Scripture: Song of Solomon 2:9 – “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.” (NRSVue)
What does God look like? And what would it be like if God came and visited us? As I pondered these questions, two movies popped into my head: Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Prince of Egypt. The first depicts God as mighty king and lawgiver. God just suddenly appears as an old, bearded man with a crown peeking through the clouds. He speaks with a deep voice and commands King Arthur to go on a quest. This is clearly a parody, but this “old man in clouds” is still the default image we have of God. It is comforting for God to appear in an obvious way to gives us something obvious to do.
The Prince of Egypt, which is an animated retelling of the story of Moses, has God appear to Moses at the burning bush. Unlike the power and might portrayed by Monty Python-like depictions, this God is mysterious. The flames around the bush are not quite fire, do not act natural, but still lick around the edges of the plant. The voice of God starts as a thin whisper, and played by Val Kilmer, is the same actor who plays Moses. This God is just off to the side, and speaks to us in an inner way, more powerful because it is not obvious.
We have God as king, God as whisper, but what about God as a teenage lover? This is probably not what you think about when you think of God visiting you. It may, in fact, be among the least divine images you can imagine. But that is the image of God we get in the Song of Solomon, an odd love poem in the middle of the Old Testament. There is almost nothing in the poem that suggests it is specifically religious. It speaks of King Solomon but is otherwise a typical example of courtly love poetry. Yet, somehow it ended up in the Bible, and it was treated as something more than just the story of wooing princes and princesses. The lovers were seen as God and Israel, or God and the soul, or Christ and the Church.
So, when in the poem, the male-coded “beloved” appears outside the wall of the female-coded speaker, it reminds us more of Romeo and Juliet than The Ten Commandments. But why shouldn’t God be rapping at our windows in the night, tossing pebbles to get our attention without waking up our parents? Why shouldn’t the thought of God be something that gives us butterflies in our stomachs or keeps our minds spinning long after we should be asleep? Shouldn’t we be exhilarated at the thought of running off with God into who-knows-what kinds of adventures?
This language may seem very strange, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. It is using a very common human experience—young love—and using it as a metaphor for having a relationship with God. This may be more universal than booming voices from the sky or secret whispers in secluded places. Loving God is more than following orders or finding truth in silence, but in being happy, of being full of life and love. It is about being so overcome with passion that you cannot ignore your faith and cannot resist trying to share that love with others. I know that I struggle with the idea of a “fun” God rather than an “important” God, but it is through our joy and our passion that we bring those important things into our lives and the world around us.
Prayer: Dear God, speak to me and bring me away from my fears and worries. Let me arise and come away with you when you call. Amen.
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