It’s a strange book. There’s no way around that. It’s meaning or purpose within the canon is not entirely clear. It’s application is even less so, if that’s possible.
Other than being beautiful, what does this have to do with us? What should we take away from it? How should this book impact our daily lives?
I’ll be honest: I don’t really know.
I mean, aside from what I said in my last post, aside from letting this poetry help us consider the cultural source of most of our Scripture.
So here’s something to consider: when you’re really in love with someone, devoted to them, what does that do to your life?
It changes things, right? Everyone you know is probably gonna know you’re in love. Unless you’re specifically trying to keep it a secret, you’re telling everyone who care about you, who knows you, possibly who encounters you on the street. Even if you are trying to keep it a secret for some reason, those who know you best will probably still realize there is something big going on in your life.
Everything you experience, good and bad, you want to share it with this person. If they can’t be there with you, you’re likely already thinking about how you’ll tell them about it later, how they might react to it if they were there with you. You carry them with you in your thoughts through everything. You’re looking forward to seeing them again. You know exactly when that is going to be, and if you don’t, you’re thinking about them even more wondering when exactly you’ll get to see them again.
It isn’t necessarily that your life begins to revolve around them, it’s that they fill your life. Thoughts of them permeate everything. I’ve been married 18 years, I’ve been with him 20 years including the time we dated, and he still fills my life. What would he think, would he like this, how would he respond, when I will see him again, reminding myself that I shouldn’t say everything I’ve thought of telling him all day all at once as soon as he walks through the door. Because I do that, I collect things to tell him.
If we love God, shouldn’t he permeate our life? Shouldn’t thoughts of him fill every moment? Shouldn’t we constantly take things to him? Because we don’t have to collect things to tell him. His spirit is always with us, and we can tell her everything right away, right now, in the moment. Shouldn’t his reaction to things be our first consideration? Shouldn’t everyone know we’re in love with him because it’s so much a part of us that we just can’t hide it?
Maybe that’s the point of this book: to remind us what devoted love looks like, how fully impacts our lives. Something to consider.
It’s hard for a single interpretation, but that’s the beauty of having such a universal message.