Squadrons of Spirits

It's easy to become over-familiar with Christmas carols. Sometimes we can lose sight of the amazing, aweful fact of the incarnation: that the almighty, infinite and eternal God became a man; in history; in space and time.

That's why it was interesting to sing a relatively unknown hymn yesterday: Behold the great creator makes himself a house of clay, by Thomas Pestel. At one point it meditates on the wonder of the angels at what was happening in Bethlehem:

Squadrons of spirits stood and gazed,
Then down in troops they came.

This conjures up an impressive and powerful picture in a striking way.