Silent Night, Holy Night

Joseph Mohr, a young man with a love for music, singing, and poetry and mentored by a priest who recognized his talents was, in his twenties, what we would now call a supply pastor. His post was at St. Nikola Church in Oberndorf, Austria that Christmas Eve of 1818, and as he was preparing for the service, he discovered the organ was not working. He put his creativity to work and gave to the church musician Franz Gruber a short poem that he had written. Together they came up with something they believed could be sung quietly without accompaniment. And so it was that evening, but soon the song was forgotten, and left to dry on a dusty shelf at the church. Many years later, the old sheet music was found by another musician, and the carol began to make the traveling folk circuit, eventually becoming the world's most beloved and familiar Christmas piece. Neither Joseph Mohr nor Franz Gruber lived long enough to know the popularity of their work, but today almost two hundred years and many generations later, we reverently sing their song at Christmastime. That is how it is with our legacies. If we follow God's leading and promises, perhaps something of us can be used in future generations.