Lo, How a Rose E‘er Blooming

I love winter. The air is cold and refreshing-not heavy and hot.

The landscape is stark and simple. I love to look out the frosty window and see the contrast of the dark, wet bark of the naked trees against the cold, blue sky. I also enjoy the rare discovery of a camellia bloom next to frosty leaves. This bloom is a small sign of hope of the spring to come. Winter is a time for nature to regenerate and rest. Not everyone shares my enjoyment of the season. Actually, many people laugh when I say that winter is my favorite time of the year. They say that winter is dark and can be gloomy. The days are short and the nights are cold and long. For many people, winter can be a depressing time when we feel cold and alone in the harshness of the world.

Advent is a time of reflection and waiting. It is the winter of the church year. We are waiting for and pondering the meaning of the birth of the Messiah. One of the hymns that we sing during Advent highlights this reflective mood-“Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming.” The words to this song were written in the 15th century in Germany. It has been sung for centuries in a hushed tone-whispering a message of hope from a dark and cold winter.

“Lo how a rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as those of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night!.”

Prayer: O Lord, Thank you for the stark beauty of winter and for the flower that blooms in the frost. Help us to find the beauty of Christmas in the harshness of winter and our lives.

Thought for the Day: “This flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air, dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere. True man, yet very God, from sin and death He saves us, and lightens every load.”

Beth Ann Higgs