“In all our singing it had never occurred to us to sing this seemingly childish carol,” said the one who related the story; “but we did sing it, and the beauty and simplicity of the words and tune struck me as never before, as the two little voices joined with us. They seemed to be the expression of all the wonder of God’s gift of the Christ child in the humility of His manger bed, and our singing took on new life as we caught a vision of the utter simplicity of the Christmas message.... And I never fail to receive inspiration from the mental picture of two little sleepy girls at a bedroom window singing ‘Away in a Manger.’”
And what an especially appropriate prayer it must have been for the little girls when they closed the song with the words:
“Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay,
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there.”
CHAPTER XIII
THE CROSS AND THE CHURCH
A large group of Christian men gathered in Chicago early in 1938 for a convention. Said one who was present: “The mood and point of view were indicated by the opening hymn:
“‘Ask ye what great thing I know
That delights and stirs me so?