O God, whom heaven cannot hold, you inspired Christina Rossetti to express the mystery of the Incarnation through her poems: Help us to follow her example in giving our hearts to Christ, who is love; and who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.Today the Episcopal Church calendar gives us an opportunity to remember the English poet, Christina Rosetti, perhaps most famous for writing the text of the hymn, "In the Bleak Midwinter." With signs of spring all around us in New England, recalling the bleak midwinter is about the last thing I want to do today! And to be perfectly honest, I can take or leave most of the poem, at least until the last verse - which has always seemed inspired to me.
What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb
If I were a wiseman, I would do my part;
yet what can I give him? Give my heart.
Until reading her brief biography this morning in Lesser Feasts and Fasts, I didn't know that when she was 14, Rossetti suffered a nervous breakdown, which was followed by bouts of depression and related illness. Fourteen! (Knowing this part of her story adds a whole new dimension to those lines about the bleak midwinter, doesn't it?) It was during that period of her life that she and her mother became seriously interested in the Anglo-Catholic movement of the Church of England, which shaped and influenced the woman who was able to so freely give her own heart to Christ. The Oxford movement, as it was called, was not about being "fussy" about worship--it was a renewal movement that called the Church back to the integral connection between worship and mission, so that how we pray and how we act are of one piece. Rosetti volunteered from 1859 to 1870 at the St. Mary Magdalene "house of charity" in Highgate, a refuge for former prostitutes. In spite of her own challenges, Rosetti put herself in a place where she could move beyond herself to a world in need. Giving our heart to Christ means giving our heart to God's people, especially the most vulnerable. They are, of course, two sides to one coin. Giving her heart, in other words, wasn't just a pious slogan; it meant giving her life to Christ as a servant. The ongoing challenge in trying to be the Church remains the same, I think. People come to Church for all kinds of reasons: love and marriage, kids and baptism, death and funerals. People come because they are depressed or lonely or seeking or perhaps grateful and blessed. People come because they've tried everything else. The question is, for me: what happens next? Do we embody the call of Jesus to come and be disciples - not consumers of a religious commodity, but as living members of a living Body? It is sometimes easy to think that we have nothing to give, especially if we are feeling lost or depressed or broken. If we were rich, or smart, or holy, or famous we could do so much. What can we do, poor as we are? We can give our hearts, because where our hearts are, so will our bodies and minds and hands be also. And if our hearts are with Christ, they will always take us more deeply into a world in need.
I didn't know anything about Rossetti before reading this, but every year for the past 27 years I have taught her "Who has seen the wind?" to my students:
ReplyDeleteWho has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
I'm looking at the poem through a whole new lens now....
No pious poems, hers! What wonderful insights you've shared! Thank you for every one of them.
ReplyDeleteAnother Christmas poem of Rosetti's, less famous than the other I think, pretty well sums it all up. (It's #84 in The [Episcopal] Hymnal 1982:
ReplyDeleteLove came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine;
love was born at Christmas; star and angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead, love incarnate, love divine;
worship we our Jesus, but wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine;
love to God and neighbor, love for plea and gift and sign.
It's fascinating to me how Rossetti found a rather quiet "back door" way to talk about and influence society, and the role of women in it. I wonder if she ever thought her work would still be popular all these years later!
ReplyDeleteThe quote below is from
http://www.enotes.com/feminism-literature/rossetti-christina
Since the 1970s, feminist scholars have also noted that Rossetti's writings include subtle critiques of nineteenth-century society's treatment of women. It is recognized that Rossetti was no radical feminist—in fact she explicitly rejected the idea of women's suffrage. However, her work does explore relationships between women, the restrictions imposed upon women, the difficulties facing the female writer, and gender ideology. Some critics also argue that her religious verse offers new readings of the Christian scriptures with a uniquely feminist understanding and that her work in general offers a critique of the treatment of women in her age despite the fact that she did not overtly challenge the social order.