Sharing the Savior’s Story

Christmas Bedlam

Is your Christmas bedlam? Let me tell you about that English word “bedlam.” When we use that word in our conversations, we mean “complete chaos.” What you may not know is the word bedlam is taken from Bethlehem, the name of the town where Jesus Christ was born. In the year 1247 a hospital was built in England. It was dedicated to and called St. Mary's of Bethlehem. Of course, that's a very long name. People who entered the hospital didn't say, “I'm going to St. Mary’s of Bethlehem.” Those who were visiting a sick relative didn't use that oversized name either. Instead, whenever someone headed out to Saint Mary's of Bethlehem, they would say, “I’m going to Bethlehem.” Eventually, they just shortened the whole thing and said, “I’m going to Bedlam.”

As the years changed, the medical needs of society also changed. The hospital, now known as Bedlam, became an asylum for the insane. Understand, we're not talking about a contemporary, uncontaminated, fully equipped psychological facility. When we say Bedlam was an asylum, it would be better if you thought about the place as a prison. The doctors had no theories about therapy. The notion of rehabilitation would have to wait for another age. The hospital was a holding tank of helplessness. Once you were admitted to Bedlam there was little hope of ever walking out again. If you were not genuinely disturbed when you entered, Bedlam's sites and sounds would soon make you so.

Bedlam became a space where the insane were placed, not for their healing, but to keep them quarantined from those who were healthy. People on the surrounding streets could hear the continuous cries and constant screams of Bedlam's inmates. The ignorant found coarse humor as they ridiculed Bedlam's sick and sad souls. The once beautiful St. Mary’s of Bethlehem became bedlam, a place of uncontrolled noise, chaos, and confusion.

Excerpt from The Lutheran Hour broadcast of: December 14, 2003