This is it
I just realized what my favorite song of all time is. There actually has been a lot of thought put behind this. Here it is:
O come O come Emmanuel.
No particular version or rendition, just the song. I wish I had all the verbal skills that luckier people were blessed with, to explain why I think this song is so incredible. There is something about it that is so perfect. Can't place what it is though. I love the name Emmanuel. It is a perfect name, and it means "God with us." I love the chorus "rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel." God shall come to us and "ransome captive Israel." The image this puts in my head is so... good. In the strong sense of the word. I wish I could paint this image for you all but I can't. And the chorus, the ironic thing about it is, it is telling you to rejoice but the music still has this tension in it. And it is because the action in the song is future tense, i.e. "Christ shall come thee." But Christ has come to us. So why does it still move me, if the song is looking forward to an event that happened in the past? I think it is because my salvation is not complete yet, in a sense. It is complete in the sense that I am an adopted and loved Child of God by grace through the work of Christ on the cross. But it is not complete in the sense that I still sin. I still screw up my life. Things still suck down here and they suck hard. And the song shows that God is going to rescue us from every thing, and I can't friggin' wait. Sometime in the future, everything will become clear, and only the good will remain:
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
O come O come Emmanuel.
No particular version or rendition, just the song. I wish I had all the verbal skills that luckier people were blessed with, to explain why I think this song is so incredible. There is something about it that is so perfect. Can't place what it is though. I love the name Emmanuel. It is a perfect name, and it means "God with us." I love the chorus "rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel." God shall come to us and "ransome captive Israel." The image this puts in my head is so... good. In the strong sense of the word. I wish I could paint this image for you all but I can't. And the chorus, the ironic thing about it is, it is telling you to rejoice but the music still has this tension in it. And it is because the action in the song is future tense, i.e. "Christ shall come thee." But Christ has come to us. So why does it still move me, if the song is looking forward to an event that happened in the past? I think it is because my salvation is not complete yet, in a sense. It is complete in the sense that I am an adopted and loved Child of God by grace through the work of Christ on the cross. But it is not complete in the sense that I still sin. I still screw up my life. Things still suck down here and they suck hard. And the song shows that God is going to rescue us from every thing, and I can't friggin' wait. Sometime in the future, everything will become clear, and only the good will remain:
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
posted by tmm at
9:08 PM
3 Comments:
Wow, I'm totally diggin' what your saying. I think I agree, with the best-song-ever choice, but I need to do much more listening and considering to be sure. Melodically O Come O Come Emanuel is beautiful too!!
I also like "O Come O Come Emmanuel" (the chant suits it admirably) but I think I would take Good Friday over Advent and chose "My Song is Love Unknown." If the tune is the one I know, I particularly like the syncopation toward the end of the fourth line.
It's genetic. It was a favorite of your Grandmother, Grandfather, and, at one time, my favorite. (And still one of my favorites.)
Written in a natural minor, it pulls words from the 12th century and a tune from the 15th century.
Hard to beat something which has been hanging out in the corridor of time as long as it has.
Check your email.
-Uncle Ted
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