Pondering on a late night

In case you haven't heard, seen, or otherwise experienced- it's snowing in VA. Real snow, not just this fake stuff. The roads are legitimately slick. I love the snow. I love to watch it snow. To be perfectly honest, I loved to watch it snow in Colorado and Utah more than here. Here I look out my window in the front and see a parking lot and endless townhomes that look just like mine and out the back I see a fence, a muddy nasty shared back "yard" for the townhomes and the back porches of the townhomes behind me. A bit less inspiring than Pikes Peak or the Wasatch front. When I lived in Belmont I could lay in this specific place on the floor of our front room and I could see the tops of the trees and no buildings and I loved to lay there and watch it snow because it was all natural, beautiful, and perfect. The thoughts of snow also made me think of Christmas. I am playing the organ in church this Sunday, so I am thinking about Christmas carols more than the average individual. Here's the two I have been thinking about:

In the Bleak Midwinter

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.

I think I love the humility of this hymn. It's easy in life and in Christmas to get caught up in the complexities, but the text here is so simple, so peaceful and so profound. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ- so powerful and eternal that heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain, and yet, a stable- that is where we find him. The simple image of His mother, Mary, holding her sweet infant child, tenderly loving him, and giving the Son of God a kiss and the kind of love that only she can give. I just love it. I love to think about those lyrics and the music that goes along with it just stirs my soul!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
So this is the one that I am playing in church on Sunday and I was looking it up tonight because there are two verses that are not included in the hymn, so this is the text from Longfellow's poem "Christmas bells"

I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

I love this hymn/poem because it shows both the hope and despair of this life. He beings by describing the clear and sweet sound of the church bells, certainly a sound that would be associated with hope and goodness and peace. Indeed those bells sing of "peace on earth good will to men". But then the cannons bellow! Life happens. Here we are, imperfect beings, all trying to get along and make it through life and sometimes doing it painfully so. These verses describe a Christmas day during the Civil War and those dark verses about the battle can apply to the battles of life. BUT that is not the end. The peace and hope that those bells sing overpowers the darkness of the battle. Yes. the battle of our life is long and tiring and hard sometimes, but there is hope and good and right. There is beauty and goodness and love. And why is that? It's all because of that little babe, born in a lowly stable, who grew into a Man that would show us the way and lead us to light.

The Roomies

Just some AWESOME! pictures that my roommate took. (I take absolutely no credit for them.)