The Fifth Before Christmas

 

       Last year I refused to sing a line of a Christmas carol in choir. It attributed all the joys of Christmas to the fact that a "baby could convince us that he was God's son." Worst of all the song seemed intimate that this was okay. I'm not joking...that was an actual line in a carol. I was immediately outraged. If Christmas surrounds what is merely the biggest farce in human history, I don't see how that's worth celebrating. Either you don't believe Jesus was God, or you do. If you don't then you ought to be depressed by Christmas because of the sheer number of people who have been duped by a baby in a manger. 

       However, if you do fall at His feet and call Him Lord then this is a season worthy of rejoicing, and let us have no carols which proclaim Christ as anything less than the God of the universe.

       The carol I'm going share with you all today is a spiritual from the West Indies and emphatically and joyfully proclaims the deity of Christ: "He come from the glory, He come from the glorious kingdom."

        I first heard this carol, of all places, from The Cambridge Singers, arranged by John Rutter. I want you to listen to this version first and compare it with what I'm going to share next, a more traditional arrangement in the Calypso style. Rutter as well as tweaking the style just a tad, takes some liberty with the words, adding two extra verses to the original text.

However, I don't think the style detracts from the song, or from the message. If anything, Rutter carries on the spirit in which the song was probably written, as a way for those less familiar with the Bible to learn the story of Christmas, and intended to be improvised upon.

The virgin Mary had a baby boy,
the virgin Mary had a baby boy,
the virgin Mary had a baby boy
and they say that his name is Jesus.  

He come from the glory,
   he come from the glorious kingdom;
   he come from the glory,
   he come from the glorious kingdom.
   O yes, believer! O yes, believer!
   He come from the glory,
   he come from the glorious kingdom.

The angels sang when the baby was born,
the angels sang when the baby was born,
the angels sang when the baby was born
and they sang that his name is Jesus.
  
The shepherds came where the baby was born,
the shepherds came where the baby was born,
the shepherds came where the baby was born
and they say that his name is Jesus.

  What do you think? I'm curious which version you end up preferring at the end because I was torn. If you do pick a favorite, tell me why.

        Until tomorrow,

            ~ Christianna