Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel

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, clear wisdom, come with all you bring
We see you now, disguised as everything
To us the hidden path of prudence show
And teach us in her ways to go
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
All of us sprung from one deep-hidden seed
Rose from a root invisible to all
We knew the virtues once of every weed
But severed from the roots of ritual
We surf the surface of a wide-screen world
And find no virtue in the virtual
We shrivel on the edges of a wood
Whose heart we once inhabited in love
Now we have need of you, forgotten root
The stock and stem of every living thing
Whom once we worshipped in the sacred grove
For now is winter, now is withering
Unless we let you root us deep within
Under the ground of being graft us in
O come, now dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits with your 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
Even in the darkness when I sit
And huddle in the midst of misery
I can remember freedom
But forget that every lock must answer to a key
That each dark clasp, sharp and intimate
Must find a counter-clasp to meet its guard
Particular, exact and intricate
The clutch and catch that meshes with its ward
I cry out for the key I threw away
That turned and overturned with certain touch
And with the lovely lifting of a latch
Opened my darkness to the light of day
O come again, come quickly, set me free
Cut to the quick to fit the master key
O come, great Lord of splendor, power and might
Who to your ragged tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient times inscribed the sacred Law
In fire and cloud, in majesty and awe
O come, desire of nations, come and bind
In one the hearts of broken humankind
Make all our sad divisions cease
And be yourself our King of Peace
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel