Arise, my love, and come away.

Song of Songs 2:8-13

Context
The "Song of Songs" or "Song of Solomon" is a wedding song, traditionally composed for one of Solomon's many weddings. It includes many voices, but they are not always identified, and sometimes it is difficult to tell who is speaking. Today's reading is clear enough - the bride is speaking about the groom, and quotes him as he speaks to her.

Listening to the writer
The meaning of the text is straightforward. The emotion of the text is harder, as poetry is difficult to translate, but this section translates reasonably well. Among the weddings I have performed, this is the second favorite passage chosen by couples (the favorite is overwhelmingly 1 Corinthians 13).
But let's listen to the canonizers - the people who decided "yes, this is part of Scripture." Why do you think they would include love poetry among the divine books?
At times, the Song of Songs has been treated as dangerous territory. We have records of times when men were not allowed to read the Song until they were at least 30 years of age; it contains numerous polite references to anatomy, along with some not-very-subtle metaphors. Do you think this is in keeping with, or opposed to, the intent of the original canonizers?

Listening to God
The Church has often interpreted the Song as an allegory for the love between God and the Church, in keeping with many clear uses of this metaphor in Scripture. I invite you to think of "being in love" with God or with another human (or both) as you ponder:
How do you feel when you see or sense your beloved?
Are you currently in, or can you recall, an emotional season of "winter and rain"? Imagine your beloved calling out to you: "The winter is past, the rain is over and gone." If the Christian hope is fulfilled, all of creation will someday hear that call from Christ.
"Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away..." Allow yourself to hear those words from your beloved.

Miscellaneous Meanderings
Kendall and I will celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks. Our song is from Styx' Paradise Theatre - "The best of times, are when I'm alone with you... some rain, some shine, we'll make this a world for two." I am an introvert at heart, and I really love being alone with her, just eating or playing games or reading or watching a movie...
Alone time with God is important too, but it is somehow easier for me to let slip. I get busy, with my work and with Kendall. God does not intrude nearly as well as Kendall does; alone time with God sometimes is work. But it's important, if I want our relationship to flourish. And when I'm honest, I realize I don't really want to make this "a world for two." Kendall and I rely on hundreds of people that contribute meaning to our lives through relationships, and thousands of people to make possible the food we eat, the games we play, the books we read, and the movies we watch. We need community.
But in the midst of that community, being in love - with God and with people - is a great gift.


Dig Deeper at Textweek.