Tucked In

42 degrees and raining, raining, raining.  The Tennessee hills are hidden beneath grey cotton clouds, matching the color of the mud in the pastures and all around the barn.  Slippery, boot-sucking mud.  

In the barn, the horses are tucked away in their stalls quietly munching hay while the rain drums on the tin roof.  Steam rises from their warm, wet backs and all is well in the world of horses and barns.

In the house, the dogs have scarcely stirred.  Don't we humans know it's time to hibernate?

The Eleventh Day of Christmas

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

11 Pipers piping,

10 Lords a leaping,

9 Ladies dancing,

8 Maids a-milking,

7 Swans a-swimming,

6 Geese a-laying,

5 Golden rings;

4 Calling birds,

3 French hens,

2 Turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree!

One of the Christmas traditions in our family is to draw parts and sing "The 12 Days of Christmas."  It's lots of fun and not easy to do - you can lose your place pretty quickly!  We like to sing it on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but it would probably be a good idea to sing it during the 12 days leading up to Epiphany.  

There are some who say that the song contains Biblical illusion for each of the objects of the song.  For example, 2 turtledoves would indicate the Old and New Testament, and 4 calling birds denote the 4 Apostles, but whether they do or not, it's still a great song.

During the 12 days of Christmas leading to Epiphany Day, Christian tradition reminds us of the continuing story of Christ's nativity; the gifts of the Magi, Herod's slaughter of the innocents, and the Temple visit.  Many songs in ages past have been written about these events and perhaps none grip our hearts so sharply as those that commemorate the slaughter of the Innocents.  King Herod, after hearing the report of the Magi that a King had been born, was so jealously obsessed with his own rule, that he deemed no other king would exist besides himself; so he issued to edict that all infant boys under the age of 2 were to be killed and sent his minions to perform the deed.  "Thus was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 'A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."  - Matt.2:17-18.  These innocent babes became the first of the Martyrs.  Yet despite all that man can and will do to try to thwart the purposes of God, His purposes cannot fail.  Emmanuel, God with us, was revealed to the world to bear the sins of the world, to redeem the world to the Father.  And that is the good news of Epiphany!

The Venerable Bede (673-735) wrote a hymn honoring Christian martyrs entitled "A Hymn for Martyrs Sweetly Sing".  The following verses remind us of those first young martyrs:

A hymn for martyrs sweetly sing;

For Innocents your praises bring;

Of whom in tears was earth bereaved,

Whom heaven with songs of joy received;

Whose angels see the Father's face

World without end, and hymn His grace;

And, while they praise their glorious King,

A hymn for Martyrs sweetly sing.

A voice from Ramah was there sent,

A voice of weeping and lament, While Rachel mourned her children sore,

Whom for the tyrant's sword she bore.

After brief taste of earthly woe

Eternal triumph now they know;

For whom, by cruel torments rent,

A voice from Ramah was there sent.

And every tear is wiped away

By your dear Father's hand for aye:

Death hath no power to hurt you more;

Your own is life's eternal shore.

And all who, good seed bearing, weep,

In everlasting joy shall reap,

What time they shine in heavenly day,

And every tear is wiped away.

Another song commemorating this sad event is one better known to us, "The Coventry Carol".  This carol is actually part of a Medieval Mystery play that was performed in Coventry each year on the Feast of Corpus Christi.  The carol is sung at the part of the play where the mothers are singing lullabies to their babies in an attempt to put them to sleep so that Herod's soldiers won't find them.  

"Lullay thou little tiny child,

By, by, lully,lullay.

Lullay, thou little tiny child,

By, by, lully, lullay.

Oh, sisters, too, How may we do

For to preserve this day,

This poor youngling for whom we 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.

Then woe is me, poor child, for thee,

And ever mourn and say

For thy parting neither say nor sing:

"By, by, lully, lullay."

Epiphany Sunday

Epiphany literally means "to reveal" or "to make known".  It is celebrated on January 6th and is the culmination of the 12 Days of Christmas.  Traditionally during this time, Christians remember the story of the Magi who recognized the significance of the signs and times, who journeyed far to find the Christ child and worshipped Him, bringing Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  A well-known Christmas song, The First Noel, is actually an Epiphany song which tells the story of the Magi:

"And by the light of that same star, three Wise Men came from country far;

To seek for a King was their intent, and to follow the star where'er it went.

This star drew nigh to the northwest, over Bethlehem it took its rest;

And there it did both stop and stay, right over the place where Jesus lay.

Then entered in those Wise Men three, full reverently upon the knee,

And offered there, in His presence, their gold and myrrh and frankincense.

God had revealed and made known the eminent arrival and birth of His son first through the angel Gabriel's announcement (Luke 1), then through the Virgin's song (L.1) and the angelic announcement to the shepherds (Luke 2), and finally to the wise men of the East by the appearance and guidance of a star (Matthew 2).  The Light of the World was made manifest in a world full of darkness and pain, sin and sorrow, and that is the Good News of Epiphany.

 In years past, once Christmas Day was over at our house, Christmastime itself was over and it was time to pack it all away until next year.  But it always seemed like something remained, that the holiday had not had a proper conclusion, and that let-down feeling was hard to shake even though we'd enjoyed Advent and Christmas fully.  But in the past 2 or 3 years, we've had the joy of learning to continue the celebration during the 12 Days of Christmas and Epiphany.  There are still many things from the Christmas story to celebrate and to continue to meditate upon:  the Magi, Herod and the slaughter of the Innocents, the purification of Jesus and Mary in the temple and the words there of Simeon and Anna.  Such significance and richness deserves and demands our attention.  

