AfterWords | Emmanuel is a state of being word.

A poem
by Joshua Benton

Emmanuel is a state of being word.

Emmanuel, Emmanuel:
God with us.

A title, a pronouncement, a statement of matter of fact.
An identity.

It is no metaphor,
Words to stir up images of the mind.

This is not a dream lost in the weightless landscape of the night,
It is a mystery that rests itself in the weighty reality of day.

God with us:
That is who he is.
That is what he is.
That is where he is.
That is when he is.
That is why he is.
That is how he is.

He said to us, “I am what I am.”
Emmanuel is a state of being word.

With the joyous.
With the teary-eyed.
With the laughing.
With the fearful.
With the quiet.
With the loud.
With the known.
With the unseen
With the bright-eyed wondering.
With the apathetic.
With the light-hearted contented.
With the grieving.
With the live-giving lover.
With the life-taking hater.
With the warring.
With the peaceful.
With the trusting.
With the betrayer.
With the faithful.
With the doubting.
With the successful.
With the failing.
With the healing.
With the sick.
With the able-bodied.
With the terminally ill.
With the conquering.
With the conquered.
With the oppressor.
With the oppressed.
With the splendor.
With the squalor.
With the famine.
With the first-fruits.
With the broken house.
With the caring home.
With the holy temple.
With the depraved brothel.
With the righteous.
With the wicked.
With the virtue.
With the vice.

With life’s first cry to life’s final breath:
He is in it all because he is with us all.

Emmanuel: God with us.
There is no asterisk at the end of it.

There is no subtext to account for or footnote to be aware of.
It is as it is said.

So rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel: He has come to us, oh Israel.