Cry of a Tiny Babe

Mary grows a child without the help of a man.
Joseph gets upset because he doesn’t understand.
Angel comes to Joseph in a powerful dream,
says, “God did this and you’re part of his scheme”.

Joseph comes to Mary with his hat in his hand, says,
“Forgive me, I thought you’d been with some other man”.
She says, “What if I had been? But I wasn’t anyway,
and guess what, I felt the baby kick today”.

Like a stone on the surface of a still river,
driving the ripples on forever.
Redemption rips through the surface of time,
in the cry of a tiny babe.

The child is born in the fulness of time.
Three wise astrologers take note of the signs.
Come to pay their respects to the fragile little king,
get pretty close to wrecking everything.

Because the governing body of the Holy Land
is that of Herod – a paranoid man –
who when he hears there’s a baby born King of the Jews
sends death squads to kill all male children under two.

But that same bright angel warns the parents in a dream
and they head out for the border and get away clean.

Chorus

There are others who know about this miracle birth,
the humblest of people catch a glimpse of their worth.
For it isn’t to the palace that the Christ child comes,
but to shepherds and street-people, hookers and bums.

And the message is clear, if you have ears to hear,
that forgiveness is given for your guilt and your fear.
It’s a Christmas gift that you don’t have to buy,
there’s a future shining in a baby’s eyes.

Chorus

Cry of a Tiny Babe – Bruce Cockburn
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