Chapter 1:4
Take me with you, let us run together!
The King has brought me to his chambers.
Let us delight and rejoice in your love,
Enjoying each caress more than wine,
They are right to love you so.
You long for me as I long for You,
You defy description and elude my grasp,Yet as Your Essence pours into this world,
All forms are moistened with mystery.Your Essence pours into my body and I become fluid.
Dancing wildly, I recover my full range of emotion,
I am infused with desire.I love You with all my heart, all my soul, all my might.
As I pass through, these words call from every doorway,
But I do not calmly walk into your chambers; I am brought,
Sometimes dragged—kicking, struggling, screaming.
Only after my heart’s been broken,
My will defeated,
My expectations deflated,
Only now is true delight born. Only now
Does inner joy shine through outer circumstance.This joy is delight in Being,
This love is existence itself.
Each breath touches my insides as a caress
Both soothing and arousing.
In the Fever of Love ©2008 Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.
Illustration ©2009 Phillip Ratner, courtesy of the Dennis & Phillip Ratner Museum and the Israel Bible Museum collection. All rights reserved.
Practice
Chant: Let Us Run Together (Moshkayni)
Commentary
Sometimes I think of myself as someone who has an idea… and then I want to “run with it.” My enthusiasm for life and for the creative process just kicks in. With this verse, I say to God, “Let’s run together!” Be with me as my joy, as my spacious awareness. Let me know You as the mystery that draws me into this next adventure, and accompany me through every danger.
Bridge to Torah
My enthusiasm manifests as my calling, which I must follow regardless of what others think or perceive. Rumi says, “Start a huge foolish project, like Noah… it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.” As I enter into the king’s chambers, I call on all Creation to enter with me into that Holy Ark. Let us run together! Let us enter together and set off on the waters of consciousness. All of Creation calls, “Take me with you…” towards Life.
Click to see Genesis 6:9–11:32 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985) or the associated Torah Journeys page.
Questions for Contemplation
What is calling me? What is my resistance to that calling?
Resources
View Love at the Center Resources.
Click to see Song of Songs Chapter 1:4 in Hebrew with the English JPS (1985) translation.