Love
What matters? Distracted by the tugs of daily life, we can sometimes overlook the cultural revolutions that we find ourselves in. My favorite era to study is the mid-19th century because it offered the most transformational reforms in societal structures and ideologies that are still playing-out today. Transcendental philosophers wrestled with the nature of God. Christians spear-headed The Second Great Awakening, which gave rise to individualism. Nearly all of our modern world-views can be traced back to the major movements of the 1800s’. While Europe argued over the most effective systems of government and economics, America withstood the harshest division our country has ever seen over the abolition of slavery. It can be easy to get lost in the historical complexity, which is why I’ve always loved the poem by Christina Rossetti, written in 1872. This poem was later converted into the familiar Christmas hymn that we cherish.
Gearing up for the battle of women’s equality at the turn of the century, the world paused for a moment to hear the beautiful words of In The Bleak Midwinter. This poem serves as a reminder of the love we find between baby Jesus and his mother. This poem is an invitation to strip away our materialism, to set aside our divisions, and come together under the adoration of Christ.
This Christmas, with all that is going on in the world around us, I encourage us to resort to the basics: love. While standing up for what we believe may be noble, change for the better is impossible if it’s not rooted in love. Mary is rejecting the labels of poor, shepherd, wise man, and all the things that distract us from the most important gift of all: love. Held-up in a barn, after giving birth in a feeding troth, all Mary has to offer Jesus is a kiss. That kiss is enough. Love carries us through the harshest winters of division, isolation, and death. Love sustains us through the generations.
Accelerated by COVID-19, we are on the verge of drastic cultural and institutional changes ahead, likely unparalleled to anything society has ever faced. I long to know where we’re headed, but whatever the future ushers in, we’re in it together. Beyond our labels, beyond our division, beyond our struggle, there is a scene in Bethlehem that draws us back to all that truly matters: love.
The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh mean absolutely nothing to a baby. The only gift that Christ cares about is love. This Christmas, let’s join Mary in giving our hearts. God will provide everything else. God will lead us, accompany us, and point us ever closer to the brightness of spring.
In Hope,
Pr. Lucas McSurley
“In the bleak midwinter frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, 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 incarnate, Jesus Christ. Enough for him, whom Cherubim worship night and day a breast full of milk and a manger full of hay. Enough for him, whom angels fall down before, the ox and ass and camel which adore. Angels and archangels may have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; but his mother only, in her maiden bliss, worshipped the Beloved with a kiss. 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.”
Christina Rossetti