{"id":258,"date":"2020-12-07T10:31:01","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T15:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=258"},"modified":"2020-12-07T10:31:01","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T15:31:01","slug":"coventry-carol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/07\/coventry-carol\/","title":{"rendered":"Coventry Carol"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The typical nativity scene includes Mary, Joseph, Jesus, shepherds, and Magi \u2013 not to mention a cow, a few sheep, and perhaps a humble-looking donkey.

One prominent character in the original Christmas accounts, however, never makes the cut. 

That would be King Herod.  Or as he liked to call himself, Herod the Great. 

The man who ruled Israel for almost 40 years, and who happened to be on the throne when Jesus came into the world, is the Dr. Evil of the Christmas narratives.   
 Herod was a monster.  He had 10 or 11 wives (apparently it\u2019s possible to lose count), and in a suspicious rage ordered the execution of Mariamne, the only one he seems to have loved.  He also ordered the violent deaths of one of his mothers-in-law, two brothers-in-law, an uncle, and even his old barber, who had quietly spoken up on their behalf.  Herod demanded the executions of three of his sons, propelled by the fear that they were trying to grab the throne a bit prematurely.   

Caesar Augustus once said, with disgust:  \u201cIt is better to be Herod\u2019s pig than his son.\u201d  Caesar figured that since Herod was half-Jewish, a pig was more likely to avoid slaughter than his own children.

Herod was grimly realistic about public perceptions.  His subjects despised him because of his deficient Jewish genealogy.  His Roman overlords despised him because he wasn\u2019t sufficiently Gentile.  As his death approached, Herod arranged for the incarceration of 70 esteemed public leaders.  He ordered they be killed immediately after his demise.  That way, he concluded, at least a few people would shed tears on the day of his death.  At the last minute the reckless plan was subverted by a compassionate official.   

We know from the Gospel of Matthew that Herod was sufficiently paranoid about reports that a new \u201cking of Israel\u201d had been born in Bethlehem that he ordered the extermination of every male two years and younger in the vicinity.  Because Joseph was warned in a dream to flee with his family, Jesus narrowly escaped the sword.

But other children did not.  Historians guess that the \u201cslaughter of the innocents\u201d may have taken as many as a dozen young lives. 

All of this is background to one of the most poignant Christmas carols. 

The Coventry Carol,<\/em> written sometime in the 1300s in England, is a lullaby sung by the mothers of the doomed children.  The oldest copy of the lyrics dates to 1534 \u2013 midway through the reign of Henry VIII.  The \u201cbye-byes\u201d of the mothers are heartbreaking:

Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child, bye bye, lully, lullay.<\/em>
Thou little tiny child, bye bye, lully, lullay.<\/em>

O sisters too, how may we do for to preserve this day<\/em>
This poor youngling for whom we sing, \u201cBye bye, lully, lullay\u201d?<\/em>

Herod the king, in his raging, charg\u00e8d he hath this day<\/em>
His men of might in his own sight all young children to slay.<\/em>

That woe is me, poor child, for thee and ever mourn and may<\/em>
For thy parting neither say nor sing, \u201cBye bye, lully, lullay.\u201d<\/em>

Here\u2019s a prayerful rendition<\/a> by Anuna, an Irish choral ensemble that strives to keep ancient and medieval music alive. 

Christmas is the only holy day that is also a secular holiday.  The culture at large is captivated by the joys of December 25.  Those who shrug off the spiritual implications of Jesus\u2019 birth are often more than willing to borrow the angels\u2019 promise of peace on earth, and to share in the market\u2019s passion for gift-giving.  As a secular holiday, Christmas is supposed to bring smiles. 

But the Coventry Carol<\/em> is a reminder that Jesus came into a world that can break our hearts. 

That struck home once again when the famous Coventry Cathedral, where the carol had been performed for centuries, was almost obliterated by Nazi bombers during World War II, as seen in the image above.

One day God will set everything right.  But that day has not yet come.  Until then, some of our songs will be in minor keys.

For Herod, think how things might have been different.  Wouldn\u2019t it be amazing if carolers came to our front door every December singing about the king who was wise enough to yield his throne and his own heart to the true King, who was born in Bethlehem? 

Herod declined that opportunity.

But you and I can still say yes.

And we can add our voices to those who yearn to teach the world a new tune. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The typical nativity scene includes Mary, Joseph, Jesus, shepherds, and Magi \u2013 not to mention a cow, a few sheep, and perhaps a humble-looking donkey. One prominent character in the original Christmas accounts, however, never makes the cut.  That would be King Herod.  Or as he liked to call himself, Herod the Great.  The man who ruled Israel for almost… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,83,84],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas-carols","tag-herod-the-great","tag-slaughter-of-the-innocents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":260,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}