Carol: “It Came upon the Midnight Clear” – Edmund H. Sears
(1810-1876)
Tune: CAROL
All ye, beneath life's crushing load
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing path
With painful steps and slow.
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing.
“Heads up!” Don’t put it off. “Look now!” This seems to be a
call to immediate response to the sound of angels’ wings… and the words they
sing/say.
This stanza of the carol is addressed to all who find
themselves beneath the crushing load of life, whose bodies and spirits are
drooping under the weight of the struggles. Perhaps these encumbrances are the
result of a birth defect or a disease, of their own bad decisions/sins, of the ‘cards
they were dealt’ early on in life. Maybe they are overloaded with the problems
of others – family members, friends, coworkers. Whatever has brought them to
their knees, they feel like they are always on an up-hill trek, that every step
is painful, and the progress is slow. I think we get the picture. In fact, it
may be a picture of ourselves.
With heads hanging low, we are given hope that the better
(glad and golden) hours are ahead because for unto us a Child has been born.
Look up… now… and realize it. Be lifted from your bloodied knees to stand again
complete. The Great Physician now is near; the newborn King comes to lift up the
fallen, heal the sick and restore the weak.
This reassurance came upon the midnight clear two centuries
ago, and it rings just as true today. Perhaps it’s just the word of hope we
need to hear.
I had trouble finding a
recording that included this pivotal stanza!
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