Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 5—February 12,1976
—— \
Stirring Of Mystical Thought And Prayer
s, ^
BY STEVE LANDREGAN
A love poem in the Bible? It may come as a
surprise to some but a love poem with explicit
enough language to wither the ears of a
Victorian is to be found in the Old Testament.
It is, of course, the Song of Songs or Canticle
of Canticles, a poem that tradition teaches is a
parabolic description of the love of Yahweh for
Israel.
The origins of the Song of Songs are obscure,
but it was accepted without question into the
Christian canon of the Old Testament. The New
Testament itself reflects the concept of God as
husband-lover of Israel in St. Paul’s description
of the Church as the Bride of Christ (Eph.
5:25-28).
Human love has always moved men to seek
to capture its magic and mystery in poetry and
song, so it should not surprise us that the
author of Song of Songs sought to capture the
Hesed, the selfless love of Yahweh for Israel, in
poetry.
In reading the Song of Songs some are
shocked at the candor of the writing concerning
love and sex. It might even be considered in bad
taste, but the reader must keep in mind that the
work is the product of a different culture where
such candor was normal. What is described is
married love which is not only good but is holy
and the praise of something holy can hardly be
morally wrong even though it may offend some
sensibilities.
The authorship of Song of Songs has
traditionally been attributed to Solomon,
possibly because he was considered a great
poet, or a great lover... or both. In either
event Biblical scholars now generally agree the
work was put in its present form after the exile,
centuries following the reign of Solomon.
Wordsworth wrote that “poetry is the
spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it
takes its origin from emotion recollected in
tranquility.”
It is natural that the inspired writers of
Scripture, who had personally experienced the
power of God, should have turned to poetry as
a means of communicating their experience to
others.
From the earliest scriptural writings (Song of
Deborah) to some of the latest (The Magnificat)
we find spontaneous songs of praise and
thanksgiving poured out on the pages of the
Bible.
The largest single grouping of these songs are
to be found in the Book of Psalms (the word
psalm is a Greek translation of the Hebrew
word “mizmor,” meaning a song accompanied
by a string instrument).
Just as the Song of Songs was traditionally
attributed to Solomon, the Psalms have
traditionally been attributed to David, although
certain songs in the collection were written
after the exile.
It is difficult to date any of the individual
psalms but some are very ancient and may well
be of Davidic origin. Others, although pre-exilic
must be dated late in the history of the
monarchy.
The Psalms mirror the entire spectrum of
Israelite history and are in fact a summary of
Old Testament beliefs and customs of worship.
Reflecting an intimacy with God that sets
them apart from similar literature found in
other cultures of the ancient near east, the
Psalms are inspired reflections on individual and
collective experiences with God.
There are many methods of grouping the
Psalms, but Father Ronald Murphy, O. Carm.,
groups them as follows in his article on the
Psalms in the Jerome Biblical Commentary.
(1) Hymns of praise that call upon the
community to sing or rejoice over the attributes
of God (Ps. 145) or His creation (Ps. 148).
Other hymn psalms praise the kingship of
Yahweh (Ps. 97).
(2) Laments, both personal (Ps. 4243) and
collective (Ps. 44) that reflect the ancient
Hebrew’s fear of death, particularly early death,
but also manifest their faith that God will hear
the distress calls of His chosen people. Among
these are also found psalms that are essentially
statements of trust in God (Ps. 23) and
confidence in His Hesed.
(3) There are also psalms of thanksgiving,
both individual (Ps. 116) and collective (Ps.
124).
(4) Royal psalms (Ps. 132) may be songs of
thanksgiving or of lament depending upon the
event they celebrate in the life of the king.
(5) Also found in the collection are wisdom
psalms like Psalm 49 that reflects upon the
futility of riches.
(6) While most psalms were used in liturgical
celebrations there are a few that had a
specifically liturgical purpose such as Psalm 24
which was to be sung at the gate of the Temple.
(7) Others were historical in nature, (Ps. 105)
recording some event in the religious history of
Israel.
(8) Finally, there are those in praise of The
Law, of which Psalm 119, the longest in the
collection, is a good example.
Psalms are to be prayed as well as sung. As
Jesus was dying on the cross he prayed Psalm
22. . . “My God, my God, why have you
deserted me?” Christians today still pray the
Psalms at Mass (responsorial psalm) and in the
official prayer of the Church (Liturgy of the
Hours).
These beautiful and inspiring Hebrew poems
still reflect the spontaneous overflowing of
feelings experienced in man’s encounter with
God.
For The Soul, Home Is Where Prayer Is
BY CARL L. MIDDLETON
Mystical Thought, Prayer, Meditation. How
mysterious these terms sound! What comes to
mind when you hear these terms? A bearded,
thin guru wearing a long, white robe? A saint in
sack cloth, gaunt from days of fasting? A “Holy
Joe” kneeling before the altar for hours?
Upon asking a group of high school seniors
what was the first thought that the word
“prayer” brought to their minds, their answers
ranged from the “Hail Mary” and “Our Father”
to grace before meals. These are all well and
good, as they do manifest our love and
devotion for God and His Son Jesus.
I wonder how many of us, after reading the
Song of Songs (sometimes known as the
Canticle of Canticles) or the psalms, would
consider them prayers - meditations in poetic
form about one’s relationship with God. Yet,
that is exactly what they are. The authors of
the Song of Songs and some of the psalms
perceived God as a person very close to them -
BY REV. PAUL F. PALMER, S.J.
The Song of Songs attributed to Solomon is
the Hebrew way of saying that this collection
of bridal songs represents the last word in
song-writing. But the last word has not been
said on the time when the songs were
composed, the occasion on which they were
sung and the kind of love that they sing about.
