In the Bleak Midwinter
+Bishop Jon V. Anderson
In the past week I keep thinking about my brothers who farm and others who have to keep working when the weather is freezing and dangerous. I remember the animals and how they struggle during a long cold snap. I read on Facebook the reports of people who had frightening experiences driving. I prayed for and worried about our children as they work in the cities or sought to get home on a plane that was cancelled.
It has been a hard time for many. Caitlin, on our staff, received this picture on January 7 of county highway 1 north of Redwood Falls. It captures something of the days you all have traveled through this past month.
In these days we have been looking for signs of beauty and life in the bleak mid-winter. I sang the hymn In the Bleak Midwinter at the Bishop's Academy. I looked it up for this article and found the whole poem. I want to share it with you.
In the Bleak Midwinter
By Christina Rossetti
In the bleak midwinter, 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 midwinter, 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 midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, 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.
God is with us in the bleak midwinter and in all the other cross times of our life.
Worship service celebrates Christian unity
