This Christmas carol is about the moment of Jesus’s birth and about how God comes to us in stillness. The text is taken from a 2nd century document known as the Protogospel (infancy gospel) of James. Beginning with the birth of Mary, it recounts events before, during and after the birth of Christ. Joseph is travelling to Bethlehem for the census with Mary and his two sons by his first marriage. They have almost arrived when Mary says she is about to give birth. Joseph, afraid in case his relations in Bethlehem see Mary, leaves her with his sons in a cave, and goes out to find a midwife. While he is walking, he sees everything suddenly come to a complete halt, and for an instant the entire world is motionless: the birds are at a standstill unmoving in the sky, some men who are eating have hands poised in mid-air, a flowing stream halts. Then everything continues as before. Joseph realises that in this moment the birth has taken place, and that for a second he has slipped into eternity. It was Rowan Williams’s discussion of this passage in his book Silence and Honey Cakes (p.111) which gave me the idea for the carol. In this setting, throughout the carol Joseph hears his name being called, as if by Mary or by an angel.