In the bleak mid-winter...

Man, it's cold! I really don't cope well with cold. Or heat. Basically, it's hard to get the temperature right for me. Maybe I have bad circulation... Anyway, Christmas is fast approaching and I have been preparing some advent worship for our small group of Sunday morning worshippers (we had an amazing 14 for worship last Sunday - we were quite overwhelmed!). Every year I tell myself I will buy a Christmas CD and every year I forget until it's far too late to bother. But this year I have discovered the delights of fast and cheap mp3 download, with the excuse of Sunday worship to prepare for.

The really weird thing is that even though I have heard the same carols and the same Christmas story every year for as long as I can remember, and have believed it for the last five years, this year I am finding myself very moved by the whole thing. I was watching a film version of the nativity story on my laptop in the Idea Store (library to you and me - I did have the headphones on, by the way) and found myself blubbing in public - most alarming. This morning I have been trying to plan a simple act of worship for advent based on Christmas carols and have found myself in tears once again. The following carol starts me off crying every time - it's my favourite:

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.

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.