A song broke forth

We had angels yesterday for Advent, so today let’s talk star(s). Is it too early? The one we know as the Star of Bethlehem, that shown on the shepherds in the fields and guided the three Wise Men from the East to the manger doesn’t usually make its appearance until the 24^th.

Although, obviously it had been doing its guiding job for weeks, at least, because those Wise Men came…from the East. (Question: did those guys only travel at night? If so, what’s up with that? Or did it also shine during the day? If so, how is it that no one else remarked upon the anomaly?) And they didn’t actually arrive at the stable until two weeks after the birth. (Another question: Isn’t two weeks a long time to bunk in a stable? Is that how long it took to recover from giving birth? I mean—Mary didn’t have Blue Cross nagging at her to get out of the birthing place because they were only going to pay for one night…)

But back to the stars—they’re another metaphor for driving back the darkness. We who live in light-polluted urban areas don’t really appreciate a clear night where the stars truly are a canopy of light, so it may be a bit of a challenging notion for us. But stars were a major element in the world view of humans for millennia, really. I’ve always wondered how astronomers saw a cow or a woman or a crab in sidereal arrangements; I feel like I’ve joined the Titans just by recognizing Orion’s belt (and, actually, it turns out that what I see is the sword hanging from the belt). Maybe they were distilling wine long before the 12^th Century CE.

But what they saw in the stars guided them in traveling beyond the(ir) horizons, on land and at sea, so of course stars would figure in the story of the birth of the Messiah. Stars are critical to us reaching to become better. (Although there is the danger of putting too much emphasis on their influence; I think we’re still struggling with that balance.)

So today we have “Behold that Star”, written by Thomas W. Talley (1870-1952), chemistry professor, ethnographer and director of Fisk University’s Mozart Society. Fisk is a Historically Black institution in Tennessee. We don’t know when it was composed, but when Marian Anderson sang it, it was an arrangement published in 1912.

I’m giving you a recording of the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus singing it.