As Advent winds down, bleak midwinter blues may loom on the horizon.

Yesterday while listening to Annie Lennox’s Christmas Cornucopia (that sees playlist action all year around) the words to In the Bleak Midwinter made me pause…

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.

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…

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Our hearts may feel like frozen bleak mid winter landscapes, made cold and brittle by our fears, failures and tears of years past. Or maybe our hearts have been broken by beanheads (or beanheadettes) and we are not letting anyone else in.

Lift up ye heads, oh ye gates, be lifted up, ye ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in… (Psalm 24:9)

Give up (all those dreary fears.)  Open up (dry your tears.)  Step up (and try again.)

Let the King of Glory into the stables of our hearts.  Let Him be born anew in us today.

grace, peace & bleak winter blues-busters

 Virginia : )