Veni Emmanuel

I am really into the meanings of songs. When I hear one that particularly moves me, I tend to research it, listen over and over. Much like a passage meditation. I did it with Love Rescue Me. and now I have heard O Come O Come Emmanuel (Veni Emmanuel). What a beautiful song! I don't think I have heard it before, or at least I did not know about it. Until we sang it in church this morning. It's the first song I really raised my voice to sing aloud. Once I figured out how it went.

And I looked up the full prayer. There are so many contexts and facets to it, that I think I will spend years rereading it. It is about the coming of "God among us" (maybe Jesus, maybe not) and how he is said to help people out of their misery and show us a way to peace. And although I try to see life universally beyond a prophet of this world, the idea of an Emmanuel does not have to be a person, place or thing. I think it is the idea that there is a spirit or movement of God Among Us that brings us hope because that spirit lives eternal, where as nouns have a shelf-life.

Oh Come Emmanuel

Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Oh, come, our Wisdom from on high,
Who ordered all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.

Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient times gave holy law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Oh, come O Rod of Jesse's stem,
From ev'ry foe deliver them
That trust your mighty pow'r to save;
Bring them in vict'ry through the grave.

Oh, come, O Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.