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17 BE BORN IN US O Holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray, Cast out our sin, and enter in, Be born in us today! We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel. Luke 2:4-7 I can hardly imagine what emotions grasped the American people following the Civil War. I wonder at the energy expended in the wake of indescribable loss to address the injustice of slavery and the political, social, and economic legacy of America amidst the fraught process of readmitting eleven seceded states. People were swept up in the intricacies of that story with kaleidoscopic experiences, hopes, and fears. The road of national reconstruction was long, and after twelve years it still failed to address many complexities leaders set out to heal. In the aftermath of that war, Phillips Brooks wrote O Little Town of Bethlehem. After visiting the bir thplace of Christ, Phillips returned to a grieving, post-war homeland with a profound hope in the nearness of the Lord for the waiting world. During the Advent season, I can find myself tempted by all the shiny traditions to shelve the tragic, problematic elements of life in favor of the colorful, easy celebrations. But I forget that when the holy child of Bethlehem comes to us, He arrives in the world exactly as it is. The joy of Advent is not uncovered in the setting aside of tragic realities that may come with being human; it is a season in response to them. Just as the cries of the waiting world found their response in the cries of the infant Christ, so today our moments of labor and tension find their promise in a new life: Jesus born in us. We do not look back upon the nativity with a referential sentimentality or only focus on the objective reality of the incarnation. Brooks' words remind us of the why behind the Lord's effor ts: to cast out sin and enter in. The abiding presence of Jesus was with those in the unknowns of post-Civil War America, with those in the struggling streets of the West Bank, and now with you in the trenches of your own battle-scarred day. In spite of the difficulties of life that may suggest Jesus as being distantly "up there" or "out there" in our struggles, we are reminded that our hope is in God with us. Nathan H. Scherrer, MA, Assistant Professor of Training and Mentoring O Little Town of Bethlehem Lyrics by Phillips Brooks (1868), composed by Lewis Redner (1868) DECEMBER