Christ is the Refugee: A Christmas Hymn

Christ is the Refugee: A Christmas Hymn November 24, 2015

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This Christmas season, Christians across Europe and the United States will sing carols in praise of a refugee child, carols that extol the virtues of hospitality to the stranger. We will weep over the “slaughter of the innocents” story and imagine with sentimental poignancy the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath. Then some of us will head home and post xenophobic fearmongering on Facebook, rejecting Syrian refugees, fanning the flames of Islamophobia, and forsaking our faith in Love for a cult of fear.

The hypocrisy stuns. This Christmas, I pray that Christians everywhere will come to terms with the Truth: each one of those refugees is Christ. So here is a new carol, to be sung to the tune of In The Bleak Midwinter, which gives voice to the Christ in every refugee. May Love strengthen us all to do the mighty works of Peace On Earth.

Refugee

1. Dark the night howls, Mother,
Strive we all alone:
Bitter tears our supper,
For our bed a stone.

Hush, young Jesus. Comfort.
Though the night is long,
We will find a haven
Safe from death and wrong.

2. How the waves roll, Father,
Will we make the shore?
Evil flows behind us,
Terror spreads before.

Darling Jesus, small one,
Hold to me and pray:
Open hearts and outstretched hands,
Love will make a Way.

 

Dr. Trelawney Grenfell-Muir is an adjunct professor in the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance with a specialization in Cross-Cultural Conflict at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She holds an M.Div. from the Boston University School of Theology with a concentration in Religion and Conflict, and a Ph.D. in Conflict Studies and Religion with the University Professors Program at Boston University.  She was a fellow at the Institute of Culture, Religion, and World Affairs and at the Earhart Foundation. Grenfell-Muir has conducted field research in situations of ongoing conflict in Syria, Lebanon, and Northern Ireland.  Her dissertation explores the methodology, constraints, and effectiveness of clergy peacebuilders in Northern Ireland. She has been an invited speaker in community settings and at MIT, Boston University, Tufts, and Boston College on topics of gender violence, economic injustice, and religious or ethnic conflicts and has also moderated panels on genetic engineering, cloning, and other bioethics issues.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com


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