“Come to Our World, O Christ-Sophia” Christmas Carol Video
Our world is in deep need of healing. As we join together to labor with the Divine and to sing of healing, justice, peace, love, and kindness, we create a better world. We give birth to Christ-Sophia, who provides a foundation for equality and justice. Christ-Sophia empowers us to make the Gospel vision of new creation a reality.
This Christmas carol video expresses longing, hope, and celebration of the birth of Christ-Sophia.
Come to our world, O Christ-Sophia, Wisdom;
our hearts are longing for Your peaceful way.
Lead us from fear and bondage into freedom;
with You we labor to bring Your new day.
Transform our world, O Christ-Sophia, Wisdom;
the poor and wounded await healing days.
Give us the power to sound Your call to freedom;
as equal partners, we show Your new way.
Led by Your Truth and Life within us growing,
we follow You on Your pathways of peace.
Filled with Your grace, Your loving kindness showing,
we share our gifts and our visions release.
REFRAIN:
Our weary world still longs for new creation,
for peace and justice coming to the earth.
Hope springs anew; we sing in celebration;
O Christ-Sophia, blessed be Your birth;
O Christ-Sophia, blessed be Your birth.
Words © Jann Aldredge-Clanton
It’s been a joy to collaborate on “Come to Our World, O Christ-Sophia” and other inclusive carols with “Spiral Muse,” a splendid music group from Ebenezer/herchurch Lutheran in San Francisco. Alison Newvine, Dionne Kohler, Kathleen Neville-Fritz, Lana Dalberg, and I had a wonderful time creating an Advent/Christmas album, Sing of Peace. My gratitude also goes to Katie Ketchum and Pastor Stacy Boorn for creating the beautiful album cover, to Elaine Chan-Scherer for contributing her lovely artwork to my videos, and to all the other wonderful people at herchurch for singing my hymns for many years.
“Christ-Sophia” is a biblical symbol of the Divine, making equal connections between genders, races, and religious traditions, thus providing a foundation for communities based on partnership. Christ-Sophia brings change to church and society by forming a theological foundation for gender and racial equality, dismantling patriarchy and white supremacy and creating egalitarian communities.
Sophia, the Greek word for “Wisdom,” is a biblical female divine image. New Testament writers link Christ to Sophia (“Wisdom”), a feminine symbol of God in the Hebrew Scriptures. Wisdom (Hokmah in Hebrew) symbolizes creative, redemptive, and healing power. In their efforts to describe this same power in Christ, the apostle Paul and other New Testament writers draw from the picture of Wisdom. The apostle Paul refers to Christ as the “power of God and the Wisdom (Sophia) of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), and states that Christ “became for us Wisdom (Sophia) from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). The book of Proverbs describes Wisdom as the “way,” the “life,” and the “path” (4:11,22,26). The Gospel of John refers to Christ as “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Bringing this biblical connection of Christ and Sophia to our worship can inspire partnerships that contribute to peace, justice, and equity in our world. For a fuller explanation, see In Search of the Christ-Sophia: An Inclusive Christology for Liberating Christians.
Video Credits
Performed by: Spiral Muse (Lana Dalberg, Dionne Kohler, Kathleen Neville-Fritz, and Alison Newvine) from album Sing of Peace, recorded at Joe Hoffmann Studios, Occidental, CA
Lyrics: Jann Aldredge-Clanton
Visual Art:
Mirta Toledo: “Saint Sophia”
photo from Equity for Women in the Church event
Elaine Chan-Scherer: “Black Madonna: Our Lady of Tender Mercies”
photos from Nevertheless She Preached conferences
photo from The Gathering: A Womanist Church
Sande Harte: photo of circle of women, Alchemy of Women’s Collective Wisdom and Power
Alice Heimsoth: photo of candlelight service in Ebenezer/herchurch Lutheran, San Francisco
Katherine Skaggs: “Black Madonna”