The Coventry Carol
I hope you all are having a Merry Christmas. That's right, it is still Christmas. Christmastide lasts 12 days until Epiphany. Be sure to feast and celebrate the birth of Christ. If you can't manage any more feasting and celebrations, at the very least, leave your tree up.
Christmastide isn't about presents or overeating. It isn't only about a birth (though it certainly is that). It is also about death. The days following the Feast of the Nativity are St. Stephen, the protomartyr; a martyr in deed and will. Then comes St. John, who was a martyr in will but not in deed. And the Holy Innocents who were martyred not by their will but in deed.
Holidays can be both joyous and difficult. And especially difficult for those who are celebrating for the first time without a loved one or whose family is unable to join them. But the joy of Christmas is not only for the affluent or those left untouched by loss, far from it. The joy of Christmas is that God became man that we might have hope in this life and eternal life in the age to come. The hope of the incarnation and the Gospel message should lead us to give our lives for others, not circle the wagons.
So, whether your Christmas this year is full of cheer and thanksgiving for the many gifts of God, or if it comes to you with a heavy heart, know that the Christmas message is for us all; hope in times of darkness and joy in times of thanksgiving. But as we celebrate, we would be wise to always hold these two in tension. Rejoice, but let your joy lead you to a life of self-giving. Mourn, but do not mourn like those who have no hope. As Christians, the Christmas message calls us to the fullness of a life lived well and joined to Christ. For a life given, a life offered, or in martyrdom, a life taken for the sake of Christ is the path we are called to walk.
Our Anglican heritage has historically been good at holding these in tension. If you had any doubts, listen to one of the most beautifully haunting Christmas carols: the Coventry Carol. (Note: "By, by, lully, lullay" is an archaic term we would associate with lullabies, meaning to soothe or put to sleep.)
The Coventry Carols lyrics are as follows:
Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we do sing
By, by, lully, lullay.
Herod, the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young to slay.
That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever mourn and sigh,
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Merry Christmas,
Fr. Aaron