Lully, Lullay Thou Little Tiny Child

The "Coventry Carol" is a Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was performed

in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story from chapter two in the Gospel of Matthew. The carol refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants two years old and under in Bethlehem to be killed. The lyrics of this haunting carol represent a mother's lament for her doomed child. It is the only carol that has survived from this play. The author is unknown. The oldest known text was written down by Robert Croo in 1534, and the oldest known printing of the melody dates from 1591. The carol is traditionally sung a cappella.

I can not imagine...the threat of murder to my tiny child. Where does this kind of evil come from? Why does it exist in our world? And what in the world are we supposed to do in the face of it? From the Book of Revelation this morning, we are reminded of what to do...

“See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

The pain and the evil and the darkness of the world will exist, but in the face of it all, we can see God and "not as a stranger."

"See, I am making all things new," Revelation 21. 1 - 7

Oh my how we need to remember this.