I'd love to share with you the Epiphany traditions we've developed both at home and at church, but I think I'll save that until another Christmastime, for this year we've contemplated the season in another profound way.  The birth and death of our grandson, Beau, our own flesh and blood, has forever changed us and the way we think and feel about things.  Through Beau, the Lord has brought us closer to Him and, hopefully, to a better understanding of redemption.  We cannot read the Christmas and Epiphany stories without thinking differently about another Baby who came to die and of another mother whose soul was pierced.  We are forever changed.

Recently a friend shared a poem she'd read by Bethany Hudson on her website The Apple Cider Mill.  Bethany's cousin had lost a baby just before Christmas and she wrote the poem as she, too, pondered the paradox of Christmas.  With Bethany's permission, I have reprinted this beautiful and poignant poem for you. 

"Myrrh"

by Bethany Hudson

The week before Christmas, 

I got a call from New York.

Expecting Christmas greetings

or questions about presents,

I was surprised to hear my mother's 

voice so somber-sad

as she told me,

"Jenny lost the baby."

"It was a little girl.

The cord wrapped around her neck.

They had to take her.

She didn't make it.

It's very private.

Jenny and Michael seem to handling things well.

I hope this won't distress you."

To be honest,

I was too shocked for distress.

I just kept thinking,

How could God let this happen?

How could this baby,

due in January,

meet her death before her birth?

How could God let this happen?

And why now?

At Christmas?

Over the next few days,

I found myself thinking more about

Easter than Christmas:

more of death than birth.

And somehow in this mystery

of incarnation,

I found peace

for the mystery of this loss.

It still doesn't make sense.

But, I know how it could happen.

It's all happened before.

The manger doesn't seems so peaceful to me now.

Instead of a silent night,

I see Mary bellowing in pain,

Joseph trembling in fear,

wondering, would this baby live?

In blood,

on straw shared with animals,

our God was born

into a world that sought his death,

and the wiseman brought him myrrh.

Such a strange and morbid gift.

What must Mary have thought?

Did she ponder it in her heart?

That gift of myrrh at birth,

a birth already meant for

early death upon a cross?

Did she wonder what it meant?

Or, did she know?

And, as we drink our eggnog,

sing our carols,

light the tree,

do we consider what

is coming

when winter dies

and spring gives birth?

Do we think about

this baby boy,

born in a barn,

as the savor

who will die so young?

This Christmas, my cousin

will understand the gift of myrrh,

as she buries her hopes and dreams

in a tiny coffin.

As she grieves, 

she will recall the birth 

of another baby

whose mother's joy gave

way to mourning.

Gold for the King.

Frankincense for the priest.

But, myrrh for the mother,

whose heart would break

with the body of her son.

Myrrh for a birth

married with death,

but death conjoined

to life, through resurrection.

By His birth, 

His death,

He has purchased our salvation.

And, by His birth,

I may find peace 

in the death

of a baby girl.

Through this Christ,

we may find peace

for any pain we find in life.

This is the gift of myrrh.

Christmas Night

On Christmas night all Christians sing, to hear the news the angels bring,

On Christmas night all Christians sing, to hear the news the angels bring,

News of great joy, news of great mirth, News of our merciful King's birth.

All out of darkness we have light, which made the angels sing this night,

All out of darkness we have light, which made the angels sing this night,

Glory to God and peace to men, Now and forevermore.  Amen.

~Sussex Carol
Good Christian men, rejoice with heart and soul and voice!

Now ye need not fear the grace:  Peace!  Peace!  Jesus Christ was born to save;

He hath opened heaven's door, and man is blessed forevermore.

Christ was born to save.  Christ was born to save.

The Love of God

"The whole life of Christ was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr.  He found a Golgotha even in Bethlehem; for, to his tenderness then, the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after; and the manger as uneasy at first, as his cross at last.  His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and morning of one and the same day."   ~ John Donne, from a sermon preached at St. Paul's Cathedral in London on Christmas Day, 1626

For Christ came once to die that we might live with Him eternally (Hebrews 9), so "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  1 John 4: 7, 9-10 

A most blessed and tender Merry Christmas from all of us at High Meadow Farm.

Merry Christmas!

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around the, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

When the angel went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told. them."  Luke 2:8-20 

'Tis the Season

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly,

Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.

'Tis the season to be jolly,

Fa-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!"

"The holly and the ivy, when they are both fully grown

Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown.

The holly bears a blossom as white as lily flower,

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to be our Savior.

The holly bears a berry as red as any blood,

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to do poor sinners good.

The holly bears a prickly as sharp as any thorn,

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ on Christmas Day in the morn.

The holly bears a bark as bitter as any gall,

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ for to redeem us all.

For all these reasons we decked not halls, but a tiny casket this Christmastime.  Holly is the male representation of triumph, and ivy the female representation.  The holly berries stand for the blood of Christ.  We used these visible symbols to remind us that in Christ Jesus, by His blood that redeems us, our little Beau - and we - stand triumphant over death.  It has no power over us, but has simply become the servant who bears us to the Father.  It's spectral presence has been defeated.The lovely little mistletoe was mixed in with holly and ivy, too.  It's small white berry pictures purity for us, and, of course, it brings to mind its tradition of kissing.  For these reasons we used the mistletoe, because in life we covered Beau with constant kisses, and in death we covered his grave with kisses as well.
"The holly and the ivy when they are both full grown,

Of all the trees that are in the wood the holly bears the crown.

O the rising of the sun and the running of the deer,

The playing of the merry organ sweet singing in the choir."