Editor’s Word: One Solitary Life

Rudy Gray

Rudy Gray

There is a piece of prose that has grown in popularity since its inception in 1926. It is simply titled, “One Solitary Life.” I first came across this in 1971 while taking a New Testament survey course at Anderson University. It is quoted by H.I. Hester in his book, “The Heart of the New Testament.” He attributed it to Phillips Brooks, but Brooks was not the author. Over the years, it has been recorded by various singers like Bill Anderson, Robert Goulet and others. It has appeared on Christmas cards, in magazines and books, and on digital platforms. President Ronald Reagan read it to a group of children gathered at the White House in 1982. He said, “I think it describes the meaning of Christmas.”

There are several versions of the composition (I stopped counting at 15), each slightly different from the other. Throughout the years, even to the present, it is often ascribed to an “unknown author.” However, the author was a Baptist pastor named James Allen Francis. He became a pastor at 21 and served in ministry until his death in 1928 at age 64. After writing the first version, while serving as pastor of First Baptist Church of Los Angeles, he made some minor changes to it the following year. It is reported that the original version was part of a sermon he preached.

You may have encountered this short essay in some form or fashion. I want to include it here as a way of wishing each of you a blessed Christmas and a great New Year:

“He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years, He was an itinerant preacher.

“He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never went to college. He never visited a big city. He never travelled more than two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He did none of the things usually associated with greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

“While still a young man, the tide of private opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. As He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had — His coat.

“When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

“Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of mankind’s progress. All the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that have ever sailed, all the parliaments that have ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned put together have not affected the life of mankind on earth as powerfully as that one solitary life.”

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5-11: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus came, and He is coming again. What a privilege it is to know Him through the new birth, follow Him daily, experience His unmatched forgiveness, and serve Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This year, 2020, has been a tumultuous time, yet our Lord continues to show us His love, faithfulness, and truth. To Him be the glory, honor, and praise that is due Him — especially as we approach this upcoming and unusual holiday season.