The following will appear in the Dry Drayton News in December
Most of us will have sung it many, many times: perhaps when we were young, and then again with children or grandchildren. Will you be singing it, or listening to it at a carol service or carol concert this year?
Written in the style of a lullaby, it is full of Victorian sentimentality. Its soft focus on the new baby and its animation of the stars indicate that it was written for young children. But it successfully throws our gaze into the stable at the focal point of the nativity story.
Then part way thro
ugh the song, Jesus is no longer the vulnerable child in the manger, rather he is
looking down upon us as we sing. He is our Protector and Accompanier as the last verse begins with a prayer of blessing that asks for Jesus’ loving presence; and he is our heavenly King as it ends with recognition of his transforming power.
