Summer and Winter
June 15, 2017
“Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.” – Psalm 74:17
“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.”
Christina Rossetti’s words are ever familiar whether spoken, read, or sung. The first verse is as lovely and descriptive of winter as it is predictive of the truth of Epiphany and the coming of the Magi.
“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.”
Heaven could not hold Him, nor can the cold of winter freeze out the warmth of His love.
At any given time, someone is wishing for a season past, a season to come.
Different hemispheres experience these things differently. Different souls experience the seasons of their lives differently.
Some very good people are in the winter of their lives as I revise this original Christmas message.
I wrote most of this in January one year. It is now June and it is safe to assume that most all of the Christmas decorations have now come down. While it is no longer Christmastide, in some places it is winter. In fact, in some places, it is apt to remember the words of C.S. Lewis commenting on the place where it was always winter and never Christmas. Depending on your perspective, it is either bleak or whimsical.
What it is not, and never is, is forsaken. Though all the colors fade and the warmth of the earth is sucked up by the winds of bitter weather, God brings His own unique beauty to creation and His warming fire to our souls. He makes all seasons beautiful to remind us that He is God, He is present, and He cannot be contained.
Pick your favorite or both.