O Emmanuel
by Malcolm Guite
O Come, O Come, and be our God-with-us
O long sought With-ness for a world without,
O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.
Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken Name,
Come Root, and Key, and King, and Holy Flame.
O quickened little wick so tightly curled,
Be folded with us into time and place,
Unfold for us the mystery of grace
And make a womb of all this wounded world.
O heart of heaven beating in the earth,
O tiny hope within our hopelessness
Come to be born, to bear us to our birth,
To touch a dying world with new-made hands
And make these rags of time our swaddling bands.
from Waiting on The Word
by Malcolm Guite
This Christmastide, wherever you are,
whatever your circumstances,
may you know the peace and joy of
Emmanuel, God-with-us.
