O come, O come, Immanuel, And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear. Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, And order all things, far and nigh; To us the path of knowledge show, And cause us in her ways to go. Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! O come, Desire of nations, bind All peoples in one heart and mind; Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease; Fill the whole world with heaven's peace. Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! The church I attend sang a verse from this song each advent Sunday after the candle was lit. It is one of my favorite songs of this time of the year because of the power of the words to speak to the political climate even today: It gives us hope - longing and crying out for freedom, and wisdom, and peace.
So I started writing this soon after the first Sunday in Advent, and now Christmas has come and gone. I wanted to write about the beauty I am finding in Advent this year. The beauty of words written thousands of years ago that still have so much power today: Isaiah 2:4
God shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Isaiah 11: 1-9
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. It is times like this, that even a small part of the bible, the Hebrew scriptures, can point to why I still attend church, why I spent three years studying this stuff. I can even move around the He language and the few verses of violence, when coming to the overall message of a time here and now when God's kin-dom will come on earth - a time of peace and justice. We can wait actively in hope holding on to those moments of possibility; the times when we do experience the power of justice, of friendship, of unity, of love, of light shining through the darkness. I find a special power in these passages of Isaiah that I included above because I was part of PSR's community dancers last year during advent and we moved to these verses during a chapel service. I think using movement to express the words of scripture is incredibly powerful - it moves the words to a cellular level - you embody the message.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain...and a child shall lead them....neither shall they learn war no more...I wish all of you could see, and feel, the movements to these passages. I am at loss for words to explain how deeply I was moved during advent this year. This was a new experience for me: this want to be a part of a church community pausing and waiting for the coming of justice and peace embodied in our Christian symbol: the child Jesus.
And the newer, punk version of O Come Emmanuel:
Starry nights city lights coming down over me Skyscrapers and stargazers in my head Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown This dirty town was burning down in my dreams Lost and found city bound in my dreams And screaming Are we we are, are we we are the waiting And screaming Are we we are, are we we are the waiting Forget me nots and second thoughts live in isolation Heads or tails and fairytales in my mind Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown The rage and love, the story of my life The Jesus of suburbia is a lie And screaming Are we we are, are we we are the waiting And screaming Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown Are we we are, are we we are the waiting And screaming Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown - GreenDay.
