Year 8, Day 344: Song of Songs 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I think that it is fair to say that obsession is a part of every love.  Love captures the heart, that’s a part of what it does.  Many people realize that they are in love when they find their focus always returning to the same person.  That obsession means that there is a person with whom we always want to share our day, a person to whom we always watch to tell our funny jokes and stories, a person for whom we always want to be the center of attention.  Obsession is part of what it means to be in love.

We see that here in this passage.  The bride is focused in on her groom.  She longs for his embrace.  She is soothed by his voice.  She is sustained by his presence.  She is brought forth out of the winter of life by the simple call of his voice.

While all of this is true – and even good, within certain limits – there is also a great amount of wisdom at the end of the first major section in this chapter.  She adjures the people of Jerusalem to not awaken love until it is the right time to be pleasing.  This is phenomenal advice.

I’ve seen brilliant people do stupid things for the sake of love.  I’ve seen sensible people make awful choices for the sake of love.  I’ve seen rational people become irrational for the sake of love.  I’ve seen people miss great opportunities for the sake of love.  I’ve seen many people make many mistakes because of the obsession that love brings.

In the right time and context, those things are good.  It is good for a married man to miss out on the possibility of romantic involvement with other people besides his wife.  It is good for a married woman to make the occasional irrational decision when it is for the good of the family.  Each of these scenarios – and many others – involve a context where the obsession that comes with love can be fulfilling and even beneficial.

Outside of those contexts, though, awakening love at the wrong time can lead to disastrous effects.  Depression can follow when love isn’t returned.  Anger and bitterness can sprout when the context for love isn’t right.  Harm can come when people make poor choices at the wrong time.

Love is a great thing.  Marriage and the obsession that comes with it can be one of the most fulfilling elements of life.  There is a proper time for it, though.  As with all things, there is a season for love.  In it’s season, though, love is much like it is described in this chapter: two deer frolicking in the lilies seemingly without an outside care in the world.

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