Advent: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Isaiah 11:1-3a

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
     the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
     the Spirit of counsel and of might,
     the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. (NIV)

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

1 O come, O come, Immanuel,
   and ransom captive Israel
   that mourns in lonely exile here
   until the Son of God appear.

   Refrain:
   Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
   shall come to you, O Israel.

4 O come, O Branch of Jesse's stem,
   unto your own and rescue them!
   From depths of hell your people save,
   and give them victory o'er the grave. Refrain

6 O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
   and bring us comfort from afar!
   Dispel the shadows of the night
   and turn our darkness into light. Refrain

7 O come, O King of nations, bind
   in one the hearts of all mankind.
   Bid all our sad divisions cease
   and be yourself our King of Peace. Refrain

Tune: VENI EMMANUEL (Chant); Translator: John Mason Neale (1851)

Watch & Listen: "Great Are You, Lord"

A Word For That

Fi: "Papa, what's the dented skin between my nose and mouth called?"
Me: "Um, I don't know. Let's look it up online."

A Google search reveals that the dented skin between the nose and mouth is called the philtrum.

Me: "Why did you want know?"
Fi: "I heard the word in a song and wanted to look it up in my dictionary."
Me: "What song?"
Fi: "A Word For That."



A Word For That

There's a word for that but I don't seem to know it
Sometimes I grow a moustache just so I don't have to show it
The word for that that someone, somewhere chose
For that little dented skin between my upper lip and nose

There's a word for that what does it start with?
A word for that I'd sound so smart if I only knew
The word for that perhaps you do?

(The word you're looking for is philtrum.)

There's a word for that it may come to me soon
It dangles down in my mouth, and it's often in cartoons
The word for that it seems like such a drag
To not know what to call that little fleshy punching bag

There's a word for that what does it start with?
A word for that I'd sound so smart if I only knew
The word for that perhaps you do?

(Do you mean uvula?)

There's a word for that it's on the tip of my tongue
Well actually underneath it, and has been since I was young
The word for that although I wouldn't quote
It likely stops my tongue from disappearing down my throat

There's a word for that what does it start with?
A word for that I'd sound so smart if I only knew
The word for that perhaps you do?
What does it start with?
A word for that I'd sound so smart if I only knew
The word for that perhaps you do?

(Are you nuts? It's frenulum)

From "Snacktime!" by the Barenaked Ladies.

Rich Man

I look in the mirror, don't see much
Fashion sense a little out of touch
The house is run down as the bills pile up
But I'm a rich man

Breakfast table, morning rush
Sometimes it seems we barely have enough
But if it's true that all you need is love
Then I'm a rich man

When she smiles or they call me Daddy
All the worries of the world just seem to fade away
I'm alive and I know what matters
If this is all I ever have
Well, that's ok
'Cause I'm a rich man

So every morning, and brand new day
With each and every single breath I take
I'm blessed and I'm thankful, yeah I've got it made
Oh, I'm so glad life turned out this way

I've loved, I've been loved, show me someone else
With as much as me

Yeah, I'm a rich, rich man
Yeah, I'm a rich man
Ohh, I'm a rich man
I've got it made
What matters, what matters
I know what matters
Ohh, I'm alive

Paul Brandt, from the album "This Time Around"

Christ is Risen!

Christ is risen! Shout hosanna! Celebrate this day of days!
Christ is risen! Hush in wonder; all creation is amazed.
In the desert all-surrounding, see, a spreading tree has grown.
Healing leaves of grace abounding bring a taste of love unknown.

Christ is risen! Raise your spirits from the caverns of despair.
Walk with gladness in the morning. See what love can do and dare.
Drink the wine of resurrection, not a servant, but a friend.
Jesus is our strong companion. Joy and peace shall never end.

Christ is risen! Earth and heaven nevermore shall be the same.
Break the bread of new creation where the world is still in pain.
Tell its grim, demonic chorus: "Christ is risen! Get you gone!"
God the First and Last is with us. Sing hosanna everyone!

Text: Brian Wren

The runner in me wants to change the second line of verse 2 to "Run with gladness in the morning...". It was a beautiful Easter Sunday morning to go for a long run!

A Song Left Behind

Last week our very close friends from Southern Ontario visited us for a few days. They are those friends that even though you do not see them very often (not as often as you would like to), you reconnect as if you had seen them yesterday. Our friends DJ, EJ, IJ and AJ are like family to us in a lot of ways. DJ and EJ are the hospitality king and queen. EK and I learned a lot from them about hospitality and friendship while living in TO. It was more than our turn to open up our home and give them the welcome they deserved.

We had a great time, and though I won't go into details, it was a blessing for our family to have the J's visit. They did leave something behind, however, that has impacted our family meal time: the Johnny Appleseed song (you know - the one from Disney's Melody Time). After prayer, our family now bursts out into joyful song. Even if our day has been less than ideal, the simple lyrics and clap-a-long tune lift heavy hearts and make JK smile from ear to ear.

I suppose now that they have left something behind, the J's will have another reason to come back and visit us again soon.

The Lord is good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need
The sun and rain and an appleseed
Yes, he's been good to me