11/28/2025
New lyrics, and notes below.
The very first Christmas, the animals came
to welcome our Savior, Lord Jesus by name,
the donkey, the camel, the dove and the sheep,
all lullabied Jesus to deep, peaceful sleep.
But all of God's creatures perform in a choir,
with some singing low notes, and some singing higher,
and though it seems doubtful or even absurd,
give glory with voices completely unheard.
The panda, the bison, the lion, the vole,
the jaguar, the wombat, the mouse and the mole,
each offer their praises with nary a word,
but merely by being they worship the Lord.
The kiwi, the puffin, goldfinch and hoopoe,
the ostrich, the condor, the red robin, too,
will warble and twitter in elegant song,
inviting the woodlands to carol along.
The gar and the oscar, tilapia and plaice,
the fugu, the dhufish, the far-reaching dace
make splashes and slipstreams with barely a sound,
yet soul-stirring anthems should be so profound.
And, lest we forget all the slithering beasts,
their scaly appearance delights us the least,
but whether they rattle or whistle or hiss,
God honors their subtle reptilian bliss.
So what joyful noise can our voices create
with harmonies simple or wildly ornate?
However we sound, let us all do our part,
and offer to Jesus our jubilant hearts.
Had some fun writing this song, which is more a lark than anything serious. Basically, it "argues" something like Psalm 19:
"The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth
and their words to the end of the world."
It starts with "the friendly beasts," then says,, they're not the only beasts that offer praise. Mammals, and birds, and fish, and even reptiles do, too. Though the reptile verse strains to rhyme, I'll admit. (I'm sticking with animalia with this one. Thought I might do a verse with flora as well, but we're already 7 verses in.) In each of the "other animals" verses, I included at least one beast from each of the "6" continents. Sometimes I had to add an extra one. I think kids might like doing research on the different animals - some quite common, others, well, NOT.
BTW I set it to 6.5.6.5.6.5.6.5., which you may recognize as the meter of "Away in a Manger." A few years ag I wrote alternate words to that, and wanted a different tune to differentiate altogether. Anyhoo, have fun with it. If you want to hear the music, you'll have to give me some time to put that together.
