English folk music has some unusual songs about Jesus and
his childhood, some with non-biblical story lines, like the
Cherry Tree Carol, have made their way into the Oxford Carol
book, others haven’t and are sung with stories of other
strange legends in folk clubs.
The Bitter Withy is an English folk song reflecting an
unusual and apocryphal vernacular idea of Jesus Christ. The
withy of the title is the willow and the song gives an
explanation as to why the willow tree rots from the centre
out, rather than the outside in.
The infant Jesus asks Our Lady to go out and play ball, and
is joined by three other children who refuse to play with
him as they are lords' and ladies' children and his dad is
“common.” The child Jesus then demonstrates he is far
superior than them by building a bridge of sunbeams, going
over it, and when they follow him, they fall into the
sea. Our lady finishes the song as any good medieval
mother would by giving him a beating with a withy for his
folly.
Understandably the Church had problems with this particular
song and it didn’t make the Oxford Carol book. It
clearly demonstrates Jesus divinity, making him far superior
to the earthly Lords and Ladies children, but his supposed
actions in drowning the impudent children are very out of
character with the Jesus we know and love.
The collect for today says “grant that, as he came to
share in our humanity, so we may share the life of his
divinity;”
Galatians reminds us that we are adopted as children of God
through Jesus, no longer slaves but children. That is
a big leap in status, and more: we are not illegitimate
children, but actual heirs of God the Father’s
Kingdom. As a Jimmy Owen song drawing on Galatians and
St. Paul’s letter to the Romans says: 'We are heirs of the
Father We are joint heirs with the Son, We are children of
the kingdom, We are family we are one.'
Have you had new clothes this Christmas? Isaiah tells of new
clothes - a people being clothed with garments of salvation,
robes of righteousness comparable to the clothes of brides
and grooms. Nothing to do with the austerity of a
people chastened by exile, having to exist in another
country which is not their own, but the sheer unbridled
generosity of the Divine Father. A God who is prepared
to forgive and give his people another chance in there own
land. Future glory beyond anything known in the past
history of the people.
The prophet also talks of spring and new growth, following
winter. Think of all those bulbs waiting in the ground
for a glorious spring display. That is our
destiny as children of God, our humanity will literally
flower in the fullness of Christ’s divinity.
As the Eucharistic prayer will say; “In him we see our God
made visible, and so are caught up in the love of the God we
cannot see.”
And being “caught up” needs the response of the human heart;
for Mary as her cared for her newborn son, the one who had
been heralded by the angel Gabriel as the Saviour of
humanity, Jesus means “God is Salvation”. Mary already had
much to think upon in this tiny bundle on her knee. But
Shepherds came calling with gifts, and stories of more
angels. And with them the realisation this was more than
just a small family affair. Mary had to, in time share
the child she loved with the whole of humanity.
Mission begins at the stable door, and the very gift we
receive through Jesus is not for our personal benefit, to be
hoarded like a miser. It is being called into a wider
relationship with the world, as the God the Creator relates
to the whole of creation to share the in concerns of God.
Not as a slave, but as a child and an heir to the whole
inheritance along with other children.
The Gospel has Mary pondering these wonderful things in her
heart, and we would do well to think on what Jesus is
bringing to our lives, but we need also to share what is in
our hearts with others. Recent research says we live
in one of the most individualistic countries in the world.
It is easy to go with the flow, but the Gospel calls us into
a relationship with the whole of the world. As we
follow Jesus into the next year may we discover more of the
concerns of our Father, and the responsibilities of being
his children aspiring towards the full stature of Christ.