More Advent/Christmas Carols for Change

As we move through Advent to the celebration of Christmas, we can sing carols that bring the change our hearts long for. We can sing of peace and justice for all people and all creation.

Through the Holy Darkness of this season, we celebrate the coming of Christ-Sophia to change our world. We celebrate the birth of hope, love, joy, and peace.

Sing of peace, holy peace;
sing of all gifts released.
As we work for peace on earth,
new creation comes to birth;
Christ-Sophia is born;
Christ-Sophia is born.

Sing of peace, holy peace.
When will all violence cease?
Through our justice work each day,
Wisdom comes to show the way;
Christ-Sophia is born;
Christ-Sophia is born.

Sing of peace, holy peace;
hope and joy now increase.
Through our works of love each day,
Holy Wisdom comes to stay;
Christ-Sophia is born;
Christ-Sophia is born.

Words © Jann Aldredge-Clanton; Music © Devi Vaani,
from Sing of Peace

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; Music © Devi Vaani

Christ-Sophia is being rebirthed into our world over and over again. Christ-Sophia was present before all time and continues to break into our world with promises of hope and restoration for all people and all creation.

“Christ-Sophia” is a biblical symbol of the Divine, making equal connections between male and female, black and white, Jewish and Christian traditions, thus laying a foundation for communities based on partnership instead of domination. Christ-Sophia brings change to church and society by providing a foundation for gender and racial equality.

Sophia, the Greek word for Wisdom in the New Testament, is a female divine image that opens new possibilities for justice, liberation, and new life. New Testament writers link Christ to 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, 13, 26). The Gospel of John refers to Christ as “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Bringing this biblical connection between Christ and Sophia to our worship can inspire partnerships that contribute to peace and justice in our world.

Christ-Sophia inspires continual new birth. Christ-Sophia empowers us to make the Gospel vision of the new creation a reality. Sing of peace and justice and new life! Sing and celebrate the birth of Christ-Sophia!