Elise commentary: From bleak to hope

As everyone knows, “Jesus Wept” the shortest sentence in the Bible. What makes it so significant is what lies at the heart of it: a fundamental characteristic of Christ, which is his compassion.

In earlier times, compassion was viewed as a weakness, but as we read about this attribute in the Gospels, we do not see it that way.

Think of the instance when Jesus touched a man with leprosy. To do so in his time was extraordinary; the man would have been shunned and would even have instilled fear in others. Even though Christ could have cured him with no touch at all, he had the compassion to lay hands on the man.

Jesus also wept when Martha and Mary told him of the death of their brother, Lazurus. We can understand being broken-hearted about his friend’s death but, at the same time, Jesus entered into Martha’s and Mary’s anguish. His grief evinced his great love for us.

In that vein, we can revisit Christina Rossetti’s magnificent nativity poem, “In the Bleak Midwinter.” The verse validates that we are not alone in our life travails and that we have Christ walking beside us as we navigate the sorrows and hardships.

It also evokes the musicality of language, and it highlights the importance of Christ’s mother, Mary.

Regarding the former, the piece begs to be song-filled. The repetition of the word “snow” in the first quatrain/stanza longs for harmonic patterns that pull us into the picture of that dark day when “earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone.”

We can almost hear a choir’s devotion when the lyrics in the second stanza turn to the arrival of Christ: “…a stable place sufficed The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.”

We may wonder how a stable could be good enough for this pivotal arrival. Rosetti makes it clear that cherubim, milk, a “mangerful” of hay and animals like an ox and camel are sufficient surroundings for this extraordinary event.

However, there is a line that stays with me during each reading. The third line of the fourth stanza states: “But His mother only, in her maiden bliss, worshipped the beloved with a kiss.”

What instrument or voice do you imagine when you think of the power of a mother’s kiss?

Maybe there is no tool or vocal range that can capture that beautiful, soul-saving touch. Or perhaps the words are a thunderbolt to remind us about Mary’s sacrifice and love that brought the Child into the world.

Interesting, isn’t it, that Christina Rosetti lived in a time when women were largely excluded from many professions and higher education. She was more like the shepherds in the fifth stanza than anyone else in the poem.

Some people may find the sentiment in the last stanza a bit contrived when the writer says, “What can I give Him, poor as I am?”

Does she come across as whiny or too self-deprecating to say she cannot do much for the Him since she is poor? That all she can offer is her heart?

I don’t think so. Making oneself so vulnerable and humble as to offer this complicated and vital organ is courageous. It certainly isn’t flashy, but the quiet and pure gesture is one that can turn a person inside out.

We wouldn’t think Jesus was weak when he wept at the suffering of others and took their grief upon himself. He was a fully-realized human being with the same emotions that we have, and he was willing and able to live inside their unhappiness.

Those kinds of emotions and readiness to be raw lend themselves, yet again, to song.

It is not a wonder, then, that Gustav Holst set Christina Rossetti’s luminous words to music in 1906. Whether the hymn is sung a cappella or with the accompaniment of an organ or other instrument, the melody captures the lyrics and sensibility perfectly.

Rosetti’s poem was published in 1872 when she was 42 years old, two years before Gustav Holst was born. She was a woman far ahead of her time, as was Mary.

Language, melody and compassion: three focal points in two universal pieces of the written word. How can we not live in hope for 2024?

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Elise commentary: From bleak to hope as 2024 begins