrian camel, are a fatty deposit that provide energy when food is scarce.
When a camels energy reserves become low from lack of food, the hump shrinks and becomes soft and will actually flop over to one side. The resilient nature of the animal can be seen in the rapid return of the hump to its normal firm upright self after just a few days of good grazing.

6. Baby male camels are called bull calves.

7. Camels have the reputation of being bad-tempered and obstinate creatures who spit and kick.  In reality, they tend to be good-tempered, patient and intelligent.  The moaning and bawling sound they make when they’re loaded up and have to rise to their feet is like the grunting and heavy breathing of a weight-lifter in action, not a sign of displeasure at having to do some work.

8. Camels’ eyes are protected by a double row of long curly eyelashes, that  help keep out sand and dust.  They do have thick bushy eyebrows but their purpose is only to shield their eyes from the desert sun.

9. The life span of a camel is 40 years but a working camel retires from active duty at 25.

10. A camel’s nose.  When a camel twitches its nose, it is cooling the incoming air and condensing moisture from its outgoing breath.

How did you do?  Any disagreements with my answers?  Please comment.

This Christmas season we too can worship Baby Jesus as the Magi did.  If we let Him, Jesus will change our hearts forever too.