“Divine flame”—the gospel in poetry
Daily Scripture
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
6 Set me as a seal over your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is as strong as death,
passionate love unrelenting as the grave [Hebrew sheol].
Its darts are darts of fire—
divine flame!
7 Rushing waters can’t quench love;
rivers can’t wash it away.
If someone gave
all his estate in exchange for love,
he would be laughed to utter shame.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
On May 19, 2018, over a billion people watched Bishop Michael Curry preach Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding ceremony. The couple chose today’s reading as the text for their marriage. Bishop Curry summed up the Bible’s meaning this way: “The message of God is very simple. Love one another. Take care of one another. Take care of creation. And while you’re at it, love me—love God. Do that and you will find your way. That is the core of the gospel.” *
- Today’s reading’s passionate poetry saw human love growing out of God’s love, extending and expressing it. The phrase “Its darts are darts of fire—divine flame!” was literally, in Hebrew, “a flame of Yah” (the short form of the divine name from Exodus 3:14). How did that phrase make our ability to love more than a mere biological drive, and link it at its best to God’s serving, self-sacrificing love?
- We believe the Holy Spirit guided the shaping of the Hebrew Scriptures. Including Song of Solomon showed vividly that God created and affirms human love. The unmarried apostle Paul hinted that God gives some the gift of happily living celibate (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:2-7), but the Scripture never said a celibate person is holier than one who faithfully loves another. When have you, in your life or the lives of people you care about, seen the beauty and holiness of committed human love?
Prayer
Lord God, you created me out of your love, and you planted a seed of that love deep within me. Let me always value and respect the holiness of that wonderful gift from your heart. Amen.
GPS Insights
Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as Human Resources Lead Director. Janelle finds that her heart is constantly wrestling with the truth that she needs a Savior, and the times when she's at her very best are when she's just too tired to put up a fight.
All you need is love, so said the Beatles. They claimed it to be that simple. They even went so far as to say that it’s “easy” in their 1967 hit song. This seriously makes me question whether or not they know what love is. Easy? Really? I think that love is one of the most difficult things that one can do.
Sure, it can be easy. It’s easy to love those who are loveable, those who have yet to disappoint us. I’ve got love for days to spread for the easy ones. Yet if we think about a love that might be transformative, that would have any real impact, it’s not the easy love that we’re talking about. Love that moves the needle towards goodness in this world is the love that stretches us.
I think about those who suck the emotional energy out of you. They aren’t easy to love. I think about those who are obnoxious about their political views. They aren’t easy to love. I think about those who are rude or snippy. They aren’t easy to love. I think about those who have hurt us, or even worse, hurt someone we love. They certainly aren’t easy to love.
Despite what the Beatles said, love is hard. It takes true intention. It’s not as simple as being kind (though that is part of it). Love is wanting the best for the other person, even when that isn’t the easy answer. The power to show this kind of love comes from the ultimate supplier of love. It’s through an abundance of God’s love that we’re able to share love with others. Over the next week, I challenge each of us to start our day considering one way God loves us and one way we can share that love with others. It starts with saying, “Today I recognize God’s abundant love for me in… , and I’m going to share that love by… ” It might look like, “Today I recognize God’s abundant love for me in the friends who have come alongside me in difficult times, and I’m going to share that, out to someone I know going through a difficult time.” Our challenge of intentionally receiving God’s love and reflecting it out starts today. Put it on a note, make a calendar reminder, whatever you need to do to implement this daily practice for the next week. While love isn’t easy, it can be easier if we’re sharing the love first provided to us.
© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Curry, Bishop Michael. The Power of Love (p. xvi). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
