followers of my faith [Mormon Monday 64]

On Sunday my friend and I performed a piano/organ duet of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." We sort of made it up on the spot (well, not the very spot) by printing off the first version we found and arranging it the day before.

There are seven verses to that song, but this version had only five. They were still somewhat obscure. For example, have you ever heard of this?

O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heav'nly home
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery.

Maybe you have. But I hadn't! I love the imagery of Him being a Key. He unlocked the gate of heaven to let us in. (Side note: the first thing I thought of when I saw this verse was this blog post, which I guess goes to show that I retain some things from week to week.)

The song is full of different titles for Christ: Emmanuel, rod of Jesse, Dayspring, Key of David, Lord. And to think that they were all wrapped up in that little baby.

This is very much a Second Coming-esque Christmas carol.

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 

O come, Desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
O bid our sad divisions cease
And be yourself our King of Peace.

But I think it also has meaning for us in our everyday lives. If ever we feel that we are mourning in lonely exile, we can have hope that Emmanuel, that God is with us. The rod of Jesse has freed us from Satan's tyranny and given us victory over the grave.

Rejoice.