My Favorite Carol

This one goes back half a millennium. It's been sung in Gothic cathedrals and country churches. These days it's a favorite with Bluegrass groups. There are many, many different versions, but always at the heart is this story:

Joseph and Mary walked through an orchard green
They saw berries and saw cherries fair to be seen
As Joseph and Mary walked in the wood
They saw cherries and berries red as any blood

Oh, then bespoke Mary so meek and so mild
"Pluck me one cherry for I am with child"
Oh, then bespoke Joseph with words unkind
"Let him pluck thee a cherry that brought thee with child"

Oh, then bespoke the babe within his mother's womb
"Bow down you tall tree and give my mother some"
Then bowed down the cherry tree to his mother's hand
Then she cried "See, Joseph, I have cherries at command"

A wonderful little story, barely a hundred words. Always embedded in standard doctrinal lessons, no doubt to allay any misgivings the parish priest or minister might have, but a nice, funny little story about human nature. A joke, in fact.

Its scant three verses are full of humorous tropes. Not refined humor, either, but earthy, farm-and-village stuff:

• The old man who marries a young wife
• Pregnant women with odd food cravings
• “Cherry” as slang for virginity
• The jealous husband who thinks he's been cuckolded
• And that old favorite, “Be careful what you wish for . . .”

Nor is the story itself particularly refined:

• Mary picks the breeziest, most flippant way to tell Joseph the news: “Get me a cherry, honey – I'm pregnant.”
• Joseph replies with sharp sarcasm: “Whoever got you pregnant can get you your damn cherry.”
• Jesus thinks, “Whoa, dude – that's how you talk to my mother? Watch this!”
• God, no doubt chuckling in His beard, delivers the punchline.
• And Mary can't resist a last little dig: “Oh, look, Joseph – cherries!”

So every character in the story, including God, is a wise-ass. Which means that every character in the story, including God, is acting distinctly human.

And there's your Christmas Message.