Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel
Translated: John Neal, 1818-66
Hymn # 31 from Lutheran Worship
Author: French Processional
Tune: Veni Emmanuel
1st Published in: 18541 Thessalonians 3:12 (NRSV)
12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.
One of the things that weighs on my heart this Thanksgiving is how politically divided we are. Families can barely talk about important issues because progressives think conservatives are anti-intellectual and merely following the talking points that they get from FOX NEWS and conservatives think that progressives aren't even Christian and are being mislead by some anti-American, foreign born, Muslim antichrist.
Even our Christian denominations are struggling with schisms over immigration, abortion, and gay marriage.
Let us pray this year that, yes, God's truth prevail, but also that wounds would heal and egos and agendas be set aside so that we might focus on what His most important commands, His command to love Him with all our strength and all our hearts and minds. The command to love one another as He first loved us. The command to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Enough anger and vitriol and judgment and condemnation. Enough division and struggle! Let there be peace, let there be love. O come, Prince of Peace, come to our hearts and our homes and our congregations. O come to our nation, and bring peace on Your wings!
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