DESCRIPTION:
"Let Heaven and Nature Sing" An Abendmusik Christmas, First Plymouth Church, Lincoln Nebraska, December, 2012.
The Hills are Bare in Bethlehem American Folk Hymn/ arr. Ralph Johnson
(Text: Royce J. Scherf, alt.)

The hills are bare at Bethlehem, no future for the world they show;
Yet here new life begins to grow, from earth's old dust a greenwood stem.
The stars are cold at Bethlehem, no warmth for those beneath the sky;
Yet here the radiant angels fly, and joy burns new, a fiery gem.
The heart is tired at Bethlehem, no human dream unbroken stands;
Yet here God comes to mortal hands, and hope renewed cries out: "Amen!"