Theme: Immanuel

God with us. Those three words are the hinge of the entire biblical narrative — the promise that stretches from Eden through the Incarnation to Revelation's vision of the dwelling place of God being with His people. Songs about Immanuel are not just for Christmas, though they are certainly that. They are the celebration of the defining characteristic of the biblical God: that He is not distant, that He chose to close the distance, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. I've found these songs particularly moving in moments of communal difficulty or spiritual dryness — when people need to be reminded not just that God is great but that God is near. Nothing is more comforting than that.