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My name is "Brown" and I live in Memphis-- Yes, this is about Christmas; trust me.

Christmas decorations are up everywhere.  It is now “okay” to have trees, tinsel, and carols up front and center.  These are signs of the times, and a way that we prepare our homes and hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.   Music is a BIG part of the holidays for me. When I was pregnant with my first child, one Christmas carol could reduce me to tears.  Every time!  I’ve sung it for over half a century.  It is part of my Christmas narrative, and owns me in some way.  It is “Away in a Manger.”

Away in a manger, no crib for his bed,
the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.[i]

The part that always got me is the “no crib for his bed.”  He didn’t even have a crib!  What kind of world is it that a baby has to sleep in the dirt? Yes, I was a bit dramatic.  Still…it is a lasting understanding that children should be held and NOT have to sleep in the dirt. They deserve somewhere safe and warm.  Even so, in the dirt, Away- in -the -manger-Jesus did not cry.  Think of the things that make babies cry: being hungry, frightened, lonely, and abandoned; the carol asks Jesus to “stay by my side” through the night of life…no matter how dark it gets, “until morning is nigh.” Jesus is God present right next to us.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
I love thee, Lord Jesus! Look down from the sky,
and stay by my side until morning is nigh.

It is true that we are an Easter people, but Advent is that moment when God says, “Hang on! I’m coming.”  As a child, my parents would warn me and my sisters not to do some blatantly fool hardy thing.  It was, we/were, exasperating!  Eventually, my parents would say for us to not call them when our actions got us into hot water.  A family friend  aka “framily member,” Mrs. Brown, would jump in and say that she would always come get us. There is one problem, Mrs. Brown lived in Memphis; we lived in Indiana.  Therefore, when in trouble we could always say, “My name is Brown and I live in Memphis.”  We knew whose we were; who we could call on; we knew who would always show up.  (I suspect my parents would have shown up saying that Mrs. Brown told them to pick us up.  I’m equally sure Mrs. Brown would do that.)

Jesus is God showing up and saying “they are mine.”  

Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay
close by me forever, and love me I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
and fit us for heaven to live with thee there.

Jesus is God present assuring us that he will be with us.  Jesus is God’s answer to who we are and where we belong. 


[i] Words, verses 1-2: Traditional Carol (19th century);
verse 3: attributed to John Thomas McFarland, ca. 1906
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