Two poems, Narnia and a reflection on Promise and Purpose
The Big Freeze of 1963
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.
This is the first verse of Christina Rossetti’s poem “In The Bleak Midwinter”. Winter snow has always reminded me of this poem. Winter 63 years ago was cold. It all started on Boxing Day in 1962 when I was just 14 years old. An east wind set in straight from Siberia. It snowed and snowed until a white blanket lay across the countryside lasting until early March. It became known as the Big Freeze of 1963.
From my bedroom window I remember watching as the snow began to fall, looking out across the paddock to the old barn with walls of Victorian corrugated iron; black painted cladding which hid the old beams of the Tudor building that had already stood there for centuries. Snow covered the old thatched roof and drifted into the barn through the large open doors. The barn was shelter for all the pregnant ewes brought in from the meadows to find hay to eat now the grass was covered in frozen whiteness. Shelter also for the resident Barn Owl that left every evening as dusk was falling, to go hunting. Snow or no snow it needed food.
A Bleak Midwinter
“In The Bleak Midwinter” was written by Christina Rossetti in 1872. The words were later set to music, first by Gustav Holst in 1906 and then by Edwin Darke in 1909. Today, it’s one of the most popular of our Christmas carols. Did you sing it in the last few weeks? Though the poem is now a well-loved Christmas Carol, its truths are eternal. The Big Freeze of 1963 has been replaced by the Big Freeze of 2026, where belief in God has been supplanted in our culture by “anything goes” secularism and Truth replaced by “whatever works for you”. We live in a permanent bleak midwinter rather like C S Lewis’s Narnia where it was “always winter but never Christmas”.
The words of Rossetti’s poem are beautiful and the sentiments profound, but there is this thread of bleakness running through it. The poem contrasts the warmth of the love our Father showed in sending His Son Jesus to Earth that first Christmas with the coldness and unwillingness of humankind to accept Him, a rejection that ended with His death on the Cross.
The poem tells of our heavenly Father’s awesome power but also of his awesome love. He sent His Son Jesus into this bleak world to bring salvation and the promise of eternal life with God Himself. He made a promise (with none required from us in return) and He fulfilled it. Here are the middle three verses of the poem:
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 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,
Worshiped the Beloved with a kiss.
Presents
The final verse speaks about bringing the baby Jesus presents. The New Covenant promised by our heavenly Father as Jesus came to earth does not require promises or presents on our part to ensure its fulfilment. Our response follows the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the grace of God we have already received. Any presents we might give are only a response to the ultimate gift to mankind of Jesus Himself:
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.
In this verse Christina Rossetti imagines travelling to the stable and wonders what present she could bring to her Lord Jesus. There are many “presents” we might give God in our thankfulness to Him for all His Son accomplished on the Cross. But, as Rossetti reminds us in the final verse of the poem, the greatest gift we can give Him is to respond to His sacrifice by giving Him our heart.
“Giving God our heart”
What does “giving Him our heart” actually mean? This is what Chat GPX suggests:
“To “give God our heart” means to fully commit ourselves to Him in love, trust, and obedience. It involves surrendering our desires, priorities and will, to align with His purpose. This act reflects deep faith, which we try to show by seeking to live according to God’s teachings, embracing His guidance in all aspects of our life. It requires of us a sincere, heartfelt devotion rather than just an outwardly religious practice.”
That description is a summary of the many scriptures in the Bible that talk about God’s commitment to us and our response by living out a lifelong commitment to Him. Here is one such verse:
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
God’s purpose becomes my purpose
So for me, His purpose becomes my purpose. As the verse says we are “called according to His purpose”. Jesus is not only my Saviour but my Lord as well, so I need to give myself to follow him. And yet in this fallen world it isn’t easy. The bleakness described in Christina Rossetti’s poem signifies a world that had turned away from him, a coldness of heart that remains true today. To turn away from this “bleak” world to follow Him can be difficult and often requires sacrifice. I am still on a journey into the fullness of life that comes by finding what His purpose is for me so that I may live my life in what I call “holy fruitfulness”.
Stopping by Woods
There is another poem, this one written by Robert Frost and called “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. Its words also resonate with me. As I read this poem, my vivid imagination takes me back to the farm of my childhood. I see in my mind’s eye the farm track that then as now, heads down past that same barn I wrote about earlier, before winding uphill, passing through trees on either side. It was very snowy in that winter of the 1963 Big Freeze! Here’s the poem’s first verse:
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near;
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The words are spoken by a wagon man driving his horse and cart through woods on a snowy evening and stopping to enjoy the sight of trees festooned in snow. But, as the subsequent verses describe, his horse, confused by stopping away from its stable, does its best to remind the man that he has a journey to complete and responsibilities to fulfil.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.
A deeper truth
That may be true for the wagoner in real life. Robert Frost also saw his poem as a metaphor, pointing to a deeper metaphysical truth. It relates to the same idea that Christina Rossetti sets out in her poem. Frost saw the tug of war between worldly allure and the good service he might bring to people. The last verse reminds us of our responsibilities – the need to resist an easy life of worldliness if we are to fulfil our obligations to those around us and serve our Lord Jesus.
For Christians, God-given purposes compete with the call of this broken, fallen world to enjoy life where and while you can. Giving God our hearts means accepting God’s promises and making them an intricate and intimate part of daily life – and responding by dedicating ourselves – promising Him and ourselves that His purposes will become our purposes too.
It took me a while studying God’s Word to realise the width and depth of fruitfulness that should be in my life; and to discover that it was dependant on the width and depth of my daily walk with God – walking the Way of Jesus in His authority and in the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to lead a life that reflects His love and righteousness and which is fruitful in His purposes..
Giving involves doing
So the giving of my heart also involves doing. I have promised to be fruitful in my Father’s purpose for me and there are miles and miles of fruitful purpose in me yet to come. Then I will finally finish my life here on this earth and move on to eternal life in the new heaven and new earth.
Do you feel you have promises to keep and miles to go before you sleep?Remembering God’s promises and walking in His purposes each day we can bring The Thaw. Just as the Pevensie children in Lewis’s “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” came to Narnia and helped restore warmth and joy to its bleak midwinter, so we as Christians, can do the same in this bleak midwinter society we live in.
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All references are from the NKJV unless specified otherwise.
John Partis
bearing-kingdom-fruit.com
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