Carol One: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

First...listen to this beautiful instrumental version of O Come, O Come Emmanuel.  As you let the notes sink down deep, what images come into your mind?  If you had to color this song, would you reach for bright/bold colors or muted/soft colors or some combination?  Why?  If you had to write a story based on the emotions this melody awakens what kind of scene/plot do you hear unfold?

Listen...breathing in these notes.  Listen and be in the midst/middle of this hauntingly holy hymn.

Second...pray the first verse with me.

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 you, O Israel.

Consider the word, "come".  That is a word that can be spoken in a variety of ways.  It can be said with a passionate, insistence as in when I call out to my dog.  This word can be a demand, but it can also be a pray-filled plea softly whispered. "Come" said so you can barely hear the sound of your own voice as you toss that word gently out into the universe.  In this way, we are longing deeply for the arrival of something/someone.  Like medical test results, a relative to walk through the door, or a relationship to be healed/made whole.  In this case, the word, "Come" doesn't fall from our lips as though we are in control/charge, but spoken in such a way that we realize our own limitations and that this single syllable word might be our own chance.  Do you sense the difference?  Do you have moments when you have shouted out, "Come" and times when it has been your hail mary prayer toward God?  

What we are longing for, preparing for, wanting to come in the season of Advent is the arrival of God's presence in our life.  The paradox is that: God is already here right now.  Maybe what we are longing for is actually our own awareness of that truth.  Maybe it is less about preparing a space for God, but rather making more room for God in our crowded lives.  The deeper paradox is that we try to do this amid the hustle, bustle crowded calendar, overflowing, racing, running around time known as December.  When the world seems collectively in a frenzy and frazzled, we slow down.  We do this not because God cannot keep up with us, but because the truth is that the blur of life can cause our soul to wheeze and our minds to whirl and our hearts to feel wiped out.  We slow down lest we miss the traces of God's grace.  

So, go ahead, listen to music and watch the video again letting that one word, "Come" sit on the tip of your tongue.  What is that longing, restlessness, waiting prayer you pray will be answered with some arrival in these December days?

Prayer:

Come, O God, not as a demand or decree, but as our most heartfelt prayer to awake and be aware of the nearness of thee.  Amen.