The Road to Bethlehem – Bleak Mid-Winter

Merry Christmas Dear Reader,

We had our first heavy snow over the weekend.   The temperatures will fall into the single digits at night this week.  The lakes that surround us are beginning to freeze.  The earth will become hard and unyielding.  Less time will be spent outside and more inside. 

The cold does not impact me as much as it does some.  There are those it puts in danger.  There are those it will kill.  This is the time we need to ponder this.  We can celebrate what we have but I can only do it if I am also doing things to provide warmth for others. 

Jesus brother asks us this question “If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”  It is empty to wish the world peace and good will if we do nothing to help provide it.  “Merry Christmas” on our lips must mean charity and giving in our hearts. 

This song asks us to give our hearts as a gift to the Christmas Child.   Our hearts are only his if we see things as he sees them.  Our gifts only have value if they are given from the heart.  Our hearts must beat with the love and compassion of Christ.  I must do my part.

In the Bleak Mid-Winter – Sarah Mclachlan

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

Angels and archangels may have gathered there

Cherubim and seraphim thronged the frosty air

But His mother only, in her maiden bliss

Worshipped the beloved with a kiss

Oh 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

In the bleak midwinter, frosty winds made moan

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part

Yet what I can I give Him, give my heart

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)