When Fear Gives Way to Joy

How are our hopes and fears “met in thee tonight”? It’s a reference to Phillips Brooks’ famous carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

“The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.”

—Zephaniah 3:15b.

 

“Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

The line, of course, is from a beloved Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” What Christian doesn’t cherish the image of eternal light beaming from the ramshackle stable where the Christ child dozes in the arms of his mother? Who doesn’t celebrate the hope his birth brings to a world where hope so often seems in short supply?

But fears? What has fear to do with Christmas?

The history of the carol provides a hint. “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was written in 1868 by the famed preacher Phillips Brooks. The Civil War had ended only three years earlier. Yes, Lee and Grant had signed their peace accord at Appomattox and shaken hands on the deal. Yes, battle-weary veterans from both sides...