#fur robed moujiks on snowboard plateaus in place of middle eastern shepherds | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

queenlucythevaliant · 5 months

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We see him come and know him ours

Russia: "Carol of the Russian Children," traditional // Kenya: The Nativity, Elima Njau // France: "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella," Nicolas Saboly // Haiti: Madonna and Child, Ismael Saincilus // Australia: "The Three Drovers," William James // China: Tryptic by Lu Hongnian // Canadian/Algonquian: "Huron Carol," Jean de Brébeuf

#the visual depictions are lovely #but what really gets me every time are the little cultural details in the music #music that tells the story of the Nativity while placing it in a world that's familiar to the listener #fur robed moujiks on snowboard plateaus in place of middle eastern shepherds #bark lodges instead of stables and rabbit skin in place of swaddling clothes #wandering hunter and chiefs from far off places instead of shepherds and wise men (man i love the Huron Carol)#and little french girls running to gather the village to come see Jesus #it's easy for an excess of historical concern to make Jesus feel distant and far off #/I know/ that Jesus was born in the ancient near east and have had my fill of books and sermons and the like unpacking the implications #I've laughed with my friends and family at the wild inaccuracies of Nativity sets and tellings #the crazy blonde mary in the kids nativity set at Walmart #what is that alpaca doing at the living Nativity don't they know those are south American?#yada yada #and then i look at these carols and think. it's okay not to get mired in the history. good even #yes Jesus entered into time and space in a very specific manner #but he also came for all of us #as another carol says: we see him come and know him ours #i just think this practice is lovely #that the impact of the Incarnation was such that it send little french girls running to their villages #and drew algonquin hunters and russian peasants to the manger to see him #it's the great crowd of witnesses in a way #all of us together preparing him room throughout all the corners of the earth #in Bethlehem that night it was only the shepherds who got to see him #but in spirit it was all of us #because it's just like the angel said:#good news of great joy which will be to all people #to all people #starting with the shepherds and going out to all the earth #unto us a child is born #intertextuality

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