Proper 9 / Pentecost 7 / OT 14
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
... Arise my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
-- Song Of Solomon 2:10-11
The church has historically seen in the Song of Solomon a metaphor for the church as the lover of Christ. This selection draws upon the joy and sense of renewal that comes with the arrival of spring after a long winter season. It is important as one reflects on this passage as a metaphor to not avoid the full carnality of the passage. One should first hear this as the reflections of a young, lovesick woman who has been fantasizing about the pleasures that her lover has brought her (Song Of Solomon 2:2-7) and now sees him coming toward her house calling to her. "Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice." Like the thrill of the first sign of spring after a long winter, so she responds to his arrival after an absence. "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come...." She hears him call to her, "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." Only when you feel the full power of that moment of star-crossed lovers, are you ready to turn to this passage as a metaphor of the relationship of the church with Christ.
There are times when the church is sustained by the memory of her relationship with Christ, but there are also times when the church hears Christ calling to her like a lover who has come for a visit. "Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice." There is that moment in a church's life when they hear Christ calling to her like a lover who wants to renew the power of their love for each other. "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone." There is a rhythm in the life of any church. Not all of our time can be what is often called mountaintop experiences. There are times of ordinary living out of our faithfulness. But we must also be ready when we hear our lover call. "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come...."
-- Song Of Solomon 2:10-11
The church has historically seen in the Song of Solomon a metaphor for the church as the lover of Christ. This selection draws upon the joy and sense of renewal that comes with the arrival of spring after a long winter season. It is important as one reflects on this passage as a metaphor to not avoid the full carnality of the passage. One should first hear this as the reflections of a young, lovesick woman who has been fantasizing about the pleasures that her lover has brought her (Song Of Solomon 2:2-7) and now sees him coming toward her house calling to her. "Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice." Like the thrill of the first sign of spring after a long winter, so she responds to his arrival after an absence. "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come...." She hears him call to her, "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." Only when you feel the full power of that moment of star-crossed lovers, are you ready to turn to this passage as a metaphor of the relationship of the church with Christ.
There are times when the church is sustained by the memory of her relationship with Christ, but there are also times when the church hears Christ calling to her like a lover who has come for a visit. "Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice." There is that moment in a church's life when they hear Christ calling to her like a lover who wants to renew the power of their love for each other. "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone." There is a rhythm in the life of any church. Not all of our time can be what is often called mountaintop experiences. There are times of ordinary living out of our faithfulness. But we must also be ready when we hear our lover call. "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come...."
