In the bleak midwinter

Last Christmas, (or was it the Christmas before??) my cousin Raquel gave me Sarah McLachlan's CD "Wintersong." It has since become a favorite, especially this song. When I hear it, the words call to me: It was written by Gustav Holst, 1874-1934. I love that I am being a part of the past by listening to and embracing these words written so long ago.

"In the bleak midwinter, frost 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.

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.

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."

Artwork by Freiman Stoltzfus

*Sarah McLachlan "In the bleak midwinter"