Related Posts with Thumbnails

Saturday, December 20, 2008

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"

No comments: