God rest you merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this day
Peace and joy. Two words ubiquitous
at Christmas time, yet two words I suspect we do not feel as frequently as we
hear them, even during a festive season. Yet that is exactly what the (somewhat
archaic) first line of this carol bids us to feel – peace and joy from God. And
it doesn’t stop there, with freedom from all fear being thrown in also. The
reason? The Saviour has been born!
So why the variance in our
emotions when this saving birth has most certainly taken place? The fundamental
reason is that we are imperfect beings whose emotions are affected by curse
just as the rest of our constitution is. Yet we can misuse this sober
assessment as an excuse for apathy, fatalism, self-pity or whichever brand of
gloom we are most comfortable with. The right course is to take hold of these
wonderful truths – to meditate on them, to sing them, to embrace them in our
hearts.
God would not have us
wallow in despair, and nor will this carol. Its tone is thoroughly pro-active: Seek
peace! Rejoice! Do not be afraid! There is indeed great emotional resource to
be found in the Christmas message, and it is up to us take hold of it.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - English Traditional.
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