The Christmas Gospel

Advent Calendar / 19 December

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2:

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

 

⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,  and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2:

¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
   who will shepherd my people Israel.”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The pictures are all of my own Nativity Scene decorations (and some extra angels) which I put up yesterday in my study. All the pieces don’t come from the same source, but I’m having some fun with that… ;)

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Listen at YouTube to Sinead O’Connor singing Silent Night.

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About Me and Languages (2)

Before I go on with the British influence – a musical interlude…

In 7th grade (~ 1st year of 'junior high') a second foreign language was introduced, either French or German. I chose French, probably strongly influenced by my parents, who were not too fond of German. In 9th grade, all former school classes were broken up and we were divided into new ones according to what kind of school we intended to go on to after that. My aim was to continue to focus on languages.

9th grade for me included several new friends and new discoveries. With my two best friends during that year, I shared a deep passion for Simon and Garfunkel. Not only did we listen endlessly to Bridge Over Troubled Water, Sounds of Silence, Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme, Wednesday Morning 3 a.m. and Bookends; we also analysed the lyrics. Wrote them down from listening, looked up the words, pondered over the meaning. Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joan Baez were other favourites.

We also worked together on a school project about the Vietnam war. It was a year of increased awareness of the world, and deep thoughts about the meaning of life. Gospel music also came into my life during that year – one of my new friends was a member of a gospel choir, and I went to some church concerts to listen. Also, the Rock Opera Jesus Christ Superstar was released, and contributed to thoughts and discussion. It should perhaps be mentioned that my family weren't churchgoers. I was baptised as a baby in the Church of Sweden (Lutheran state church - nowadays separated from the state but that did not happen until the year 2000) and "confirmed" at the age of 14, because in those days nearly everbody was. But aside from that, we never went to church. During 9th grade and the following summer, however, I went from sort of agnostic to atheist back to agnostic to believer. I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but not really off topic. Music and the church were, and always remained, important for my continued interest in and use of the English language.

To illustrate, here is Mary Hopkin with the song International from another of my favourite albums from the early 70s – Earth Song/ Ocean Song. (YouTube)