Christmas Carols that Integrate the Spirit of Solving Social Struggles
Shared by Joe Colletti in Pasadena, CA under Music
Christmas Carols that integrate lyrics that express the spirit of solving social struggles include
O Holy Night
Minister and social activist John Sullivan Dwight (1813 – 1893) began the English version of O Holy Night with the opening stanza
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth
And in a following stanza the ardent abolitionist wrote that the King of Kings
Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother
And in his name all oppression shall cease
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Minister and Theologian Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810 – 1876) began It Came Upon a Midnight Clear with
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 Heav’n’s all-gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
And in a following stanza the pacifist preacher wrote that we need to hear the angels sing today because
Yet 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.