In the time of Christmas present

In the time of Christmas present,

We, to mark Your work begun,

Celebrate the birth of Jesus,

Son of God, the Holy One.

We sing songs of praise and wonder

For the thing that You have done:

"Christ the Savior is born."

 

In our joyous celebrations

Children sing and organs play.

Candles flicker in the darkness

As the night o'ertakes the day.

Still, we long for holy quiet

As we journey on Your way:

"Come, let us adore him."

 

For we wait this holy coming

In a world of blinding noise,

One that in its boisterous clamor

Settles for such lesser toys.

How can we, amidst such furor,

Hear Your word and all its joys?

"Christ the Savior is born."

 

Help us, Lord, in such confusion,

Keep our hearts affixed on You; 

Teach us how to bear Your word in

All we say and all we do.

Train our thoughts on Jesus only,

Who is holy, good, and true:

"Come, let us adore him."

 

 

Text: Charles Spence Freeman, December 2022.

Music: Tune DIVINUM MYSTERIUM, Plainsong, Mode V 

I can only guess that folks who are heavily invovled in a church's observances of the seasons of Advent and Christmas (and maybe even Epiphany) can get thoroughly overwhelmed by the work at times and lose the thread that makes those seasons matter (raises hand). I also wonder if for everybody - ministers, musicians, congregations - it can be sorely challenging to keep that thread amidst the ferocious drumbeat of "the holidays" (a name that in some forms truly respects none of the observances that happen in this time). This text tries to sort through all that. A couple of phrases from familiar carols of the season do pop in, and the use of a chant tune is deliberate in a way I am not certain I can explain, as is the old-fashioned use of capitalized second-person pronouns in addressing God.