Christmas
COME EMBRACE THE CHRISTMAS CHILD

UNDERWOOD, 77.77D
Melody: William L Wallace
Harmony: Barry M Brinson
SALZBURG (Hintz) 77.77D
Jakob Hintze 1622-1702
Arr. Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750

1. Come embrace the Christmas child,
   Child of every human birth,
   Birth in stable, home or ward,
   Birth at any place on Earth.
   Every birth brings need for change
   By a mother, father, child;
   Time for celebrating now
   All that’s tender, just and mild.
   

2. As we walk the Christmas path
   We find struggle gifts new birth,
   Darkness changes into light
   Grieving is transformed to mirth.
   In the myst’ry wisdom dwells,
   In the sorrow rays of peace,
   In the silence Presence comes
   Presence that shall never cease.
   

3. God of splendour and of awe,
   God of lightness and of grace,
   God of singing and of dance,
   God of snuggle and embrace,
   May the Christmas story child
   Lead our spirits to affirm
   Thankful and forgiving hearts
   Form the Way for which we yearn.
   

Text and Melody © William Livingstone Wallace
Harmony © Barry Brinson

Click Here for Sheet Music – Underwood
Click Here for Sheet Music -Salzburg

Click Here for MP3 – Underwood
Click Here for MP3 – Salzburg

Click Here for Full Index to William L. Wallace’s Series Hymns “Cosmic Mystery”

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William (Bill) Livingstone Wallace is a retired New Zealand Methodist Minister and one of our most prolific contributors. Bill says that his work springs from communicating with the fire in his gut and his observation of both the internal and external aspects of the Cosmos. Since an early age, he has been both sympathetic to and critical of the church, announcing at the age of 13 his belief in evolution. In his youth, he struggled with the disconnection between art and spirituality in his own and other denominations and with the way in which all of the liturgies prior to the sermon were regarded as preliminaries and longer sermons were viewed as superior to more concise ones.

He holds a B.A. in philosophy and a Dip. Ed. and is the author of nine published collections of his hymns as well as other resources on our website. His aim is to help people be empowered by the divine within them and the Cosmos and to work to overthrow the forces of personal and institutional greed which destroy both the ecosystem and human society.

Click Here for a Full Biography of William L. Wallace

Click here for a complete list of his work on ProgressiveChristianity.org