December 23: O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel:

“O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver,
desire of the nations, Savior of all people,
come and set us free,
Lord our God.”

Isaiah had prophesied,
“The Lord himself will give you this sign:
the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel.” (7:14).

“Emmanuel” means “God is with us.”

The face of The Christ is always Emmanuel, God with Us.

And we are all Mary before God,
welcoming our full humanity
by agreeing to hold The Living Christ in our own cells.

Emmanuel, you are whispering
your invitation in my ear:
"Come dance!"
It is the eve of Christmas eve.
This is the day of innocence
and the gateway of New Birth.
You will need to knit this joy in your bones,
because humanity is the necessary and fleshy fabric
stretched between birth and death.
With Jesus you are swaddled.
Tomorrow, who knows, with him you may embrace
the winding cloth.

Today is always the Dance Between
of Life.

"Holy, holy, holy,"
it is all holy.

Let the Holy-Days begin again!