In this first week of Advent, the beginning of the season of expectation, the words to my favourite Advent hymn have been echoing around in my head and my heart.
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.
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orders all things far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and sorrow cease,
Fill the whole world with heaven's peace.
REJOICE! REJOICE!
Emmanuel has come to Thee, O Israel.
Amen. Starting in each of our hearts, may the awe that Emmanuel has, indeed come, fill us with joyful and fruitful anticipation of the day when He will come again. Rejoice!
4 comments:
That's my favorite advent hymn, too!
And while this is not the reason it's my favorite, it always brings to mind something that happened when I was little. Our dog wasn't allowed in the living room, and she was really good about obeying. But once we were lighting advent candles and singing advent songs in the living room and she came trotting in. We couldn't figure out why she had disobeyed when usually she was so good, but then we realized we were singing, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and she thought we were talking to her. Someone should tell her that her name's Buffy, not Emmanuel.
Hahahahaha...Michelle, that is a wonderful story! I laughed out loud right at my desk at work when I read it. Hmmm...maybe I should name my dog Emmanuel? No, that would be plain weird and freaky..."Bad dog, Emmanuel!" yikes
HAHAH! i laughed out loud too! That is a great story!
And that is my favorite advent him as well!!
Great minds think alike, eh?
that's pretty much my favorite hymn/song/chant/poetry thing ever.
Post a Comment