Still Waiting for the Glorious Dawn

This morning, I watched the dawn break over the mountains in the east, and the music of Adolphe Adam’s O Holy Night was running through my mind.

For yonder breaks a new and glorious dawn…

I wish I could rejoice with these words in this Christmas season. (I call it Christmas, because I want to, not because Donald Trump insists that I do. Trump is certainly not the glorious dawn.) But this promise of new hope for humanity has not been fulfilled. To all appearances, there is no God who has done any miracles to make life better for humankind.

Just how hard would it be for God to do a miracle now and then to help those who are trying to make the world better? I mean, it’s not like it would make Him tired. We’re not asking for much. Maybe to just once in a while help some of the millions of people who are suffering? Just a little bit, pretty please?

Oh, the world has improved in many ways since the first Christmas, and even since Adolphe Adam wrote those words. But none of them have been due to miracles. All of them have been the result of concerted efforts by millions of people, against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed. Here are some examples.

First, slavery has virtually disappeared. I mention this one first because this was one of the major things that was uppermost in Adam’s mind as he wrote. The seldom-sung third verse of O Holy Night says that “the slave is our brother.” By this time, the only major world power that still had slavery was America. In Europe, abolitionism mainly meant the end of American slavery, and American abolitionists went to Europe to gather support for the end of American slavery. But it was not a miracle that brought slavery to an end. It took a war that nearly bled America dry. It took over a century of legislation and court cases to make Black Americans even partway equal to whites. We have only the better angels of our nature, not God, to thank for it. And America is starting to regress back into white supremacy.

Second, the world is much healthier now than in Adam’s time. Public health, sanitation, antibiotics, and vaccination have all occurred in the last century. We have just celebrated the 44^th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, due directly to vaccination. But these things did not occur because of a miracle. All of these things took the focused efforts of thousands of people, from scientists to nurses. And America is now starting to regress into the good old days of disease. The campaign of Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr., to erode vaccination efforts—and Trump casting aspersions on vaccinations he previously celebrated and took credit for—is only one example, and is an embarrassment in the eyes of the world.

Third (and the list could go on and on), world wars are currently unlikely. The mountains to the east, over which I watched a glorious dawn break, are the Black Forest of Germany, on the other side of the Rhine River from France, where I now live. I am about ten miles away from Germany. In my parents’ generation, Nazi Germany took over most of Europe, at the same time Japan was conquering much of Asia. As I watched the dawn, I realized that there was exactly zero chance that German troops would take over France today. But it was no miracle that brought this about. It cost the lives of millions of soldiers and civilians, and Hitler did not give up until Germany had been destroyed, all around his bunker. War in western Europe is now unthinkable not due to any miracle but because European leaders like Robert Schuman (not the composer) created the European Union. A united Europe was unthinkable until human effort made it happen. But today, pressure for war is building. Putin wants the Ukraine and everything else he can get, and Trump is not seriously opposing him. According to surveys, most Europeans think war with Russia is inevitable and that they cannot count on America to help them.

We certainly cannot look to American Christianity for any help. Most (not all) American Christians worship Donald Trump and his associates. American Christians do not care that these leaders are flagrant sinners, by Christian standards. Trump has five children by three wives; Hegseth has four kids, by three wives; and Musk has fourteen kids, by four women. This is what the world sees when they hear about Christian morality, as shown by American conservatives.

Our Christian leaders are evil. Please, God, couldn’t you help those of us who are trying to create peace and Christian love? Maybe just a little bit? Pretty please?

The Christmas Words that Nobody Has Heard

In 1847, French composer Adolphe Adam wrote the music that we know as O Holy Night, using the words of a poem by Placide Cappeau.

I suppose everyone has heard the first verse. But what about the last one? Very few people realize that the poem was an abolitionist message, directed specifically at the remaining pockets of slavery in the world, especially in the United States. I think you should hear them.

The original French:

Le Rédempteur a brisé toute entrave:

La terre est libre, et le ciel est ouvert.

Il voit un frère où n'était qu'un esclave,

L'amour unit ceux qu'enchaînait le fer.

Qui lui dira notre reconnaissance,

C'est pour nous tous qu'il naît, qu'il souffre et meurt.

The English translation by John Sullivan Dwight in 1855:

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

But an exact translation is:

The Redeemer has broken every bond:

The Earth is free, and Heaven is open.

He sees a brother where there was only a slave,

Love unites those that iron had chained.

Who will tell Him of our gratitude,

For all of us He is born, He suffers and dies.

Sometimes it seems like most Christians actually celebrate the oppressive power of the conservatives, rather than the spirit of liberation. Some, like Bill O’Reilley, actually celebrate the happiness of slaves in the old days. It seems that only agnostics really appreciate the message of liberation from slavery.

The work of liberation in the world is not finished!

The Christmas Lyrics You Never Hear

O Holy Night was clearly the climax of Adolphe Adam’s (1803-1856) life. He wrote a ballet, Giselle, in which the heroine stabs herself then dances around for about forty minutes, as I recall. But I doubt there are very many people who have not heard O Holy Night.

But in nearly every case you will hear only the first verse. Maybe you didn’t even know there were three verses. The third verse is, in some ways, the most important. It clearly reveals that Adam intended his song not just for Christmas but as an abolitionist song.

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Conservative Christians today would fully agree with Adam and all the other abolitionists that slavery was an abomination. But they tend to ignore the ongoing message of liberation from oppression that inevitably accompanies Jesus’ story and message. Conservative Christians adamantly support all rules and systems that keep the poor people of the Earth in economic oppression, barely better than slaves. This time of year they focus on the immediate plot line of the Christmas story without thinking about its larger implications for the people of the Earth. They focus on proclaiming that we Americans are rich because God favors us. They are distinctly uncomfortable with the call for liberation of the people who produce cheap goods for us to consume and who cannot afford enough food because the best crop land is used to raise food for Americans to import, to eat and to feed to their livestock.

Dare we believe that “in His name all oppression shall cease”? Don’t expect God, or Christians, to make this happen. If it is going to happen, people who care (whether religious or not) will have to do it.