“In his name all oppression shall cease.”

Carol: “O Holy Night” – Translated from the French by John S. Dwight (1813-1893)
Tune: CANTIQUE DE NOEL (Adolphe Adam)

Oppression, slavery, mistreatment, abuses of all kinds. If I had one wish for every new year, it would be the cessation of all these. In other words, I guess my desire – my prayer – would be for peace, just like the angels promised.

These are the kinds of things that I can actively eliminate from my own habit-cycle, but I can’t seem to do much about it outside my own little piece of the globe. I can give to organizations that seek to eradicate these from people-groups, I can stand up for human rights, I can elect leaders who join me in my concern… but CAN all oppression cease?

I have to believe that it can, and that the infusion of the Spirit of Christ into the hearts and minds of the offenders is indeed capable of wiping out cruelty and subjugation wherever it raises its ugly head… or hides itself behind conventional facades. Not only is his name wonderful, it is also powerful – and freeing.

We started the Advent season with the singing of "O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive [people of all kinds] who wait in lonely exile." Before we step into Epiphany - to all those who fall into this category, I want to say with confidence: “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee.”

UCLA Choir Sings This Carol

"Consider well and bear in mind what our good God for us has done."

Carol: “Good People All, This Christmas Time” – 12th Century Irish
Tune: WEXFORD CAROL

Because this is not one of those familiar ones that come tripping off the tongue, I will print the first stanza; when you listen to it, you’ll realize how very Irish it is!

Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved Son.
With Mary, Joseph we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day.
In Bethlehem upon that morn,
There was a blessed Messiah born.

I’m using this carol NOW because it seems to go along with our taking down the tree and re-packing all our Christmas decorations – telling us not to forget why we have just celebrated this high, holy church season.

Consider well: think sincerely on the past few weeks of Advent’s anticipation and Christmas’s fulfillment. 

Bear in mind: carry with you into the next year the truth, the joy, the shared love of the recent days.

It’s a bit archaic, but we still hear people say (especially in arguments), “Now bear in mind…” That translates to “Now don’t forget.” Seems that this phrase from the ancient Irish carol is reminding us to remember what God has done for us in the midst of all our partying, eating, singing, concerting, etc.

Something you might do to help you with this: Write those first four lines of the carol on a large piece of paper and place it on the top of the last tub you store away after undecorating. Then when you open the box next year, you’ll be reminded of what the season is all about BEFORE you start decorating!

Hear This Carol with Allison Krauss with Yo-Yo Ma

“Seraph (and) cherubim…veil their faces to the Presence as with ceaseless voice they cry, ‘Alleluia.’”

“Seraph (and) cherubim…veil their faces to the Presence as with ceaseless voice they cry, ‘Alleluia.’”

Carol: “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” – Fifteenth Century
Tune: PICARDY

Many of you know that I collect Mickeys, Magi and Angels. I have slowed my angel-collecting since it has become trendy to do so; remember the words rebel and southerner are almost synonymous! Because I have several seraphim and cherubim sitting on shelves around the house, this hymnline may be more significant to me than it is to others.

Today we consider one of the holiest hymnlines ever penned (translated). It is definitely one of those “picture this” phrases. In the Presence, even angels cover their faces and voice their praises. While an obvious allusion to Isaiah’s sixth-chapter experience, these words set to this haunting melody conjure up a warming, hair-on-the-arm-raising reaction (as opposed to arm-raising!). I never sing or hear this without putting myself in their place – standing (or flying) before the very form of the Almighty, now shaped as a human. The melismatic “alleluia” rolls from the lips of the winged messengers, and I have no recourse but to join them… and my mortal silence is broken.

Cynthia Clawson's Haunting Singing of This Carol

Fernando Ortego Sings This Carol

"Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in."

Carol: “O Little Town of Bethlehem” – Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)
Tune: ST. LOUIS

Before we get into the Epiphany season, while we’re still in Christmastide, I want to hit a couple of significant carolines – and this one qualifies:

    “No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
    Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.”

As mentioned before in one of my hymnlines on the first half of this stanza (“How silently… the wondrous gift is given”), this line follows that thinking. The word meek is so often categorized with “weak,” and that’s not a good thing. The first synonym for meek is humble – then submissive and compliant. All three of those fit better into our understanding of the biblical concept (and this carol’s meaning) of those meek souls who stand ready to receive the Christ Child: humbly, in submission, open to being shaped or molded.

The word that always jumps out at me in this hymnline is the word “still.” Even now, over 2,000 years later, the dear Christ is standing by, reading to make his entrance into the lives of the meek souls. About thirty years after the manger event, the grown-up Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) People of gentleness and kindness seem to have a special place in the mind and heart of God, and he is STILL being welcomed and received by folk of that ilk.

He still comes to us. Be still to receive him.

[Everybody skips this stanza, it seems… in worship and on recordings. I couldn’t find another good recording online to post. I guess you’ll have to sing it to yourself!]

"He is still the undefiled, but no more a stranger."

Carol: “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child” – Joseph Simpson Cook (1859-1933)
Tune: TEMPUS ADEST FLORIDUM

This is one of those story-telling carols of which there are many! In stanza one the Baby is born; in stanza two the angels appear and the shepherds arrive, etc. The teaching point at the center of this carol, however, is the sinlessness of Christ – at his birth, during his earthly life, and (seemingly) beyond!

Hymns and carols have always helped us understand theology and/or tenets of the faith, and here Cook tucked away two references to the fact that Jesus was un-touched by sin entering this world or living in it – a feat of which none of the rest of us can boast.

In the first line of the carol, we sing, “There he lay the undefiled, to the world a stranger.” In THIS hymnline of the last stanza, not only is he still undefiled, he is no longer a stranger! Not only is he a celebrity of sorts – most everybody in the world has heard of him – but we can get to know him personally as the reigning Son of God… and we can join with all the earth in the praise of this Baby laid so gently by his mother on a bed of hay.

Speaking of theology, we are able to get to know Christ partly because of his sinlessness. You just cannot say a bad thing about the way he lived; he cannot be penalized for any infraction. (I’ve obviously watched too much football this week!) His spotless record made it possible for him to stand in for us as the sacrificial Lamb.

We will never become sinless during the new year, but we can become less sinful. Now THAT is an achievable resolution.

Hear a simple solo singing of this carol

P.S. - I’ve mentioned Christmastide a couple of times and want to clarify that a bit for those of you who aren’t “up” on the Church Year. Christmastide is commonly called the Twelve Days of Christmas. This includes eleven days after Christmas and culminates on the twelfth day which is Epiphany… the day we celebrate the coming of the Magi. We observe that in worship on the Sunday nearest that twelfth day – or the first Sunday in the new year. This season includes the celebration of the presentation of Christ at the Temple and his baptism. I won’t, by the way try to fill up another month and a half with Epiphany hymns!!!