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

o come, thou wisdom from on high
who orderest all things mightily
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in her ways to go

rejoice! rejoice! emmanuel shall come to thee, o israel

o come, thou rod of jesse, free
thine own from satan's tyranny
from depths of hell thy people save
and give them victory over the grave

rejoice! rejoice! emmanuel shall come to thee, o israel

o come, thou dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here
disperse the gloomy clouds of night
and death's dark shadows put to flight

rejoice! rejoice! emmanuel shall come to thee, o israel

o come, desire of nations bind
in one the hearts of all mankind
bid thou our sad divisions cease
and be thyself our king of peace

rejoice! rejoice! emmanuel shall come to thee, o israel

latin hymn, 12th century. french melody, 15th century. translated by john mason neale, 1851. music arranged by thomas helmore, 1854.

o come, o come emmanuel
and ransom captive israel...

It Came To Pass [from Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ, 2004]

It came to pass back in those days that Caesar, he decreed
A census would be taken of the Roman world, you see
So everyone packed up and headed back to their home towns
And Joseph up from Galilee to Bethlehem was bound

So it came to pass this man named Joe was with his fiancé
When her pregnancy began to show he planned to go away
But it came to pass that in a dream an angel of the Lord
Said, "Joseph, don't you be afraid to marry Mary for
The little baby in her womb it is the Holy Spirit's work
You may have read the prophet said a virgin would give birth"

So it came to pass that Joseph was the noblest of men
With a woman on a donkey on their way to Bethlehem
And I wonder whether either was aware enough that day
To know the child would bring a Kingdom
And the old would come to pass away...

Words and music by Andrew Peterson. Copyright 2004 New Spring Publishing, Inc./ASCAP.

[lyrics found here. poor audio of this track and others here.]

a recap of circumstances, scandal, prophecy, hope, and even an angel to boot. everything as it should be.

glory be to God on high. 

i spent much of tuesday in an email conversation regarding an authorization form that has been continually revised since its initial generation. a portion of the last correspondence chain:

S: OK - This is it and you will love it!  Let me know when it is official!

M: i love it and will print it and hang it on my bathroom mirror!

P: I printed it and I have it in the bathroom too...  thanks.

M: on the mirror, or...?

P: I left that to your imagination. A friend of mine ... just asked me what were my planned movements for the next couple of weeks. I feel this is a theme.

i just spent a couple of hours with bloggingpaul and his wife. i stopped by to bring christmas, and we just hung out, enjoying each others company despite all our coughing and sniffling fits. the topic of christmas drifted in and out. somewhere along the line, paul asked:

P: "so... when are you leaving?"

M: "what, you mean... tonight?"