In the Bleak Midwinter

The following poem by Christina Rossetti (1872) is perhaps best known to us as a beautiful carol sung at Christmastime. And with the Christmas season officially past, my posting of it is late, liturgically speaking.

But when I awake as I did this morning, to an unexpected 4-5 inch fresh blanket of snow, atop a 2-3 inch layer of ice and snow from recent days, and flakes are still gently falling, the line "snow on snow" immediately comes to my mind.

I looked up the poem and read it, with the familiar tune singing in my head. The first stanza paints the scene we awoke to today; those following how Our Lord the Infant King came to this earth in just such a scene, His own Dear Mother, shepherds and kings adoring him, and how I might as well.

Certainly we are beyond this scene on the liturgical calendar, but on the calendar of our hearts it is always time to consider our own love and adoration of Him who came to us one bleak midwinter; today's lovely snowfall brings it to my mind again.

In the Bleak Midwinter
By Christina Rossetti

In the bleak mid-winter
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 mid-winter
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 mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful 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 only His mother
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.

* * *

God bless you!

Too Much Pink

My husband was right. It was a quite a bit of pink. And I discovered the answer to my question back at him: Yes, you can have too much pink!

So I've gone from strawberry sundae to plain vanilla for the time being, and we'll see where it goes from there.

Stay tuned!

In the Pink

My Morning Cup takes on a bit of a new look today! While it's not a huge change, I think it's nice and it is little more readable, especially with the text on white.

I love my old header, so I asked my husband to modify its color to match this new background. He did, and then he asked me, "Um... do you think that might be a quite a bit of pink??"

What??!

I answered him with another question. "Can you have TOO much pink??!"

You see, dear readers, I love pink. Indeed, what is not to love about pink?

• Strawberry Ice Cream
• Cotton Candy
• Pink Lemonade
  
• A "Peace Rose" -- my all-time favorite variety of rose, yellow down in the center, blooming out into a lovely pink at its pedals' edges.
• The sky behind Mount Hood as the sun sets on a chilly fall day in Portland.
• My bridesmaids' gowns on my wedding day, and dare I admit it?? I made our groomsmen wear pink ties and cummerbunds (what WAS I thinking?!)

I've enjoyed wearing pink since I was a girl. In high school, way back in the late 70s, early 80s, when bib overalls in every color were popular, I had pink ones. Beyond cute! And to this day I have to watch myself when looking for sweaters or other pieces of clothing because I will prefer the pink one every time, and as pretty as any one garment may be, no one needs a closet full of one color!

To me the color pink is everything sweet, feminine, soft, lovely. It's the essence of a girly-girl, and in a house full of boys, I think I can indulge myself with it just a bit, if only on my blog!

And so, it might need a tweak here and there before arriving at the final version, but I'm pleased with My Morning Cup's new look thus far. And perhaps I'll enjoy looking at it enough that I'll actually start posting a tad more again, as time permits. We'll see.....

God bless you, dear readers!

First Friday Mass

A First Friday Mass (Traditional Latin) will be celebrated by Father Gregory Lockwood at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church tomorrow morning, February 4, at 6:30 a.m.

Brave the chill temps and join us!