Chapter 8:3-4
His left hand beneath my head,
His right arm embracing me,
Daughters of Jerusalem swear to me
That you will not awaken love
Until it is ripe.
Who is that rising from the wilderness
Leaning upon her beloved?
I awakened you beneath the apple tree,
In that same place where your mother
Conceived and gave you life.
I lean into your warm embrace.
I release a lifetime of tension, doubt, control,
I have been holding on so tightly and now I let go
so that I can know that I am held.Friends of my soul, will you touch the soft of my skin, taste the pulp of my sweetness, inquire with curiosity till you know the seed hidden within? Will you mirror back to me my true taste in this ripened moment of celebration?
Who is that peering through the lattice, opening the gate that I thought was locked, entering in to my garden, bending down to so tenderly touch the petal and breathe in the fragrance at my core?
In your Presence, all the hardness in me softens. As you lean against me, we both fall endlessly, past doubt, blame, shame, past all my excuses… into the expanded embrace of this miraculous Now.
I dreamt of deception – just one simple slant on the truth leads me ever away from my Self, as I weave the ever – so-complicated web, and eventually the fortress to defend my “innocence.”
You awakened me from this dream — You awakened me to the truth of my innocence which requires no defense. My purity contains the diamond-sharp shining power of Creation itself.
In the Fever of Love ©2008 Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.
Illustrations ©2009 Phillip Ratner, courtesy of the Dennis & Phillip Ratner Museum and the Israel Bible Museum collection. All rights reserved.
Practice
Chant: Timing
Commentary
Love is a mysterious and powerful force of transformation. To really understand this power is to be humbled and sent to our keenest discernments. We turn to our companions (the Daughters of Jerusalem) to join us in this process of sensitive discernment. In that process, I meet my impatience, and my attachments. I am challenged to let go of my desire for security, affection and control. I am challenged to trust the process of love unfolding, ripening in its time.
Bridge to Torah
The Torah of Ki Tavo describes two amazing rituals that celebrate the moment of “entering the Land.” On the journey through the inner landscape this is a moment of awakening that will allow us to receive the flow of milk and honey that is our inheritance. The Song of Songs describes that moment as one in which we can lean into the support and embrace of the Beloved. In the ritual of Ki Tavo, we gather up the fruits of our journey and offer them up through awareness and gratefulness to the One who gives us life.
In the second ritual of Ki Tavo, we are awakened to the infinite possibilities of blessing and curse and we are empowered to choose and affirm blessing at each step along the way. The Song of Songs inspires us in that choosing as we experience an inner awakening through the ripening of love in its time.
Click to see Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985) or the associated Torah Journeys page.
Questions for Contemplation
Can I engage in a process of sensitive discernment as I open to the power of love? Can I meet my impatience for the unfolding of love, with compassion? Can I let go of my desire for security, affection and control, so that I might embrace this moment as it is and trust the process of love ripening in its time?
Resources
View Love at the Center Resources.
Click to see Song of Songs Chapter 8:3-4 in Hebrew with the English JPS (1985) translation.