O come, o come, Emmanuel (Rev. Tish Harrison Warren)

   In church, congregants sing a well-known Advent hymn that begins, “O come, o come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.” We recall that we require ransom and rescue. Another year has gone by and we still live in a world in need of mending. We have learned anew through these long years that a virus can suddenly change our lives, that our illusions of control and predictability are fragile and faulty, that lies are often mistaken as truth, that we cannot keep ourselves or those we love from pain, that the wreckage of poverty, injustice and darkness persist. This is the very world of heartbreak, Christians say each year, into which Christ came and will come again. 

--Rev. Tish Harrison Warren 

Image source: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/christmas-carols-o-come-o-come-emmanuel
Quotation source