With is a wee word. It means to accompany, to sit alongside, to never be alone. Nothing means more to the grieving soul than the company of those who will simply be with them in the moment. With is powerful. With is love.
Jesus said he would not leave us as orphans, but send the Holy Spirit to be with us. And He said, "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). With is one of the most powerful prepositions at our fingertips, for it reminds us of the unbreakable bonds we have with the lover of our souls...
In honor of the Great With, who came to this planet to be with us, I re-offer a poem I wrote several years ago ...
God With Us
(Like a baby in a manger, the smallest things are often most important.)
¹I have a proposition,
For the reader of this poem;
That you’d mull a preposition
That makes Christmas our shalom.
²Now, I’m not an English Ph.D.,
Though I love a well-worn book;
But sometimes obscure, little words
Deserve a second look.
³Prepositions precede phrases
Launched by in or on or to;
They may seem insignificant
Without a closer view.
⁴Which leads me to my thesis —
That one of them’s Divine;
'With' is the word, without which,
The Savior wouldn’t shine.
⁵But, let’s start at the beginning,
When a garden held a man;
Whose existential ‘loneness
God corrected with ‘woman.’¹
⁶Next, we unearth ol' Enoch
Who the holy Scriptures claim:
“He walked with God” sincerely,
And was taken home one day.²
⁷Our fathers, Abe and Isaac,
God had promised He would keep;
“I’ll be with you, and I’ll bless you,”³
“I’ll never slumber, never sleep.”⁴
⁸Dreamer Joseph galled his brothers,
Who then sold him far away;
“The Lord was with him,” it is written;⁵
Through young Joseph, saved the day.
⁹AWOL Moses feared the Pharaoh,
“Who am I that I should go?”
God assured his troubled shepherd,
“I’ll be with you, even so.”⁶
¹⁰Two pillars led them forward,
Cloud by day and fire by night;⁷
God promised to stay with them;
Never let them out of sight.
¹¹God spoke through old Isaiah,
“Do not fear, for I’m with you,
I’ll strengthen, and I’ll help you,
I’ll uphold you, through and through.”⁸
¹²Isn’t “God with you” sufficient?
If not, reader lend an ear;
For the next words will persuade you
That to Him you’re very dear.
¹³When the Gospels shout the coming
Of the promised Son of God,
“His name will be ‘Immanuel,’ —
God with us,”⁹ — no mere facade.
¹⁴On the day of His departing,
When King Jesus would ascend;
He commissioned with a promise:
“I am with you to the end.”¹⁰
¹⁵This puny preposition,
— just four letters and a dot;
Connects a band of brothers¹¹
With the Savior’s Camelot.
¹⁶Now when you see a wee word,
Preposition, without clout,
Don’t miss the simple lesson:
A with is not without.
¹⁷With … connects us to the Father,
With … calls us ‘brother’ to the Son,
With … indwells us by the Spirit,
With … depicts the Three-in-One.
¹⁸Christmas is a simple story
And, though old, it’s not a myth,
Of the God who chose to rescue,
And sent Jesus to be With. ¹²
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