“Winter Snow”
I have to admit when I heard what the special music was going to be for last Sunday’s service I wondered if it was actually a religious song. The title of the song was “Winter Snow.” It sure didn’t sound like a “religious” song but once I heard it sung by one of our youth I realized that my concerns were for aught. In fact, it turned out that the song was both beautiful and inspirational, with a message most appropriate for an Advent service and for the readers of this blog.
Here are the words to “Winter Snow” as penned by Audrey Assad. “Could’ve come like a mighty storm with all the strength of a hurricane. You could’ve come like a forest fire with the power of Heaven in Your flame. But You came like a winter snow—quiet and soft and slow—falling from the sky in the night to the earth below. Could’ve swept in like a tidal wave or an ocean to ravish our hearts. You could have come through like a roaring flood to wipe away the things we’ve scarred. No, Your voice wasn’t in a bush burning. No, Your voice wasn’t in a rushing wind. It was still, it was small, it was hidden.”
I hope you’ll give some thought to these words in the days to come. As the celebration of Christmas draws near we can find in nature a reminder of the miracle of the Incarnation. The song writer is correct, Jesus could have come in any number of ways to the earth, but God’s plan was for him to come in a still, small, hidden way—to come “quiet and soft and slow” like a winter snow.
There is so much about Jesus’ coming I find incomprehensible. Even with all the prophecies of the Old Testament I don’t think anyone could have imagined the Son of God coming as he did. I am certain not even the prophets themselves could have imagined God becoming one of us “like a winter snow.”
If you’re lucky enough to have a good snow in the coming days (I know, some would consider that unlucky), I hope that you’ll pause to think about this song and the parallels there are between a winter snow and the birth of our Savior. And whether you experience that snow or not, I hope and pray that in some still, small and hidden way you will experience Emmanuel, God with us, in your own particular way.
–Chuck
(I took the top image at Arches National Park. The bottom image was taken at Bryce Canyon National Park.)