Through the seemingly endless waves of time -
Nations, kingdoms, cultures, environments, movements -
Through all of the machinations of Mankind -
a promise made in the beginning (Genesis 3:15) would be kept for the redemption of humanity.
That we need redeeming does not seem to be questioned. Even in contemporary American politics,
all sides agree that humans treat one another and the planet poorly.
We mock and scorn,
we dump issue after issue and trash upon trash into and onto all that is made.
We still hide from the usually tender voice of God while yelling at others to confirm our designs.
We roll our eyes at grace when it asks us to consider its ways as we restlessly pursue our own agendas.
The way of peace is overgrown while the way of self-interest is paved and smooth.
Let's be clear: we have enemies within and without. We fight ourselves and we fight each other. Since Genesis we have been embattled.
But for reasons known only to the Father, Jesus entered time as a child in one of the world's crossroads. This act - this unwed virgin mother's birth - was, unbeknownst to mankind,
the keeping of a promise to rescue and redeem us.
If His promise was a flag, it would have looked shredded to our eyes. How many generations of rising and falling, of finding and losing, of living and dying have passed since God spoke in Genesis 3:15? So. Many. Years. So many cries. So many lives.
This promise, this flag, surely looked beaten, soiled, trodden over, and forgotten,
and Mankind heard only occasional faint echoes of His voice singing over us.
Then, out of nowhere, a young girl was told she would bear the Son of God and,
a little while later, six miles south of Jerusalem in a place where animals were kept,
she would give birth to Jesus,
Yeshua.
How blessed the one who bore Him Who Cannot Be Contained.
How blessed the air His lungs breathed first.
How blessed the ears that heard His first cries, and
How that infant's cry signaled the end of sin's tyranny over man.
A savior had come, in flesh disguised.
His tiny hands that wrapped around Mary's fingers
would one day heal the blind
and be nailed to an execution stake.
His tiny feet would one day be washed with tears,
worshipped,
pierced with spikes,
and would one day
crush the serpent's head.
This is the word and work of the Lord.
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A Different Kind of Christmas Song
By Christmas, 1940, the European War had been going for a year and a quarter. All of Britian trembled at the threat of the powerful German enemy. People sheltered underground. Food was rationed. No church bells. Bombs instead. Rubble. Blitzkrieg.
It was darker. Cold.
A crazed, merciless man had been given unlimited power, and his anger placed fear into the hearts of his national neighbors. When he spoke, the world listened - and feared. He and his will forced nations underground.
It was the second Christmas in the war to end war.
A bit further back in time,
Herod the Great was given the title “King of the Jews” in the year 40. A while later and after he got the offical position, He immediately killed opposition leaders.
He killed the wife he liked best, her two sons, her brother, her grandfather, and her mother. His reputation was known far and wide. So much so that the Ceasar of Rome (Augustus, Herod’s boss) said something to the effect of a pig being safer than his sons.
An unlcean animal was safer.
He killed a young priest because he thought his following may be too influential, and he killed an old priest for treason. Really, he had no reason at all. He was simply a tyrant - a paranoid man with power.
So, while there may be no extrabiblical account of his mass-murdering of every male child two years of age and under in the area of Bethlehem, it isn’t beyond belief, and we get this:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more.
He heard about a coming king and did what he always did, which was whatever it took to hold and exert power.
When he trembled with paranoia, those around him trembled with fear.
The Geman army and its leader struck terror into the hearts of those they opposed, leaving devestation where they went, and Herod was also an unstable terror.
Both now await, in the halls of Hades, the judgement of the one they truly opposed - the once tender-footed Jesus of Nazereth, of Bethlehem, of Jerusalem, of London, of Berlin, of Coventry, of Nashville, and of all the Earth.
So,
in order to deepen our Christmas reflections,
I offer two Christmas songs for your consideration
(one with an addition of my own and an invitation to you.).
First,
“The Coventry Carol” is a way to link our present with the past and to remember those who have been forced to hide and scramble for shelter. It links us to the 1500s when the work was composed, to the 1940s when the song was used in a message to the beleaguered and bombed British people, and to the days of Jesus of Nazereth, as this song was originally written to explore Herod’s decree to kill the aforementioned children of the Bethlehem area (and we may also contemplate Mary’s fear and sadness over the main target being her son.).
BUT WAIT - Why is it called the Coventry Carol?
It was performed regularly in the town of Coventry. Here is a good site to read about it: Coventry Carol
Lully, lullah, thou tiny little child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.
Thou tiny little child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.O sisters too, how may we do
For to preserve this day
This pure youngling for whom we sing,
‘Bye bye, lully, lullay.’Herod the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might in his own sight
All young children to slay.That woe is me, poor child, for thee
And ever mourn and may
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
‘Bye bye, lully, lullay.’
All too soon after this event, another mother would be at the foot of a Roman cross, heartbroken, lamenting the loss of her own son. We cannot have Christmas without Mary. How many times did she kiss the feet of her little son? How many times was her face against his little neck? How many coos and baby dreams did she hear and see? How many sweet wispers? How deep the silence when locked on his eyes? How many lullabies?
And how many parents today hold the limp body of their child in their arms after pulling them from dusty rubble? How many times do the string-pullers have to use the innocent as fodder for their plans? How long, O Lord? How long?
And now, another different kind of Christmas song.
This song has some of my favorite imagery, so succinctly presented. The words are simply some of my favorites.
Please pay attention to the words. Read them slowly and let them sink in.
The lady who wrote the song below had overt Christian intentions. The folk singer Pete Seeger (who added the last two stanzas in the 60’s) was, however, politically motivated. Pete also tweaked the lyrics to hide the Christian meanings.1 I like what Pete added, but I will baptize his contribution. (It’s what we do…)
In my way of thinking, this is a Christmas song, and therefore the last two stanzas fit right in. From tyrants filled with bloodlust to the faithful imprisoned by them, Pete Seeger did us all a favor by adding these lines, and I’m contributing by circling back to the Messiah to make a nice, neat bow.
My life goes on in endless song
Above earth's lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear it's music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?While though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness 'round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?
When tyrants tremble in their fear
And hear their death knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near
How can I keep from singing?In prison cell and dungeon vile
Our thoughts to them are winging,
When friends by shame are undefiled
How can I keep from singing?
Here are some versions I like:
I’m going to pull a Pete Seeger and add my own lines to the tune.
You should join me in this exercise and have your body remember what it is to use your creative faculties to worship. The effort to condense powerful imagery into a few lines forces us to lean on what we know and what we feel about what we know. It forces us into reflection. These lines were put down hastily, but get the point across.
When from huddled behind the doors
We see the chains start swinging
When Hades’ gates are thrown aside
How can I keep from singing?
****
When body bound is body freed,
Death’s grip’s no longer stinging,
When Jesus shouts his chorus out,
How can I keep from singing?
Happy Holidays.
Merry Christmas.
Happy New Year.
The King has come.
Let tyrants tremble.
https://www.debisimons.com/how-can-i-explain-the-backstory-of-how-can-i-keep-from-singing/
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