DAY THIRTEEN – Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
The voice of my beloved!
Look, he comes,
leaping upon the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Look, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows,
looking through the lattice.
My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away;
for now the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove
is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away.”
This passage is laid out as poetry; it reads as love poetry; and we know from the title of the book that it was originally sung. All very romantic! And we can certainly appreciate it for its sheer beauty.
There is a choral rendition of this passage that always makes me shed a tear.
The past being over and gone and the newness and freshness of this life-giving relationship is quite remarkable.
This life-giving relationship leads me to think of this passage on a spiritual level as well, which makes it all the more powerful.
The poem is placed in springtime, and speaks of flowers and birds, of trees and vines. We think of spring as a season of growth, a time of abundance, a time of beauty, all surely dimensions of the world that God intends, the world that God wishes for us, the world that God invites us to help bring about. This offers us something to dream about, something to hope for, something to work towards.
The eloquent speech of the beloved is bracketed, beginning and end, by the same words: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” This points up the excitement of embarking on an activity with an element of adventure to it, and the joy of doing things together. Part of our spiritual growth perhaps requires that we do new things, things that we haven’t tried before, and things that are more easily undertaken in the company of others. And these are opportunities that a healthy community of faith offers us.
Don Willmer
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
The voice of my beloved!
Look, he comes,
leaping upon the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Look, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows,
looking through the lattice.
My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away;
for now the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove
is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away.”
This passage is laid out as poetry; it reads as love poetry; and we know from the title of the book that it was originally sung. All very romantic! And we can certainly appreciate it for its sheer beauty.
There is a choral rendition of this passage that always makes me shed a tear.
The past being over and gone and the newness and freshness of this life-giving relationship is quite remarkable.
This life-giving relationship leads me to think of this passage on a spiritual level as well, which makes it all the more powerful.
The poem is placed in springtime, and speaks of flowers and birds, of trees and vines. We think of spring as a season of growth, a time of abundance, a time of beauty, all surely dimensions of the world that God intends, the world that God wishes for us, the world that God invites us to help bring about. This offers us something to dream about, something to hope for, something to work towards.
The eloquent speech of the beloved is bracketed, beginning and end, by the same words: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” This points up the excitement of embarking on an activity with an element of adventure to it, and the joy of doing things together. Part of our spiritual growth perhaps requires that we do new things, things that we haven’t tried before, and things that are more easily undertaken in the company of others. And these are opportunities that a healthy community of faith offers us.
Don Willmer
