O Come, O Come Emmanuel
God with us,
We are so grateful that you are with us. In every moment of our being. The moments when we feel You beating in echo with our hearts and the moments when we feel completely alone. We do not have to ask, You are already and always with us. What a comfort that is even to trust even when we feel numb.
In this season of Advent, of “coming and arrival,” we sing into the places of longing within our hearts, body, mind, spirits and souls where we yearn and hunger for Christ’s Light to be birthed within and through us. We sing into the places where we long for the more beautiful world we know is possible.
We sing…
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
We sing with the millions around the world who are lonely, who are in exile longing for safe-space, connection and haven both externally and internally.
We pray for people around the world who are migrating from their homeland seeking a place to lay their heads. For immigrants from Iraq who when faced with red tape and violence at the Belarus and Polish border are now making the long trip back with dashed dreams.
For Haitians and El Salvadorans and Iraqis, Afghanis, Syrians and others from many nations who walk and cross waters clinging only to their dreams.
We sing prayers with the people of Sudan who have been marching since the military coup in October protesting military rule. Due to conditions in the country, the UN estimates Sudanese will be the next wave of migrants to Europe.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
We sing our prayers for the whole world as we watch and wait and wonder and worry as the Covid-19 variant Omicron spreads. In our weary yearning for respite from COVID may this troubling new variant be what allows us to move towards deeper love of neighbor and ourselves through our actions. May the World Health Organization have wisdom this week as they work to put systems into place for future pandemics.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
We sing our prayers with a mournful cadence as we see violence upon violence.
We groan with those in grief and disbelief after another deadly school shooting, this time at a Michigan high school in the United States that killed 4 and wounded others.
We take a deep breath and release our prayers for peace to come from the Iranian Nuclear Talks between the United States, Iran, Europe and China.
We sing prayers for the people of Afghanistan where more than 100 former Afghan security forces have disappeared since the Taliban seized control.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
As we await the birth of the Christ child we are aware of children around the world who are suffering.
We sing prayer-lullabies into the ears of children in Yemen where 10 out of every 100 children are malnourished.
We sing prayers of sorrow at the loss of 29 people, many of them children, who drowned after their boat capsized in a river in Nigeria as they were on the way to a religious event. Many have had similar accidents on that stretch of river.
We sing for children around the world experiencing mental health distress, depression, suicide and feelings of hopelessness as the pandemic carries on, as the endless news cycle and climate anxieties loom large.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
We see You with us moving in our connection, creativity, courage, communion, our curiosity. And we sing:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
We sing our celebration with the people of Barbados whose longings have been fulfilled in officially becoming a Parliamentary Republic 55 years after its independence from Britain.
We sing our prayers with the people of Honduras after this week’s election that shifts power from the National Party after 12 years. We pray that deep healing changes will take root.
We sing prayers of delight and lifted voices of hope with conservationists in Rwanda who flew 30 white Rhinos, 2,000 miles in a huge effort to protect them from rampant poaching.
We join in the song of interconnection, with the dozens of strangers in a pub in northern England who weathered a snowstorm together, helping each other stay warm, fed and entertained as they spent much of the time singing karaoke!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
Our deepest rejoicing is in you Holy One. Thank you that you are God with Us.
O Come, O Come… Amen.
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