December, 2024
Adult Sunday School Class
I Wonder As I Wander
John Jacob Niles was born in Louisville, Kentucky, April 28, 1892. He learned music theory from his mother, and began writing down folk music as a teenager. He became a serious student of Appalachian folk music by transcribing traditional songs from oral sources while an itinerant employee of the Burroughs Corporation in eastern Kentucky, from 1910 to 1917.
A pilot during WW1, Niles spent time in Europe. During his down time, he began cataloging American folk songs. He did this by asking every soldier he met to share the songs they remembered from back home. He diligently wrote these down.
Returning home after the war, armed with folk music, he continued his education at the Cincinnati Conservatory. After graduation, he went to Chicago to sing with the Lyric Opera and perform on radio. Through all of this, Niles continued to be drawn to American folk music.
Realizing he was more a historian than a performer, Niles moved back to Kentucky. There, he traveled from town to town throughout the Appalachians, looking for undiscovered songs.
Then, one cold December day in North Carolina, he watched as people went about their daily lives. While quietly observing, he heard a lone voice singing ever so quietly. After glancing around, his eyes zeroed in on a small girl sitting by herself on a bench. She was singing a song Niles had never heard before.
Approaching the girl with pencil and tablet in hand, he asked her about the song. All she knew was that her mother had taught it to her, who learned it from her mother. And so it went. She repeated the lyrics to Niles.
Struck by the power of the song, Niles continued to study the words. It embraced the joy and wonder of Christmas while also lingering on the sacrifice of a child grown into a man who died on a cross. To Niles, it combined the elevating elements of Negro spirituals with the melancholy of Irish ballads.
I wonder as I wander out under the sky
How Jesus, the savior, had come for to die
For poor on'ry people, like you and like I.
I wonder as I wander out under the sky.
When Mary birthed Jesus, t'was in a cow's stall
With wisemen and farmers and shepherds and all,
But high in god's heaven a star's light did fall,
And the promise of ages, it then did recall.
If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing
A star in the sky or a bird on the wing
Or all of god's angels in heaven for to sing
He surely could have it, for he was the king!
I wonder as I wander out under the sky
How Jesus, the savior, had come for to die
For poor on'ry people like you and like I.
I wonder as I wander out under the sky.
For years, when he could find the time, Niles continued to search of the song’s origin. He died in 1980, never finding any information about this beloved song beyond that little girl on a bench in North Carolina.
It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
In 1849, a Unitarian pastor in Massachusetts was working on his Christmas Eve message. Back in those times, Unitarianism wasn’t as whack-a-doodle as it is now. Case in point, Dr. Edmund Sears, said pastor in Wayland, Massachusetts, regularly preached on the divinity of Jesus Christ. He believed that Jesus was the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins.
Edmund Sears struggled with the plight of the hungry and sick in his midst. As he worked on writing an uplifting Christmas Eve message, these thoughts kept distracting him. So, he began, once again, thumbing through Scripture. He was especially drawn to Luke, chapter two, and the story of the shepherds watching their flocks by night. That is what inspired him to write the poem, “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.” He wrote a short sermon, ending it with this poem.
It came upon the 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.
Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly 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.
But with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring; –
Oh hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!
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; –
Oh, rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing!
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.
Since Sears was also a magazine and newspaper editor, he was able to share this lovely poem beyond his local congregation. That’s where Richard Storrs Willis comes in.
Willis was a Yale graduate who had been composing choral pieces since his youth {a bit of a prodigy}. After college, he studied in Germany with Felix Mendelssohn.
Later, after returning to the United States, Willis read Sears’ poem. And then it hit him. A tune he had written, much earlier, titled “Carol,” fit perfectly with the words of the poem. He published the music and words in 1850 under the title, “Study Number 23.” Ten years later, using an updated arrangement, he republished it under the new title, “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night.” That’s the version we sing today.
And just like that, after a second printing and new title, the song took off. Fast forward to WWI, American troops sang “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.” With that, when they returned home, this song became part of their holiday singing tradition. Then, during WWII, people like Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore sang the song while on USO holiday tours. For homesick soldiers, the words touched their hearts.
For many people, the last verse resonates deeply. It speaks of hope, peace, love, joy, and salvation. The call of Jesus to bring these things to our world are as clear today as it was in 1849.
Good King Wenceslas
This one reaches far back into the historic archives. While the song was composed by Anglican Priest John Mason Neale {1818-1866}, it is based on historical fact. Wenceslas was a member of European royalty who, in his short life, touched people’s lives with Christian kindness and charity. Even today, over 1,000 years after his death, Wenceslas remains an example for Christian people everywhere.
Wenceslas was the son of Duke Borivoy of Bohemia. He was raised by his grandmother, Ludmilla. She was a devout Christian. She taught her grandson the meaning of faith, hope, and charity.
In 922, when Duke Borivoy was killed in battle, the young Wenceslas stepped into a new role. At the age of fifteen, as he was just a few minutes older than his twin brother, Boleslaus, he was made the leader of Bohemia.
Meanwhile, as the young Duke was trying to guide the troubled nation, his mother, Drahomira, and his brother, Boleslaus, fomented a pagan revolt. They murdered Ludmilla, attempting to overthrow Wenceslas. After their revolt failed, Wenceslas expelled his mother and brother rather than having them executed. This decision, rooted in Christian kindness, would have repercussions.
In the first years of his reign, Wenceslas built his nation on justice and mercy. He enacted laws he thought would best serve God. As a result of his leadership, many turned to the Christian faith. Rarely had a leader been as loved and respected as Wenceslas.
One of the unique things Wenceslas did was, motivated by his Christian faith, every Christmas Eve he we visit the neediest people in his kingdom, bringing food, firewood, and clothing.
In 929, tragedy struck. On his way to church, Wenceslas was attacked by assassins. Followers of Boleslaus stabbed Wenceslas. His dying words were, “Brother, may God forgive you.” Amazingly, shortly after, Boleslaus embraced the Christian faith, turning away from his rebellion.
Fast forward to John Mason Neale. Though often rebuked by other Christians, Neale embraced the Christian work of kindness. He sought to reform prostitutes, thieves, and even murderers.
Besides his work as pastor, Neale also spent time studying ancient Latin songs and texts. He often translated them in English for worship. It was in this endeavor where he came across the story of Wenceslas. He rewrote the old tale in verse form, making the Duke a King. He then matched the lyrics to an ancient Latin melody, “Tempus adest floridum.”
When published, “Good King Wenceslas” quickly became a holiday favorite all over Europe. By the latter part of the 19th century it was sung throughout the United States. It was a shining example of faith, hope, and charity.
One of the most telling facts of the Duke’s legacy can be found in the final verse of “Good King Wenceslas.” In the carol, the king makes the point that when a person is alone, life is dark and bleak. But when a person reaches out to others…as Christ reached out to those in need…then that person never walks alone. Christ and those touched by kindness are there to make each step of the journey easier and brighter. For the King, and us, the journey is made easier by following the steps of Christ.
Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, gath’ring winter fuel.
“Hither, page, and stand by me, if you know it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain,
Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes’ fountain.”
“Bring me food and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither,
You and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither.”
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together,
Through the cold wind’s wild lament and the bitter weather.
“Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger,
Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page, tread now in them boldly,
You shall find the winter’s rage freeze your blood less coldly.”
In his master’s steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, while God’s gifts possessing,
You who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.
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