Saturday, December 10, 2016

"Holy Child... teach us to resemble thee in thy sweet humility."

"Holy Child... teach us to resemble thee in thy sweet humility."
Carol: “See Amid the Winter’s Snow” – Edward Caswall (1814-1878)
Tune: HUMILITY

This hymnline prayer comes from a carol we don’t all know well… if at all. Here is the first stanza:
            See amid the winter’s snow,
            Born for us on earth below,
            See, the gentle Lamb appears,
            Promised from eternal years.

For now, I’ll zero in on this later stanza:
            Teach, O teach us, holy Child,
            By Thy face so meek and mild,
            Teach us to resemble Thee,
            In Thy sweet humility.

The request to learn to resemble Christ catches my attention. We bat around so many other terms like reflect, mirror, imitate, etc., but this is what I want personally: to resemble Christ. When someone looks at my life, I would love to bear a resemblance to the One I call Lord.

Most of us resemble one (or both) of our parents; we say that we “take after them” either physically or in our actions. The way we laugh may be the exact replica of our mother, or we may have the same voice inflection of our father. In my part of the country, they would say that I’m the “spitting image” of my daddy… but that I’m my mama all over again. I’m happy with that designation and recognition. I remember one time when a perfect stranger came up to me and said, “You’ve got to be Raymond Huff’s son” – just by looking at me.

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if someone walked up to you during this Advent season and said, “You’ve got to be a child of the King.” – not because you look like Elvis, but because you act like Jesus… you are Christlike in the way you approach every detail of your dealings with others.

Admittedly, we don’t act-out our Christian faith to BE noticed, but we must admit it comes as a blessing when someone DOES notice and says so.

Are you teachable? Is humility something you want to learn? If so, this is a good time of the year to study the life and teachings of the One who is displayed in stable-beds all around us. Watch him… emulate him… glorify him by being a resemblance of who he is!

Julie Andrews sings this carol (but not this stanza!)

A Norwegian setting of the full text

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Hymnlines - Hemlines: Get it?! :)

Hymnlines - Hemlines: Get it?! :)