A Bleak Midwinter's Song

In the bleak mid-winter 

Frosty wind made moan, 

Earth stood hard as iron, 

Water like a stone; 

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, 

In the bleak mid-winter

 Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him 

Nor earth sustain; 

Heaven and earth shall flee away 

 When He comes to reign: 

In the bleak mid-winter a stable-place sufficed 

The Lord God Almighty, / Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim 

 Worship night and day, 

 A breastful of milk and a mangerful of hay; 

Enough for Him, whom angels fall down before, 

The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there, 

 Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air, 

 But only His mother in her maiden bliss, 

 Worshipped the Beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am? 

 If I were a shepherd  I would bring a lamb, 

 If I were a wise man I would do my part, 

Yet what I can I give Him,  Give my heart.

This Christmas season I noticed this song, one that I am sure I heard before but dismissed in favor of the more well-known Christmas carols and hymns. But this year, I am touched by what it says, by the simplicity, by the sense of hope in the midst of all that is bleak, desolate and empty.

This season brings joy and hope, truly it does. But for so many, it is also a reminder of hurts, of remembering the anniversary of a death too close to a celebrated holiday, or rubbing of a wound, still so fresh and raw that healing hasn't even begun. It is a reminder of what is missing when all is supposed to be coming together.

In this song, I am reminded of a simple truth. Simple and unadorned.

Jesus, God in Heaven, became flesh, a squalling helpless baby boy, so that I can have hope in today, in tomorrow and for eternity.  

All because He loved me before I even was. 

Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim worship Him. Holy beings. 
And yet, I can also worship Him even when I feel like I am worthless and I have nothing to offer. 

My heart. That's all He desires. 

That's what I will give. 

Love,
Dianne

"In the Bleak Midwinter" is a Christmas carol based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti written before 1872 in response to a request from the magazine Scribner's Monthly for a Christmas poem.[1] It was published posthumously in Rossetti's Poetic Works in 1904.

The poem became a Christmas carol after it appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906 with a setting by Gustav Holst. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Bleak_Midwinter )