Walking with God.
It carries so many understandings.
A companion in a time of trouble -giving comfort, and support.
Or following in a certain pattern of living.
Or following in a particular way or path, discerning a call, vocation.
Today we see an image of walking with God as lover, of being in love with God.
“The rain is over and gone, the flowers appear…the time of singing has come…Arise my love, my fair one and come away.”
The Song of Songs, sometimes called the Song of Solomon or the Canticle of Canticles. The Song of Songs, the great love poem of the Old Testament.
What is interesting is that God is not mentioned in this Book. Yet it is full of the language and imagery of scripture reclaiming the imagery and language of springtime, of fertility and desire from pagan fertility religions and claiming them for the One God who is Lord of all.
You know the golden oldy…“Let me tell you about the birds and the bees and flowers and the trees and moon up above and something called love.” The Song of Songs tells us that love shows us God.
Now this is an amazing thing. In the history of the faith only the Book of Genesis and the Book of Psalms have more commentaries written about it. It has sparked the faith, imagination and mind of believers like almost no other book in the Bible. More commentaries than almost any other book in the Bible have been written about this collection of love poems! Think about that. Yet now this book only shows up in our Sunday Readings one Sunday every six years!
Something has changed.
We would rather see God as caregiver or the giver of doctrine, or the judge.
But God as the lover who calls to us to arise and come away and walk again in the Garden of God…that seems a bit much for our modern sensibilities.
Being in love with God, walking with God in courtship, as lover, as divine romance this has been the experience and witness of the faith, a witness that bids our attention.
Fall head over heels in love with God, walk together in delight.