Winter Song

November 24, 2009 By 4 Comments
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In case you liked yesterday’s video…

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About Richard Dahlstrom

As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of "making the invisible God visible" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. It's working, as a wilderness ministry, homeless shelter, and community meals that serve those living on the margins are all pieces of Bethany's life. "We're being the presence of Christ" he says, "and inviting everyone to join the adventure." Many have, making Bethany one of the fastest growing churches in America in 2009 according to Outreach Magazine.

  • Kevin

    This video and your message yesterday had me confused. On the one hand you commented on Hebrews 2 and the fear of death that comes with the human condition, that we are afraid or unwilling to humble ourselves, forgo our autonomy and submit to the will of the Father; on the other hand you also seemed to say that we needn’t despair for the dark and cold of Winter because the light and life of Spring is ever around the corner. Using this seasonal imagery, wouldn’t those who are afraid of the death and darkness of Winter be the those who flock towards the life and light of Spring? If the fear of death is what keeps us from relinquishing control of our lives to God, and if that very fear has been conquered by Christ, then why are we still so afraid of death, why are we still so afraid of Winter? I’m not trying to trap you in your metaphor, but I got somewhat hung up on this and spent the drive home thinking about this. If the promise of the resurrection is that we no longer need to fear death, then shouldn’t we be people who relish the Winter months? Maybe this is part of why so many Christians have a hard time living with the reality of grief.

  • raincitypastor

    sorry if I was confusing to you… here’s the metaphor as I interpreted it:

    darkness = the realities of this fallen world, including oppression, disease, addictions

    harvesters of light = those who, in the midst of this fallen world, are receptive to the light (see John 3). It is those who are enabled to shepherd others towards the light…

    hope this helps…

    • Kevin

      What if the problem is not darkness, but what we do in response to darkness. I was reading through the Apocalypse of Moses the other day (who doesn’t read arcane apocryphal texts in their spare time?) and there is a story about Adam and Eve in the immediate aftermath of their expulsion from the garden, about the sun setting on that first post-exilic day and Adam selling his soul to the devil for fear of the coming darkness. Obviously, as with all apocryphal texts, there are parts of this which are somewhat dubious, but the humanity of Adam in that moment rings true. For fear of darkness and isolation, I have done horrible things to myself and turned from God, but the darkness is not the problem. I wonder if one could even say that God is in the darkness as well, not that God is evil but that God is not constrained by dark or light. That’s sort of what I was thinking.

  • Hannah

    love that song, thanks for sharing!