The Twelfth before Christmas...

 

I could barely keep up with my father's large strides. The snow nearly reached my knees, and I struggled to lift my fee high enough with my legs impeded by thick snow pants, but I did it. Every year I anticipated the first snow big snow of the year. First we would all go out and shovel the driveway and the two walkways, then my father, older siblings, and I would circle our acre of woods, plodding through the crisp, untrod snow which sparkled even in the pale light of a winter sky.

What I remember best was the silence that a large snow brings. It really is like a giant blanket thrown over a lot of noisy machinery. You don't hear the cars on the road. You don't hear the rush of the river a quarter mile away. All you hear are the sounds you make, the sound of snow falling from the laden tree branches, and occasional gust of wind, and the chirping of a couple brave birds.

In such a snowfall was Jesus born two-thousand and twenty-three years ago? Probably not. We really have no idea when he was born, but it's highly doubtful that there would have been snow. Still, we Europeans are used to the association, and I find it permissible, since it's not obscuring the truth or wonder of Christ's birth. 

Thinking of Christ's birth and snow, for me, conjures up a very beautiful set of thoughts. Can it be purely coincidence that as snow covers the dirt and filth of much of the earth in something dazzling and pure, Christ also came to cover our sin with His purity and beauty? I have seen the snow transform plots of uglified suburbia into fantastical glens of wonder and mystery. So Christ does with our lives.

"See, amid the winter's snow, 

Born for us on earth below,

See the tender lamb appear,

Promised from eternal years."

 In my mind, there are few better associations one could incorporate into the Christmas story.

I want to kick off this year's round with just that song. I have had the great opportunity to make music with an excellent pianist in the area, and together with a lovely arrangement by Dan Forrest, we made a less than perfect recording, but which I'm hoping will convey the spirit of this beautiful carol.

1. See amid the winter's snow,
Born for us on earth below,
See the tender Lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years.

2. Lo, within a manger lies
He who built the starry skies;
He, who 'throned in height sublime
Sits amid the cherubim. 

3. Say, ye holy shepherds, say
What your joyful news today;
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep? 

4. "As we watched at dead of night,
Lo, we saw a wondrous light;
Angels singing peace on earth
Told us of the Saviour's birth". 

5. Sacred infant, all divine,
What a tender love was Thine,
Thus to come from highest bliss
Down to such a world as this. 

We only sang three of these verses, but I think the verses we got expressed the spirit of the song. The last verse is the most poignant, especially as I realize more and more the huge gulf that separates God's perfection from our filth. Let this lead us to wonder and to sing throughout the entire world, that Christ is born in Bethlehem!

       Merry Christmas!

          ~ Christianna