Monday, August 15, 2022

Lo, How a Rose...


 "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming"
  is a well-known Christmas carol to many.  It is centuries old, as one can tell if they read the original words.  It may have been a Old English Madrigal, sung on the streets of city, town, and village.  I like it so much that I chose it as part of the music for our wedding in 1975.

In the interest of translating hymns into modern English, however, the title has changed to "Lo, How a Rose Is Growing."  Sounds nice enough, right?  But something is lost in "translation", unfortunately.  The hyphenated word "E're" literally means ever, or even better: FOREVER.  Not just growing, but never dying.  Why is this important?  Because that rose represents Jesus, who was born as a baby, became a man, died, and rose from the grave--conquering death.  His Rose will Never Die!

Besides that, he cried, hungered, grew tired, felt pain, and all the other things human bodies experience.  To think the the Lord of the Universe would stoop down so low, to be like us weak, fallible humans is beyond comprehension.

So what does all this have to do with my son's rose bush?  When he bought his house almost 2 years ago, there was this bare stump in one of the flower beds.  He did nothing to it, no watering, no pruning, but fortunately he didn't dig it up.  And lo and behold, it began to bloom this year!

What a perfect picture of Jesus' resurrection!  Lo, How a Rose Forever Blooming! 

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