Cecil Frances Alexander wrote two particularly famous hymns during her life. One is "All Things Bright and Beautiful." The other is "Once in Royal David's City." According to George Grant, Alexander reportedly "wrote this carol for her godchildren when they complained that their Bible lessons were dreary." (Grant, Christmas Spirit, 116)
It's a shame that Bible lessons would ever be dreary. It is a wonderful thing that people like Cecil Frances Alexander would indwell Scripture so much that they could produce works of art that not only teach those in their lifespan, but continue to teach us today. Grant notes that this carol has become the traditional opening for the Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols Service from King's College, Cambridge. It was always the opening hymn in the Christmas Eve service in the church of my upbringing, and those warm opening half notes of the hymn always feel like the perfect prelude to the Scriptures and stories of Christmas.
Here is the hymn:
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 her little child.
He came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable, and his cradle was a stall:
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.
And through all his wondrous childhood he would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden in whose gentle arms, he lay:
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as he.
And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love;
For that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heav'n above,
And he leads his children on
To the place where he is gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable, with the oxen standing by,
We shall see him, but in heaven, set at God's right hand on high;
When like stars his children crowned
All in white shall wait around.
Two things strike me. First, songs of faith that are too focused on the lesson to be learned, or with proper behavior tend to take our attention off God and put it on ourselves. In that sense, the third verse feels quaint to me. The third verse makes me want to sigh and paraphrase Mary Poppins: "If they must, they must." Second, consider how she guides us from the child in the manger to beholding the Risen Christ, reigning from the right hand of God. If children and adults alike would learn to be "mild, obedient, and good" as Christ, this is exactly where they ought to look: our royal King who has conquered all sin and death, and in sure authority, "leads his children on to the place where he is gone."
Here, I feel I must raise my egg nog and say a prayer for all those who teach the Christian faith to children. They do a lot all year...and also at Christmas time. For them, the third verse is very important. Yelling children can't listen or sing a song. Children who are looking to impress their friends won't look for the Light of the World. But one also can't win every battle. This is a great art. One must understand the ways of children to then be able to show children the richest truths of the faith. Great childrens' teachers are like Christ in this way: they draw the children near like a magnet, and the children want to please them, want to make them happy, want to impress them. Children want to be with Jesus. They want to be with great childrens' teachers too. And I've been blessed to know quite a few. Then, maybe just maybe children will catch the teacher pointing steadfastly to Christ. The way Cecil Frances Alexander did.
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