In the Bleak Midwinter

My best Christmas gift this year was the snow that fell on Christmas Day.  I don't have the words to describe its beauty, but the picture above does not need any words.   Staying in that cabin in those white winter woods on Christmas was the best gift I have ever received.  It reminded me of a favorite Christmas song, "A Christmas Carol", also known as "In the Bleak Midwinter".  Like the snow on Christmas, this carol is simple, pure, and perfect and reminds me of my creator.

Click here to watch a performance of this song by Gloucester Cathedral Choir.

A Christmas Carol

(In the Bleak Midwinter)

Words by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), 1872;

Set to Music in 1906 by Gustav Theodore Holst under the title "Cranham"

"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."