A bit over six and a half years ago, astronaut Nick Hague recorded a video on the International Space Station. Nothing special there, but this one shows 30 minutes of Earth’s clouds passing by in about 60 seconds.
Just shy of a century back, someone named Coffin took an old Latin song, translated it, and added a couple verses. Including this one:
“…O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.”
(“O Come, O Come, Emanuel” , verse added by Henry Sloan Coffin in 1916)
A millennium plus a century before that, “O Come, O Come, Emanuel” — or, rather, “Veni, veni, Emmanuel” — got started as a song sung by monks during Advent.
Current events have changed a bit since 2019, 1916, and the eighth century. Human nature, not so much. That’s not a new or original idea.
“…Human nature will not change. In any future great national trial, compared with the men of this, we will have as weak and as strong, as silly and as wise, as bad and as good. Let us, therefore, study the incidents of this as philosophy to learn wisdom from, and none of them as wrongs to be revenged….”
(“On Democratic Government” ; Response to a Serenade, November 10, 1864; Abraham Lincoln (November 10, 1864) via Project Gutenberg) [emphasis mine]
What we’re celebrating today is — I’m putting this mildly — a very big deal.
Celebrating the Messiah and Lord’s Birth
“Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:“‘Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’“
(Luke 2:8–14) [emphasis mine]
Two millennia have passed since then. The infant who was and is Messiah and Lord grew up, showing us who and what the Messiah and Lord is.
Then Jesus was tortured, executed, and buried. A few days later he stopped being dead. That made a profound impression on his surviving followers.
Before Jesus left, he told his followers to share the best news humanity’s ever had, with anyone who would listen. So that’s what we’ve been doing. Among other things.
He also said he’d be back, and that’s another topic.
I’ve talked about this, and related matters, before:
- “Just Who is This Jesus Person, and Who Does He Think He is?” (October 8, 2022)
- “Jesus, Human on His Mother’s Side: the Incarnation” (December 25, 2021)
- “Joy and Shadow, Free Will and Something Silly” (December 12, 2020)
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