emmanuel: god with us today

uploaded to flickr by jeremy stockwell

today as i write, i have the song “o come o come emmanuel” on repeat on my iPod  and it is so deeply speaking to my soul that my writing is being interrupted by my own tears.

o come, o come, emmanuel
and ransom captive israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the son of god appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, o israel.

i like the pleading nature of the song. i imagine israel crying out to god – please free us from our lonely exile. we are out of options without you.

2009 has been a difficult year, a few things this year didn’t go the way i had hoped or even expected. but today i’m captivated by the idea that emmanuel, god with us, has come to me.

because when i think about this past year, i can see a new spirit formed in me, and a deeper faith, a new level to my spirituality, and a fresh perspective on the world around me. and i’m more grateful for emmanuel’s daily presence with me than ever before.

advent this year has been a symbolic reminder to me that god is with me all the time. even when i don’t feel his presence near me, or it seems as if my prayers have gone unanswered – he has come to me and to israel and to all people. rejoice!

i’m depending on and rejoining in the fact that emmanuel, god with us, means:

• peace to calm all fears
• strength to restore the broken world
• courage to tell the truth
• hope for new life
• vision to imagine a better way

may emmanuel’s peace and presence be with you today. rejoice!

recently my friend aaron niequist created this amazing video – featuring his song “resistance” interwoven with “o come o come emmanuel” for a willow creek weekend service. may it bless and inspire your spirit today.