O Come O Come Emmanuel

I feel alone - like I’m never quite a part of it all, a lonely exile. I’m watching through a locked window, seeing others connect and have relationships and community, wishing I could be there. I want to open the window and climb out of myself and into the world - into a lasting friendship, unconditional acceptance, into who I was created to be. But something stops me. My heart’s window seems to be locked from the inside and the outside. Shame and fear hold me captive here. I’m a stranger to others and somehow a stranger to myself too. Haunted by my failures, I’m afraid to unlock the window and I’m afraid for Someone else to. I light one candle in faith - faith in the One who has the key and who promises freedom from everything that isolates and separates. The One who will make me unafraid and unashamed to open my heart. The One who invites me into His family - forever known, loved, and embraced. Right now one light is enough for the wait, singing in hopeful anticipation, “Rejoice, Rejoice! Emmanuel, shall come to thee, oh Israel.”