Sabbath Rest in the Bleak Days of Winter

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus

If we never had winter, we'd hardly be able to see how consistent our tested hopes might be for a coming summer. It snowed in my city this most recent weekend of the Advent season, prompting me to remember an old carol that makes a lovely sabbath rest, all by itself:

In the Bleak Mid-winter

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.

Angels and archangels

Might have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim

Thronged the air;

But his mother only,

In her maiden bliss,

Worshiped 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 can I give him...

...give him my heart.