Advent Reflection 13 December

Away in a Manger

 

Pause for a moment

 

What do you remember most about your childhood Christmases?

Listen to the music

Away in a manger no crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes
But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.
I love thee Lord Jesus; look down from the sky
And stay by my side until morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay

Close by me for ever, and love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,

And fit us for heaven, to live with thee there.

 

Learn about the carol

 

"Away in a Manger" was first published in the late nineteenth century and is sung widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain, it is one of our most popular carols; a 1996 Gallup Poll ranked it joint second. It was claimed to be the work of German religious reformer Martin Luther, with the great majority of early publications of the carol going so far as to title the carol "Luther's Cradle Song" or "Luther's Cradle Hymn", to describe the English words as having been translated from Luther, or to speak of its alleged popularity in Germany. By Christmas of 1883, "Luther's Cradle Song" was already being performed as a recitation as part of a Sunday School celebration in a church in Nashville.

The carol is now thought to be wholly American in origin. Richard Hill, in a comprehensive study of the carol written in 1945, suggested that "Away in a Manger" might have originated in "a little play for children to act or a story about Luther celebrating Christmas with his children", likely connected with the 400th anniversary of the reformer's birth in 1883.

Time for reflection

 

Lying in a makeshift Manger, designed for cattle not Kings, here he is, the Lord of all. Probably, actually, making quite a lot of crying some of the time. Here he is, the light of the world.
All the traditions, the carols, the clutter; all the comfortable, crowded familiarity of Nativity images; never let them drown out our wonder. The God baby - so precariously and generously given- lies helplessly in straw for us. And suddenly, centuries of promised redemption is real. God's love is being lived out in tiny wrinkles and plaintive cry. Messiah has come -because of God's love, - to reconcile us in love; and if we let him, to show us – who so easily forget we are made in his image – how to love like him.

Time for Action

 

See how you can help families in need after the Christmas rush is over.