Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming

A Fantasy Author’s Christmas Musings: 2023

I wasn’t planning on writing the Rose of Destiny Trilogy. In fact, I was slated to start the Chronicles of the Time Stones Trilogy to follow up Legacy of the Time Stones Trilogy. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find the right structure. Not yet, at least.

Just to get my brain out of the muddy hole it seemed stuck in as plot points clashed and characters refused to cooperate, I asked myself, What would I like to write?

I’ve always been in love with roses. Call it cliche if you like. But I really, really love roses. And I realized that in my heart of hearts, I wanted to write a fantasy story about a rose. It was as I was mulling on this that I remembered there’s a hymn about a rose as well.

A Christmas hymn.

And this is it:

 Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flower bright,
Amid the cold of winter
When half-gone was the night.

I’d sung the words before, of course. But for some reason, they shone in a new light that night, and it wasn’t long before I had the trilogy taking shape in my head. Rather than focus on that right now, however, I want to focus on the choice of a rose as the picture given us in this hymn.

This is a Christmas song, and the rose, of course, represents Christ, who came as an infant to earth to save us from our sins by living perfectly for God’s children, being put to death for their sins, and rising again to conquer death for them, giving them life and communion with God for all eternity. So why did the author choose a rose to represent the Savior?

Roses, after all, are beautiful but delicate. And they don’t bloom well in the winter. Any rose blooming in the winter is likely to suffer a frost and die. In Las Vegas, roses grow best in spring and fall, when the heat isn’t so severe, and the chilling winds aren’t at their height.

Isn’t that the point, though? Jesus Christ–a Person of the Triune God who created the universe with but a Word. Who knew every single human who would ever be born and destined each one for a purpose. Who knows the stars and calls them by name. Who has an army of warrior angels at His beck and call. Who upholds the universe every moment of its existence. This Jesus Christ came to earth as an infant in the dead of night in a stable because the local innkeeper didn’t have the common decency to give these poor parents a room, despite Mary most likely being in the early to mid-stage of childbirth.

Infants aren’t sturdy. If you’ve ever held a newborn, they’re absolutely beautiful, but they seem like the most fragile things in the world. When I had my first newborn, despite her being born in March, everyone worried about her being cold. Our dog was allowed to sniff her now and then, but that was the end of their interaction until she got older. Guests were asked to wash their hands before holding the baby, and we didn’t go out much for several months for fear she would get sick.

And there, two thousand years ago, the Lord of the Universe subjected himself to a frail, human infant’s body. And while some very privileged shepherds were given a life-altering announcement by the angels, in general, there was no fanfare or celebration as a prince would be given in the royal courts. Instead, he was born into possibly one of the least sanitary conditions in the world, surrounded by animal refuse and muck, and exposed to the chill of winter’s night.

The most beautiful human ever to be born on this earth was born into the lowliest of conditions. And yet, for us, he came. In fact, God explains why He came in such a way in 1 Corinthians 1:27-30:

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

-1 Corinthians 1:27-30

In the world, we tend to gravitate toward power, pomp, and riches. But God Himself came down in an unlikely way at what seems to us an untimely hour to save humans from the hideous sin inside us with the beauty of His holiness, which He died to give us as our own.

This is the idea behind Rose’s ability to feel the difference between dark and light with the rose oil. The rose, despite the seeming frailty of a rose, has gifted her something priceless. The rose oil gives Rose the ability to see what others can’t–true beauty and true light. In contrast, she also has the ability to see evil for what it is

And for those who turn to Jesus for forgiveness for their sins and trust in Him as their Savior, we are gifted the same thing. We are given the ability to see Christ for who He is. We see the Rose for His true beauty and light, and we see the darkness within ourselves and the world for what it is. But Jesus doesn’t leave us there. Instead, He gives us the Holy Spirit to put His own beautiful light within us to chase out the darkness. The Rose gives us His beauty and His light as our own.

If we truly repent and believe.

I hope you have a very merry Christmas. And rather than chasing after a thousand resolutions, I pray you embrace the Light of the Rose in this new year.

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