In The Bleak Mid-Winter

In the bleak mid-winter
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 mid-winter

Long ago.

These words, penned by the nineteenth-century English poet, Christina Rossetti, give us a descriptive picture of winter weather. You don’t have to experience winter in the Treasure Valley for very long before you feel and hear the winter wind she describes. This year is no exception and the Boise valley has been transformed by snowfall before the official beginning of winter on December 21st.


The winter season is when Boise normally gets its coldest temperatures of the year and daylight shrinks to under nine hours a day. But even as the temperatures decline, the sun reverses its southern direction and begins its slow climb towards the north. After the winter solstice occurs on December 21st, the days begin to lengthen slowly and by the end of January, our days will have lengthened by nearly an hour! This increase is nearly undetectable as we bear up against the frosty winds of winter, but the days are gradually getting longer. Much like the slow, but sure, march of winter into spring, so is the journey of lives. We can seem to be ‘stuck’ in a particular season and our lives can appear to be caught in a rut. Is there a part of your life you’d like to change, but the changes never seem to come? Perhaps you feel like this season of your life will never end.


Changes in the seasons come slowly, but surely, but what about the changes in our lives? Though we’d like the changes to happen overnight, this rarely occurs and our patience is tested as we wait. Can we let our faith be tested as we wait for the changes we desire? It has been said that the testing of our faith produces endurance. Sometimes it is endurance that we need - endurance coupled with the hope that change is possible. As this year draws to a close and a new year begins, what changes are you looking for in your life? Is it a new commitment to your health – both physical and emotional? What about new habits that you want to begin or old habits that you want to break? Building new or breaking old habits never happen quickly, but they all begin with a change in direction, like the one that occurs when the sun begins its trek toward longer days and signals the promise of spring.


Just as a long journey begins with a single step, so must our journey towards health and wholeness. Between now and the end of the year, think about the changes you want to make in your life. Talk about these changes with your family and friends. If you dare, ask them what changes they think would be healthy for you! Meditate on these ideas and then make healthy resolutions for the New Year. Even though the official beginning of winter will soon be here, remember that in the midst of the ‘bleak mid-winter’, that days are getting longer, bringing the hope and promise of the spring. May your hope increase and the promise of healthy changes bring you joy in this season of festivity.