Away in a Manger

-Brian Mendonça

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes

But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.

I have played this carol, ‘Away in a Manger’ (1885) so many times before. But this time it speaks to me with a new meaning. As time goes on, as one becomes older, sadder, perhaps wiser the same lines are reinvested with new emotional anchors.

The saviour came into the world in the most humble of ways - in a stable, for there was no room for Him in the inn. Yes he was born in a cowshed, but that did not bother Him. He was God incarnate. Nobody recognized Him. He did not have a crib, the basic requirement of a newborn baby. He was content to have the mute animals for company and they in turn comforted Him with their gently mooing. And the divine babe acknowledges their love, and does not wail. Babies are prone to burst into tears at the drop of a hat but baby Jesus does not. He is protected by a divine power. His not crying manifests to us that He is God made man.  Yet baby Jesus and the animals were on the margins of society, not the mainstream.

But history was going to change all that.

The same child would become God one day. And manifest Himself in his greatness. And the world would implore this harmless baby born in a stable to purge them, cleanse them, deliver them through His divinity. After ostracizing Him when He was most helpless, when he could not lift a finger to protect himself, the world now realizes its folly. In a stark inversion of the original scene, the shoe is on the other foot now as the singer pleads to the baby to ‘stay by my cradle / till morning is nigh.’ S/he wants the baby Jesus to be always near during his/her earthly life.

The cradle and the crib, with their images of repose, also allude to the bed as the place where a person takes his last breath. And who would not want the baby Jesus to hover around the place when we breathe our last? The carol for me is about a journey from life through death to eternal life.

Being child-like endears one to God.  Children have no malice, no preconceived notions. They are happy to be themselves. My son informed me very seriously that he would not be able to sing for the carol-singing programme in school. When I asked why, he said, ‘Because teacher made me a donkey.’ And he was most happy to play the part.

I am looking at the little children go through their carol-singing practice, under the watchful eyes of the trainer. A general invitation was put on the group and kiddies from all faiths responded. Every child, however tiny s/he may be is given a part s/he is capable of doing. In the ‘Drummer Boy’ song a few have to simply sing ‘pum pum’ throughout. 

Little Baby pa-rum pum pum pum . . .

I have no gift to bring pa-rum pum pum pum . . .

Shall I play for you, pa-rum pum pum pum

on my drum?

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Published in Gomantak Times, Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday 24 December 2017. Pix of      Haver Vaz and  Martina Da Costa with children's Christmas choir 2017 taken by Brian Mendonca.