His mouth is very sweet;
he is totally desirable.
This is my beloved! (Song of Songs 5:16)
We were on the far edge of the playground, a huddle of complicit boys decked in freckles, big ears, and disgusted stares. Dirk explained something of the birds and the bees. That disclosure haunted me the next time I saw mom and dad kiss—yuck.
It was many years before my opinion of romance swung to the other pole. Then the wonder of the opposite sex caught up like a tsunami. I married my life partner, and no amount of valentine gush seemed excessive. I dubbed her Sweetie, and the corn factor of the pet name completely escaped me.
Falling in love with God was somewhat the same. For years I saw him as Master Ruler, Sovereign King, and Omnipotent Blaster of All Evil. To apply romantic endearments seemed irreverent and cheap. Then I learned about archetypes in the Bible. God placed clues all through Scripture as living prophesies, where an event or person became the shadow of what was to come. The deliverance of the Israelites through the Red Sea foretold our deliverance from sin at baptism. Lifting up the snake on a pole to save the Israelites shadowed the lifting up of Jesus on the cross.
Romantic love is merely the archetype of the unity and passion we have with God in Christ. As consuming as human love can be, I revel to know it is no more like perfect love than a shadow is like the object that casts it. To say, “God is the lover of my soul” or, “He is altogether lovely” is not mere human mush. These are simply the strongest words we have for inexpressible sacred passions. The Holy Spirit reinterprets the earthbound phrases to our hearts with heavenly meaning.
All this is to say that I am moving beyond my chauvinism against spiritual endearments.
Prayer: Oh sweet Savior, I will praise you with any words I can find.