Carol Contemplation: Angels We Have Heard on High

Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o'er the plains

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains.

CHORUS:

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Shepherds, why this jubilee?

Why your joyous strains prolong?

What the gladsome tidings be

Which inspire your heavenly song?

Come to Bethlehem and see

Him Whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee,

Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

This is a triumphant, marching sort of song that waxes poetic in the gloria chorus. I have always loved the images of the mountains rejoicing, the rocks crying out, the trees clapping their hands that abound in the Bible. The third line of the first verse thrills me: the mountains echoing back the angels' glory. When I was in New Zealand, I learned a thing or two about mountains. They are immense and awe-inspiring. They look like they will last forever, but we learned that even while they are being pushed higher by the plates of the earth, the wind is constantly wearing them back down. Mountains will not last forever, but the Word of the Lord will. The message that the angels gave to the shepherds will. Come adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

Mountains, Arthur's Pass, New Zealand