Everything is awash in green right now. It’s beautiful and the world is a gorgeous place. It’s impossible to be inside without wanting to be outside, to be part of everything that’s out there.
I’ve realized that many of my favorite words have to do with this season of the year: Verdant, fecund, lush, flourishing, Edenic, abundant, lavish, bounteous, idyllic, pastoral, herbaceous. It’s a time of adjectives describing potential and beauty. I’m so glad to be breathing the air that is out there. I’m so glad to be seeing the growth out there.
There are so many scripture passages having to do with nature and natural beauty. The Bible is full of different exclamations for the goodness of creation. But, for my money, I don’t think there’s a more beautiful use of nature than in the Song of Songs. This is a love song. It is evocative and beautiful. I don’t think I can explain the passage in any way that does not diminish the beauty it intrinsically holds.
Song of Songs 1:15-2:17
Ah, you are beautiful, my love;
ah, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,
truly lovely.
Our couch is green;
the beams of our house are cedar,
our rafters are pine.
I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
As a lily among brambles,
so is my love among maidens.
As an apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house,
and his intention towards me was love.
Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples;
for I am faint with love.
O that his left hand were under my head,
and that his right hand embraced me!
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the wild does:
do not stir up or awaken love
until it is ready!
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.
O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the covert of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
Catch us the foxes,
the little foxes,
that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in blossom.’
Go outside everyone. It’s a beautiful day.
Peace,
Rev. Jeff Fox-Kline
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