...what's in a name?

"This child shall be Emmanuel, not God upon the throne,
but God with us, Emmanuel, as close as blood and bone."
The tiny form in Joseph's palms confirmed what he had heard,
and from his heart rose hymns and psalms for heaven's human word.
---Thomas Troeger, 1985

Throughout the history of God's called-out people, divine love has been claimed, and spoken, and worked in intervening acts. God has made love known for a precious nation in a thousand large and small ways, noticed and unnoticed. God has broken into history in mighty and powerful ways, rescuing and restoring God's people time and time again.

And time and time again the love of God fades into the distant memory of the beloved people.

So God takes on a new name, and this name changes everything. Because as much as I love words, they only go so far. Because the most logical prose, the most moving poetry, the best-ever 140-character zingers have their limits. Because being there, in the flesh, means more.

Emmanuel, God's new name, is 'God with us'. Because when love words don't break through, sometimes you show up in person.

Thank God.