Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR It Came Upon a Midnight Clear was penned by the Rev. Edmund Hamilton Sears in 1849. Born in 1810, he lived his whole life in Massachusetts, serving as pastor of several small churches. Sears was educated and ordained as a Unitarian minister, but contrary to his denomination, he boldly proclaimed: I believe and preach the divinity of Christ. This song, along with I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, is one of the few carols that specifically addressed social issues of the day, with practical applications of the angels' message of peace on the earth, good will to men. The United States was experiencing many upheavals throughout its society. The Industrial Revolution was changing forever the economy of the nation. The job market was rapidly changing, causing many jobs to become obsolete. The country was slowly becoming a more urban, less rural society. The California gold rush was underway, with thousands beginning to migrate west from New England. Few could see the tensions then building between the northern and southern states which would eventually lead to civil war a decade later. It was to those experiencing this upheaval and turmoil that Sears wrote these sympathetic words: And ye, beneath life's crushing load, Whose forms are bending low, Who toil along the climbing way, With painful steps and slow. He encourages them to stop, regroup, and think about the message of the angels: Look now! For glad and golden hours, Come swiftly on the wing; O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing. As so many other carols have done, this one ends on a message of hope. Sears reminds that the angels were merely echoing the Old Testament prophets, who foresaw the coming of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Our Lord's Kingdom would eventually encompass the earth bringing peace to hearts resulting in peace on earth, good will toward men. Sears drew his idea of a midnight birth of Jesus from a passage in the Apocrypha.