I didn't intend it, but I've realized that all my songs this year seem to be centered around the ignominy of the cradle and are either lullabys or refer to the manger in some specific sense. Today's carol is no exception. On the other side of the centuries from Bach, today's carol comes to us from one of my favourite American Singers, Jazz musicians and performers from the early half of the twentieth century. There's something about this guy and his music that has me coming back again and again.
I'm super grateful that he lived in a time where his voice could be recorded. However, not just that, but the content of his songs were exceedingly rich, especially considering what most of his contemporaries were producing. Many of you may be familiar with his song, When I Fall in Love, or the last song he wrote before he was claimed by cancer, L-O-V-E but how many of you have ever heard this achingly sweet lullaby, A Cradle in Bethlehem?
Take a look at the lyrics:
Sing sweet and low your lullabytill angels say, "Amen."A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehemwhile wise men follow through the dark a star that beckons them.A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem."A little child shall lead them, " the prophets said of old.In storm and tempest keep 'em until the bells is tolled.Sing sweet and low your lullabytill angels say, "Amen."A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem.Sing sweet and low your lullaby.
A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem.
I love the imagery that this conveys, bringing together the prophecy from Isaiah, the wisemen on their way to Bethlehem, the star, the angels saying Amen when God judges the world, all converging around that cradle in Bethlehem, the center of it all.
And if you think that's beautiful, wait until you hear the music. One of the most powerful things I think music is capable of doing, is that of transporting you to a place, a time, a scene that you could otherwise never access, simply by conjuring the right blend of emotion. This song makes me feel the weight and reality of Jesus' birth, all the things that it brought together. All the things that hinge on that little manger in Bethlehem.
Listen to this beautiful lullaby and remember what great things the Lord has done for you. It might make you smile or it might make you weep...either way, let it transport you to that time and place, that focal point of all of history from the beginning of creation, until the point when the angels around the throne say, "Amen."
What do you think of that Cradle? What do you think of the one who chose to lie there?
Until tomorrow,
~ Christianna
1 comments:
He is Lovely!
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