Song of Songs 6:4-12: The Charms of the Beloved
Pentecost Sunday, June 9, 2019
We see here that Christ is centered on wooing us, drawing us into his ways. Do we consider Christ to be the center of our own lives?
We read here that Christ seeks us out no matter where we are. Do we seek Christ in the same way?
We reflect on the fact that Christ sacrifices all he has – himself – for his beloved. Do we sacrifice all that we are and have in the same way for Christ?
This is how we acquire the charming inner beauty of the Beloved we read about today: through our constancy, preparedness, fidelity, and trust. This inner beauty radiates outward, calling to the groom, echoing his own faithful love. Nothing else matters. No other union is more real. No other love is more secure.
This Song is accredited to Solomon yet was most likely written at the end of the Exile (around 538 B.C.E.). It describes the intimacy of a conjugal relationship; the same relationship we are to have with Christ. In such a close bond there in nothing hidden, there is no illusion, no deception. We must put all of that aside if we are to find the happiness we seek.
In this sublime description of abiding, ardent and even passionate love, we find the meaning otherwise hidden from us by a material life full of itself with its alluring deceits, waywardness and trickery. If we are to be both serene and passionate in our love for God, if we are to find peace that holds us faithful, we must put all worldly ways aside because . . . my lover belongs to me and I to him . . . Before I know it, my heart makes me the blessed one of my kinswoman.
The invitation to union with the beloved is open to each of us. So let us go down to the garden to look at the fresh growth of the valley, to see if the vines are in bloom, if the pomegranates have blossomed . . . let us set a little time apart each day . . . for it is in this serene and peace-filled place that we encounter a love we have only otherwise imagined . . . the love of Christ.
A re-post from May 26, 2012. Originally written on April 21, 2009 and posted today as a Favorite.
For a Bible Walk through the Tirzah Valley click on the image above or go to: http://www.biblewalks.com/sites/Makhruk.html
For some interesting history, and a few tips on how to eat a pomegranate, click on the fruit image or go to: http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/10/how-to_eat_a_pomegranate.html
The Noontimes 