Christmas Itinerant

(to the tune of Waltzing Matilda)

.

There once was a baby born in a stable,
Christ was his title and Jesus his name.
Mary and Joseph were poor and unable
To find any room when to Bethl’em they came.*

Chorus:       Jesus the baby, tiny and helpless,
Came down to earth bringing his love and light,
And when people are loving and actions are selfless
Peace will prevail and the world will be right.

Soon came the shepherds to worship at the manger,
Then came the wise men with gifts for the babe.
King Herod heard and his wrath put them in danger;
Warned by a dream then they made their escape.

Child in the temple, he listened to the sage advice;
Grown up, he taught us to serve others’ needs;
Dying, he showed that the greatest love is sacrifice;
Risen, he calls us to go where he leads.

Now we at Christmas remember that baby,
Gift of our God to a world full of war.
Child, man and saviour, he shared in our humanity
That we may join him in peace evermore.

 

*Scansion note: This line can instead be sung as “To find a room…”, by singing “to” on the first strong beat of the line.

Clare Pascoe
© November 2016

For permission to print copies of the lyrics, please email me at dadirrilifemelodies at gmail dot com.  Payment can be made by Paypal directly to me at that email address once I have given you an authorisation code.