Midweek: Wednesday, December 28, 2022.
Midweek 12-28-22
In
This Issue:
- Music Notes
- Special Music-y Request
- Reminders: Communion
Sunday
- Celebrations
- Live and Learn
- PPM Resumes
- In the Bleak Midwinter
“. . . that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Romans 1:12
In
the Bleak Midwinter . . . all
is not bleak. A beloved Christmas hymn entitled “In the Bleak Midwinter” was written
by Christina Rossetti. She has a fascinating personal story. A reading of the
meaning behind her hymn is equally interesting.
Christina
came from an educated, and quite talented, family. Her father was a professor
at King’s College in London, England. Her brothers, Dante Gabriel and William
Michael, helped give rise to the birth of the nineteenth century art movement.
Christina herself was often a model for their paintings. Among their friends
was a famous writer. His proper name was Charles Dodgson but would be better
known as Lewis Carroll, author of Alice
in Wonderland. Christina was acquainted with trial and tribulation. She
suffered from poor health from a young age, but found solace in her writing.
She wrote three collections of poetry and four devotional books. Her most
famous hymns are the Christmas hymns of “Love Came Down at Christmas” and “In
the Bleak Midwinter”.
In
the first stanza of the hymn “In the Bleak Midwinter”, Christina Rossetti paints
a dreary image. She does so in order to contrast the world Christ entered with
the beauty of Christ and the transformation the light of Christ brought to the
world. The reference to snow in the hymn does not mean the author was
suggesting it actually snowed on the night of Jesus’s birth. Rather, it poses,
on the one hand, a connection to a long-established literary tradition of snow
at Christ’s birth. However, the presence of snow also adds to the picture of a
cold, desolate world.
There
is a missing third stanza that shares a tender scene at the manger. The verse
that follows, which is in actuality the fourth verse but in our hymnal is
listed as the third verse, also gives a touch of intimacy to the scene of Christ’s
birth. It is appropriate, I believe, that such tenderness should be part of the
message of the birth of Jesus Christ. To use the words of Christina’s other
hymn, “love came down at Christmas”. It was first and foremost love that
entered the world in such a divine and holy way, not judgement, not
condemnation. It was love that motivated the Lord God to put into action the
plan to restore and renew the human race, to ensure the lost could be found,
the broken could be whole, and the destitute could be encouraged and comforted.
The final verse of this hymn is one of the
most beautiful prayers we could hear. It encourages, perhaps motivates, each of
us to take a long, hard look at ourselves: what is it that we can best give
him? Is it not just as Christina Rossetti has recorded in this hymn: our
hearts? *
“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.(verse 1)
“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 incarnate, Jesus Christ.(verse 2)
“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.(verse 3)
“Angels
and archangels may have gathered there; cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but his mother only, in her maiden bliss, worshiped the beloved with a kiss.(verse
4)
“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 can I give him: give my heart.”(verse
5)
Interested in joining the prayer chain? Contact Phyllis Duff at (765)482-1485/ raduff2@att.net.
Dear Heavenly Father, Do we come to this day with our hearts echoing
the bleak of midwinter? Do we find our hearts heard as stone? Does it seem as
if the cold of doubt or sorrow or anxiety has fallen upon our lives? If such
should be the state in which we find ourselves, I pray that You would lend Your
comfort our way, extend Your light our way, and wrap us in the warm embrace of
a God who knows us and loves us with a love that encompasses, and surpasses,
eternity. Thank You, dear Father, for Your great love, for the love that came
down at Christmas. Thank You for birthing hope and joy into our bleak world and
making a way for us to enjoy the intimacy and tenderness of Your love and care
for us. May each one here gathered to pray come to the place of honesty,
sincerity, and humility, that we can give you our heart. Does it take courage?
Perhaps. Does it take strength? Perhaps. Do we lack both? Perhaps. But You do
not. You provide above and beyond what we can ever ask for or imagine. So again
I say, thank You, dear Father. In Jesus’ name I praise and pray, Amen.
*Info for article from
umcdiscipleship.org. “History of Hymns: ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’” by C. Michael Hawn
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