Snow on Snow on Snow

These words from the hymn, In the Bleak Midwinter, came to mind as I looked out the window this morning.  After an all-day snow yesterday, it is snowing again this morning, just as it is in many parts of the country.  A few weeks ago, everyone around here was asking, "Where is the snow?" I was wondering, too! We'd only had one light snow since our first one in November.  Now that February is almost off the calendar, nature seems to have shifted into high gear to give us the much-needed moisture for coming crops.

I remembered reading in the Old Farmers' Almanac that we were to have an unusually cool and wet winter, with heavy snowfalls, especially in the northeast.  The prediction was that people may see deep snow until June!  And I did see that frozen Niagara Falls may not thaw completely until June! Now I wonder if they hit the nail on the head!  I surely hope they are not that accurate!

Back to the hymn.  It was written by Christina Rossetti, based on a poem she had written. The first verse depicts the view, now questioned, that Jesus was born in the cold, snowy winter:
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the bleak mid-winter, Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone.
Snow on snow on snow on snow
In the bleak mid-winter, O so long ago.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second verse deals not only with Jesus birth, but with His second coming.

               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him,  Nor earth contain.
Heaven and Earth will flee away, When He comes to reign.
In the bleak mid-winter, A stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The truth of Jesus's  return gives us hope even in the most dismal, disagreeable weather or circumstances in which we find ourselves.  Certainly conditions we live in now point to His soon return.  The most important thing we can do is reflected in the last stanza of the carol.

             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 can I give Him: Give my heart.