Advent Devotional: December 16

On a July day in 1933, the American folk composer, John Jacob Niles found himself in a little town in North Carolina while traveling through the Appalachians. He was in a revival meeting when he heard a little girl singing. Niles described her as unbelievably dirty and unwashed, but naturally very pretty with an untrained, but pretty voice. Her family was extremely poor, and her tune was very simple, but Niles offered to pay her 25 cents for every time he asked her to sing it for him. After the girl sang the song eight times (and paying her $45 in today's money), all Niles was able to write down was the repeated refrain, "I wonder as I wander," and a few additional words. The whole song was only three lines long. Still, Niles believed that the song had potential as a Christmas carol that captured the simplicity of life in Appalachia, and he published the version we now know today by December of that year.

The song humbly reflects on the wonder of the Incarnation (called the "hypostatic union" in theological terms - referring to the mystery of the union between God and man in one essence or person). Beyond that, the song also reflects on the significance of the King of kings coming to die for His people as the prophets foretold.