SR: In Like A Lion (Always Winter)
>> Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Yo... Beautiful People... It's Christmas! So here's my present to you, an honest to goodness Song Reflection. I actually was working on this one and wanted to post it at the beginning of Advent, but I think it works out better this way.
In Song Reflection News, I think I have decided that the only way this is going to work, is if it becomes a monthly thing. So keep an eye out for it once a month from here on out.
So the song that we shall be enjoying today is a Christmas fave of mine "In Like a Lion (Always Winter)" by Relient K The song, is based on and inspired by the First book of the Narnia Series, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The song examines the idea that we live in a dying world. Are we living through a curse? Is there truly greener grass on the other side?
Yet in the midst of all this ice and snow/
Our hearts stay warm cause they are filled with hope
Hit the jump for the entire reflection, lyrics and bonus Vids.
So, it is Christmas today, and to tell you the truth, this is possibly the least "prepared" I have been for Christmas. Gifts still to be wrapped. Christmas Cards not sent. People not called. Some gift buying postponed, because luckily I won't be seeing some of those people anytime soon. It truly seems like Christmas snuck up on me this year... and what's the most disheartening is that it seems like my Advent got lost in the shuffle, and therefore I am not as spiritually ready for Christmas.
This song though, it gives me hope.
At the Midnight Vigil Mass, this evening, Father Leatherby said that the story of Christmas, was the greatest news the world had ever heard in all its history. The world was dying - decaying, even. The world was in need of a savior, and with the birth of Christ one had arrived.
Through Christmas, their is true HOPE for the world.
That is the beauty of Christmas. And as this song points out, even in our dying world, we still have hope. Whether or not Christmas seems like it is soooo far away, or whether you still have gifts to wrap that will be opened in less than 5 hours, we look to better things. If we allow it, it can be a driving force in our lives - that hope of paradise - that hope of that green grass waiting on the other side.If we surrender ourselves to the notion that Christ came humbly to this earth so that we would have true life, than we will be filled with the hope spoken of in this song. The Hope that remains even when it seems the curse can't be lifted, or it seems like the world has gone mad, and people are doing crazy things, even when you read about another tragedy in the world, and when you go through a tragedy of your own, even then. Even in the midst of all this ice and snow, our hearts stay warm because they are filled with hope.
Father Leatherby relayed the Christmas reflection that God became man, so that man could become truly God's. So that we might share in what Adam and Eve once had - so that we can claim the paradise that Christ bought for us on the cross.
Christmas is about a savior, our savior, the only savior. Christmas is about Jesus.
This song on the other hand isn't about snow. It's about Sin. It is about what has and continues to destroy this world. It is about what has and continues to destroy our lives. It is this icyness, that keeps us from feeling the warmth of Christ's love.
Maybe there was a time in your life when you were truly filled with that joy and that hope. Have you ever felt like you were being brought to life and deep inside things were changing, and that darkness - that icyness - was melting away. I know I have. But how easy was it to just withdraw. Have you ever felt like you were retreating back into that darkness, allowing that icyness to settle back in? I know I have.
Like I said at the beginning of this reflection, I have been so caught up in other things that I am utterly unprepared for Christmas. It took going to Mass tonight, as well as really taking the time to reflect in order to put things in perspective.
If we open ourselves up to it and truly accept Christ and allow him to work in our lives, how wondrous it would be. Someone once told me, we should treat every day like it's Christmas and that we should welcome Christ into the lowly manger of our hearts every day.
Brother's and sisters, ultimately Christmas isn't about all the gifts under the tree, it is the beginning of the story of the Gift that hung on a tree.
And just like in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it is through that gift - that sacrifice - that we have been rewarded with true life.
Even when it's tough, I say don't lose hope in our world. Why? In such a beautiful way, it is great to be able to say that we have hope because "Our Savior Lives".
Has the weather in your life got you down? well just SNOW that it'll be alright, because the Son is coming. See what I did there?
Lol.
Love the Holidays brothers and sisters.
