Christmas Words

Hello, friends!

A few days ago, I asked the Facebook world to choose my next writing prompt from these options:

• Emmanuel
• Noel
• Advent
• Goodwill
• Nativity
• Holy

All of these words are obviously based around a theme - Christmas. But how often this December have you found yourself basing your Christmas season around different words? Here are some of mine just from the past week:

• Pandemic
• Exhaustion
• Not the same
• Fear
• Irritation
• Don't

The winning word from my Facebook post was "Emmanuel." We are probably most familiar with this word from the Advent hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." While this hymn certainly talks about the Son of God appearing to us, as he did on Christmas Day, it is really talking about a future event.

"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!"

We are the captive Israel, held here in this world of sin and doubt. We are waiting for the Son of God to appear, for Emmanuel to come back. That's what we pray for every time we say, "Come, Lord Jesus." Those aren't idle words. That is a hopeful, powerful prayer, in which we are trusting that Jesus will come back someday and rescue us from everything that causes us pain.

What shall we do in the meantime, you ask?

(It's so convenient that you always ask exactly what I'm going to write about next.)

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" gives us some ideas there, too. It talks about following in the path of wisdom, obeying the Commandments, trusting in God's mighty power and victory, and desiring God above divisions. 

Most of all, the refrain reminds us to "Rejoice!"

We can't forget about the items on the second list I mentioned above. We can't just put those things on a shelf and pretend they don't exist. That's not how life works, unfortunately. We can, however, continually remind ourselves and each other that God loves and strengthens us, no matter what is going on around us. "Emmanuel" means "God with us," and he is, every day.

"Love Letter"

Hello, friends.

I know, I wrote about songs all last month. But today's a Tuesday that feels like a Friday, and I'm worn out from aide-ing and parenting and life. The song on my mind is just too perfect for tonight.

My favorite artist, Malinda, released her first album in 2018. It was named after its title track, "Love Letter." When I did a virtual meet-and-greet with Malinda a few months ago, I was able to tell her exactly why this song means so much to me.

The first line has always struck me.

"I write the world a love letter / by rising from my bed"

When I lived in Oklahoma and was going through the most severe forms of my depression, rising from my bed was the first challenge of many that I would face throughout my day. It was not an easy feat. Often, I would get out of bed, get my daughter out of bed, and drive her to school without getting out of my pajamas. Then I would return home and go straight back to bed. I was frequently (read: 2-4 days a week) late for work because the prospect of actually starting my day was so paralyzing.

But I always did it, eventually.

I'm an Enneagram 2. I'm a helper. I want nothing more than to make the world a better place. Even now, I've got big dreams. It is difficult for me to handle days where the best I can do is get out of bed. But sometimes, that's all I can do, and that's okay. 

I choose not to give up. On the contrary, I choose to get up. 

That's my love letter to the world.