It Came Upon The Midnight Clear (Luke 2:13,14)
Edmund H. Sears (1810-1876)
Richard S. Willis (1819-1900)
Hih la kisa lo-in Lungdambawl hun bei ngei lo hi. Hih la sak loh-in Christmas cingtaak kibawl thei lo hi. 1849 kuma a kikhetkhiat cil-a kipanin hih la kihel lohna labu cih bang om lo mai hi. Christmas la lak-a American-te’ phuah a masapente lakah khat hi ci-in kiciamteh hi. Hih laphuakpa Rev. Edmund Hamilton Sears pen America gam Sandisfield, Massachusetts ah April 6, 1810 ni-in suak hi. Harvard Divinity School ah pilna sina, 1837 kumin a sangkah zo hi. A nuntak sungin Massachusetts sunga Wayland, Lancaster, leh Weston khuate ah Unitarian pawlpi neu pawlkhat kemin pastor sem kawikawi hi.
Unitarian khat in i Topa’ suah hun lai-a thupiangte hih bangin la-a a phuah theih lamdang kisa hi. Ahi zongin Sears pen a minin Unitarian hi ponga, a upna taktak Trinitarian hizaw hi, kici hi. Zeisu Khazih Pasian ahihna um takpi-in a pulpit mahmah panin gen mun mahmah hi, kici hi. A sih ma kum khat lai-a a gelh Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life sungah kilang mahmah hi. Ama’ genna ah, “Kei bel unitarian pawlpi ah khangin tua pawlpi sangte ah pilna ka sin hangin Khazih Pasian a hihna umin ka hilh den hi” ci-in gen ngiat hi.
Edmund Sears in a nuntak sungin laibu tampi gelh-a, Regeneration, Foregleams of Immortality, leh The Fourth Gospel, the Heart of Christ cihte minthang mahmah-a bu tampi kikhen hi. Ahih hangin hymn dawng nih bek phuaka, a nih-in Christmas la vive ahi hi. A phuah masak pen bel Harvard Divinity School ah sangnaupang ahih lai-a a phuah hi-in, “Calm on the Listening Ear of Night” kici hi. Hih “Zamkim Gamdaih Kim Laitakin” zah-a a kizelh luat loh hangin hymn bu tampite ah kihel-a tuni dong mah-in kisasa lai hi. Tua la a phuah zawh kum 15 cianga a phuah hih la, “Zamkim Gamdaih Kim Laitakin” tawh kihuang mahmah hi.
Hih la, “Zamkim Gamdaih Kim Laitakin” bel Christian Register sungah December 29, 1849 ni-in kisuaksaka, vantung mite’ taangkona ah haksatna tuamtuam kawmkala mite’ tungah Pasian’ nopna leh angvaanna a kibulphuh late’ lakah a masapen pawl ahi hi. Hih la a kiphuah laitakin America gamah buaina lianpi a tun laitak ahi hi. Saklam leh khanglamte a thu uh kituak thei lo-in, tua zawh kum sawm sungin tual-gal piang takpi hi. Tua hun lai-a industrial revolution hangin New England ah buaina tampi piang hi.
California ah kham kimu ahih manin mi khempeuh tua lamah a tai hehu lai “forty-niner” hun zong hi sawnsawn hi. Hih lamalte ah tua bang buai zelzulna hanga gimna thuak mite in vantung mite’ taangkona aw a ngaih nading uh hanthotna kimu thei hi. Taang thumna bangah, “Leitung nuntak vangik nuai-ah, vangik lel-a awnte” in “Vantung la ngai dih un” ci-in hong sam hi. A nunungpen bangah,
Hih la-aw “carol” kici a, America gamah 19th century lai-a musician minthang mahmah khat ahi Richard S. Willis in a phuah ahi hi. Willis bel February 10, 1819 ni-a America gam Boston, Massachusetts a suak ahi hi. May 7, 1900 ni-in Detroit, Michigan ah si hi. Germany gamah laphuah dan kum guk sung sin ngei hi. Tua lai-ah “Ngai Un! Vantungmi’n Lasa” cih la a aw a phuak Felix Mendelssoln (1809-1847) tawh kimeltheih uh hi.
Germany gam pan America gamah a ciahkik khit ciangin New York Tribune ah music critic sem hi. Church Chorals and Choir Studies (1850), Our Church Music (1856), Waif of Song (1876), leh Pen and Lute (1883) cih laibute gelh hi. Hih la-aw bilbel pen a tungin “See Israel’s Gentle Shepherd Stand” a cih la ading-a kizang la-aw ahi hi. Ahi zongin Edmund Sears’ phuah lamalte tawh a kibulh ciangin kituak mahmah a, leitung buppi ah a kideih la hong suak hi.
Rev. Zam Khat Kham
Christian Hymn te’ tangthu 2005
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