This year in the BYU Choirs’ Celebration of Christmas concert, the Concert Choir is singing a setting of the poem “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Christina Rossetti.
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. 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. 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.
I love this poem but especially the last stanza. We give a lot of gifts at Christmas time but I think we often forget Christ in all of our gift giving. We really have very little to give Christ that he doesn’t already have. We owe to him our lives, our agency, and our eternal salvation; however, as this poem teaches, we can give him the one thing that we have to give: our heart. May we all find a way to give Christ our hearts during this busy holiday season.