There isn't one! It is simply not possible to conceive of anything true emerging from the consumer culture dominated festival we call Christmas. Consumerism has this fesitval so securely in its grip, anything emerging will be coloured by its message.
For Christians, it might be possible to spend some time in church, meditating on the crib. But everything conspires to remind us of the sentimental nature of our consumer culture. Even ancient carols seem sentimental in the grip of consumerism. Look at the pretty baby in the crib and look here come wise men with presents, which reminds me ...
Christmas is a time of giving but at some point giving and purchasing took on the same meaning.
So, do I mean these images are dead to us? Perhaps. But the images constructed of the nativity down the centuries have a certain power and maybe they can help us. I finish with two possibilities. Here's the first ...
This aria is what is known as an oxymoron. So, why the trumpet fanfare? Why the words 'Great Lord and strong king' sung to a baby born in poverty. Are we meant to hear this with a stright face, to take it seriously? Or is it an almighty cosmic joke?
Finally, a carol that is never sung because it is modern and not sentimental and beautiful although the tune is perhaps a disappointment. Child of the Stable's Secret Birth by Timothy Dudley-Smith . (The first link takes you to the full lyrics. It will also play you a dreadful tune which I wouldn't have chosen. The best tune for congregational singing is Foye, Methodist Hymns and Psalms 124. Foye is better than the tune you will hear but we're still waiting for someone to write something better.)
Here's just one verse which speaks to us through a depth of imagery .
Infant hands in a mother's hand,
For none but Mary may understand
Whose are the hands and the fingers curled
But his who fashioned and made our world;
And through these hands in the hour of death
Nails shall strike to the wood beneath.
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