Saturday, January 3, 2015

Jesus is our childhood’s pattern;
day by day like us he grew;
he was little, weak and helpless;
tears and smiles like us he knew;
and he feels for all our sadness,
and he shares in all our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see him,
through his own redeeming love;
for that child so dear and gentle
is our Lord in heaven above;
and he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.

Cecil Frances Alexander’s “Once in Royal David’s City”
(tune: Irby)
from Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal

Reflection
This much-loved Christmas carol was written for children by Irish poet Cecil Frances Alexander; it is much like her other famous hymn, “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” The Christmas Eve service held in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge—the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols—always opens with the carol “Once in Royal David’s City.”

The first verse is sung as a solo by a young choirboy: “Once in Royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed, where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed: Mary was that mother mild; Jesus Christ was her little child.” Then the voices of the full choir swell to finish the hymn, singing of a child who is like us—and who is our Lord in heaven above.

The entire congregation then stands to say this bidding prayer:

Prayer
“Be it this Christmas Eve our care and delight to prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the angels: in heart and mind to go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, and with the shepherds and the wise men adore the Child lying in his mother’s arms.

“Let us read and mark in Holy Scripture the tale of the loving purposes of God from the first days of our disobedience unto the glorious redemption brought us by this Holy Child; and in company with the whole church let us make this chapel, dedicated to his pure and lowly mother, glad with our carols of praise:

“But first let us pray for the needs of his whole world; for peace and goodwill over all the earth . . .”

And so we pray for all of God’s children everywhere. Amen.

Written by Ted Davis, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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