“What Star is This, with Beams So Bright”

Everything about the first verse of this hymn says “relax.” The melody is inoffensive and the words are simple. My earliest memories of this hymn are from Choristers. It’s an easy one for kids to sing, and it makes great filler in a service of lessons and carols, in between more virtuosic fare. The last verse is a doxology with not so much as a descant to worry about.

And that seems fine—especially for 2020. We’ve had a challenging year. It’s time to sit back and listen to treble voices reminding us that the Star is an outward light, but the real light is Jesus. PUER NOBIS is the tune we’ll be humming while we brush our teeth on Christmas Eve. But I was surprised to realize that I had no recollection of the middle stanzas, so I checked, and there in verse three sits a term I didn’t expect: “slothful.” Well that’s a bit harsh. Whatever else my heart has been in 2020, I don’t think “slothful” is accurate.

I also wasn’t expecting the affable song to turn into a call to action. I thought we were talking about the Magi, not about me. But that’s the thing about Christmas: just when it’s time to eat cookies and bask in the joy of the new Baby, we remember that Christmas is the start of a path, not the end of it. Parts of the path get very dark. Good thing we’ve got a light to guide us.

– Ms. Bee Moorhead, Lecturer in Theology