Emmanuel
shall come to thee,
O
Israel!
---Latin hymn
Breathless from the bustle of autumn, we arrive at the first
Sunday of Advent. Here in a football town, it seems we rush straight through
football season headlong into the string of holidays that stretch from
Thanksgiving through New Year’s. If we observe it, the season of Advent can
give us a chance to take a breath, focus on the meaning of Christ’s birth,
prepare our hearts for a sea change.
Abby and Sarah have always felt that this hymn, from the 12th
century, is the only appropriate way to usher in the season. I think that its
words delineate, in mysterious yet earthy fashion, the difference between Christianity and religion. First
there is the name given for this coming Savior --- Emmanuel, “God with us”. Not God up there, or God on a throne, or God with a big naughty or nice list and
a long memory. God…with…us. Then there is the rest of the
short refrain: “Emmanuel shall come to thee”. Jesus is the God who comes to us. No more beseeching
the heavens, stumbling around in the dark, crying out and hearing only the echo
of our prayers.
God with us, come to us. Mystery, bound to earth. Rejoice!
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