Road Trip to Austin Yee Haw!!

So I do believe that on Monday I am taking a mini road trip to Austin for a job interview on Tuesday morning. Kind of not sure that I will end up getting it as I need three professional letters of reference and hey one of the people I need to write me one and have in by a week from today has not yet responded to my e-mail and oh yeah the college just finished finals and they will be closed for the holidays starting next week (and don't even get me started on who is writing one of the other ones - kind of funny actually). But I will get a road trip out of it and will get to see Austin again (and finally buy a shot glass of UT) and of course I will get to see my friends Josh and Grace as I am staying the night with them :) Unless I decide to change my mind.

Today's song on the 24 Days of Christmas on The Great Faith Adventure is Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. You will get to see Sarah McLachlan performing it live (in a video not on my blog lol).

In 1865 Phillips Brooks who was an Episcopal priest at Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, had the opportunity to pay a visit to the Holy Land. While there he got to visit Bethlehem and was inspired by the visit. Three years later he wrote a poem that became the lyrics for O Little Town of Bethlehem. Lewis Redner who was the organist for the church added the music to it. Lewis Redne actually had some problems with writing the music and was uninspired and struggled to compose a melody. On the night before a Christmas where it was to be performed program, he woke with the music flooding his soul. He wrote the tune down and then went back to bed. Brooks liked the tune and kept his promise to name it after Redner. He changed the spelling to St. Louis to avoid embarrassing Lewis Redner. The First Performance of O Little Town of Bethlehem happened the next day. Thirty six children accompanied by six Sunday School teachers premiered the children’s carol to the world.

There were actually five stanzas that were written by Phillips Brooks. Only stanzas 1, 2, 3 and 5 are present in hymn books. Here is the fourth stanza that gets left out: “Where children pure and happy pray to the blessed Child, Where misery cries out to Thee, Son of the mother mild; / Where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door; The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.”

O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may his His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel