Songs Of Hope - Sing We Now Of ChristmasSample

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Hope: Living in a Minor Key

O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a mournful carol sung in a minor key. This holy hymn contrasts and clashes with its other Christmas carol siblings. Like hope, this song fits poorly and beautifully in our world. A hopeful longing is something ancient Israel knew well. The Old Testament is an extended story of Hebrew captivity, bookended between their enslavements in Egypt and Babylon. The New Testament continues to narrate this story as the Gospels move from the cries from a manger to the cries from a cross.

Why write Christmas hymns in minor keys? During the joyous season of Advent, should we sing such songs? Is it possible to sing hopeful laments? 

Our lives and songs today reflect the terrible tensions of that sacred first Christmas season. A far away child born far from home, far from modern comforts and far from safety. The arrival of the Christ occurred in a sacred homeland under imperial domination; it included perilous flights for a new born family, and the advent events were accompanied by the bitter soundtrack of Rachel weeping. Throughout this first nativity, Mary pondered all of these things in her heart.

We sing these songs as a reminder that life is not yet where it should be, that we are not alone and that kingdom justice is not yet come. The truest sense of the Christmas season acknowledges that we live our lives in minor keys, and that these discordant tones tumble together to form a powerful melody. Christmas carols in minor keys are a resonance and a reminder that all is not as it should be. We ponder these tensions in our own hearts. This song lingers long after it is sung and it reminds us that hope is ever on the move.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee, O Israel.

Dr. John S. Vassar
Provost
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor