A Brightening

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone…

In the bleak midwinter, a stable-place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ

-from ”In the Bleak Midwinter” by Christina Rossetti

In this bleak midwinter, as the glories of autumnal foliage and the warmth of Thanksgiving tables have faded, and we find ourselves facing down months more to come of Midwestern cold and darkness, trudging down icy sidewalks and shoveling snow off our cars . . .  in this bleak midwinter, light dawns yet again at Christmas. In the brightness and warmth of family members home for the holidays, of familiar carols on the radio, of lights glowing on houses and in windows, of a church full of people singing and praying, of the barest hints of Spring on the distant horizon.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the “Christmas season” comes with all of its own stresses and strains and, for some, with its heartaches and remembered griefs. But the story which we tell in church year after year of this baby born to poor parents in a cave because there was no room for them in the inn is a perennially necessary story of light dawning in darkness, of warmth kindled in cold, of holiness and hope present here in this world amidst straw and stone, imperial oppression and a people’s lost    dreams for themselves. There is still and always a gift in this ancient story for us - no matter how many times we’ve heard it, no matter how busy our “holiday season”, no matter how broken or bruised our hearts.

Where, I wonder, is this grace, this new light breaking forth for you these days - maybe in a very small way? Easy to miss or overlook, perhaps, in the bleakness and the cold and the dark but nevertheless present and real. Like the slow lengthening of days after the solstice, like that first bit of dim brightness on the horizon at dawn, like this tiny, fragile child who is hope, who is love, who is God, who is born for us in the darkness once again.

Faithfully,

The Rev. Adam Spencer, Rector

Saint Elisabeth’s Episcopal Church