It is generally agreed that the Song of Songs
was compiled, if not composed, in the third
century; that they were sung by a shepherd and
a shepherdess during a wedding festival when
the bride and the groom were queen and king
for a week, garlanded and crowned to rival the
most legendary queen for her dark beauty and
Solomon in all his glory.
The more obvious theme of the collection of
songs is human love in all its seasons, from
ardent longing to rapturous belonging. The love
of courtship is marked by sleepless nights full
of anxiety: “Upon my bed by night I sought
him whom my soul loved ... I sought him but
found him not.” The shepherdess asks the
gardener: “Have you seen him whom my soul
loves?” And when at last she finds him, she
cries out: “I held him and would not let him
go” (3:14).
Irresistibly there comes to the mind of the
Christian reader another garden, another
gardener, another lover in search of her
beloved, of one who would cling to her beloved
and who would not have let him go, had he not
as Master and Lord called her “Mary” and told
her: “Do not hold me, for I have not yet
ascended to my Father ... to my Father and
your Father, to my God and your God” (Jn.
20:17).
The parallel which so readily comes to mind
between Mary of Magdala and Jesus of
Nazareth, between a woman who loves so
ardently one who is completely human and yet
in some strange way divine, is a good
introduction into the real problem of the Song
of Songs.
Christian mystics of every age and of both
sexes, whether a Theresa of Avila or a John of
the Cross, have easily identified with the bride
of the Canticle and unabashedly use the songs
when they sing of their own marriage to God in
the bridal chamber of the soul.
The most exuberant cantos of the Song are
used by the Church in the celebration of feasts
which honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, the
Mother of God and yet the Bride of the Holy
Spirit, as well as in feasts which pay tribute to
other virgins in the Church’s liturgical calendar.
so intimate in fact, that they likened God to a
spouse. God was a lover who always showered
upon them his “loving kindness” or “hesed.”
They didn’t view God as a supercop, a judge, or
a miracle worker. Rather, God was a person
who was always present, always revealing
Himself through history, nature and
community.
The people belonged to God and God
belonged to the people. This relationship is
alluded to in the very name of God: “Yahweh --
Aser - Yahweh” or “He who brings into being
whatever comes into being.” Yahweh manifests
His divinity and power in the creation and
continuation of life. Yahweh is a personal and
loving God. Prayer, then, is a human being’s
response to God’s loving kindness and daily
manifestation in our lives.
We are called, regardless to our professions,
to be people of prayer. For prayer is not just a
doing, an asking, an informing when we are in
need of trouble. Nor is prayer simply thanking,
or praising God or sporadic communicating
And yet nowhere in the collection of songs is
God mentioned. In fact, the love dialogue
between shepherd and shepherdess is often so
frankly sexual and surrounded by erotic
imagery that we cannot help but wonder how
these songs ever came to be accepted by Jews
and Christians as part of their Bible.
But the general thrust of the Song, if not
every individual canto and line, reminded
Jewish readers of God’s covenant of steadfast
love with Israel, in which Yahweh is portrayed
by the prophets as Husband to Israel His chosen
bride. Similarly, no great effort is demanded on
the part of the Christian to see in the love
relation of bride and groom the symbol or
sacrament of Christ’s covenant of love with his
bride the Church.
And yet it would be a mistake to read the
songs as though human love was not really
intended by God, the principle author of the
Song. There are many facets of human love
portrayed. But let me single out one quality
that best exemplifies the quality that is
distinctive of all covenant love, divine as well as
human.
It is the quality of belonging, of mutual
commitment expressed by the shepherdess,
“My beloved is mine and 1 am his” (2:15).
Because of this sense of belonging their love, in
the words of Paul, is “patient” (1 Cor. 13:4), a
love that is allowed to grow. Like all good
things love is not instant; it must flower and
ripen. It will wait “until the rain is over and
gone,” when “the flowers appear on the earth,”
when “the vines are in blossom” (2:10-12).
But during this period of waiting, and after
love’s consummation, there is always the trust
and assurance expressed by the shepherd: “A
garden enclosed in my sister, my bride, a garden
locked, a fountain sealed” (4:12). The garden
will be unlocked, the fountain unsealed but
only to the beloved. And it is on this note of
virginity before marriage and fidelity in
marriage, virtues so little prized today, that the
final canto reaches a climax that is often
overlooked.
Fearful, as they watch their little sister ripen
into womanhood, the brothers of the
shepherdess ask: “What shall we do for our
sister on the day that she is spoken for? If she is
a wall, we will build upon her a battlement of
silver; but if she is a door, we will enclose her
with boards of cedar” (8:8-9). But the little
sister assures them that she has kept herself for
her beloved, a garden enclosed. “I was a wall,
and my breasts were like towers; then I was in
his eyes as one who brings peace” (8:10).
with God. Prayer certainly can be this at times,
but prayer is far greater as the psalms and Song
of Songs explicate. As we grow aware of God’s
presence, the more open we are to God
speaking amidst the hustle and bustle of our
everyday lives; our life becomes a prayer.
Basically, the first movement of any prayer is
to listen to God’s Word as He speaks in the
noise of a busy office, or the silence of a home
when the children are at school. To pray is to
take time to listen to God speaking not only in
the Eucharistic liturgies or in the Scriptures,
but also every day. Prayer is being open to God
loving us, and seeking creative ways to say “I
love you, too.” This is the second movement of
prayer - response. After one listens to a loving
wife or friend we are moved to respond. Thus,
it is with God -- we must respond by our lives.
In the Scriptures, especially the psalms, we
often encounter the spontaneous response of
the writer bursting forth with praise for the
sun, the wind, a child’s laughter. Prayer,
therefore, is not bombarding God with long
lists of wants. More importantly, it is listening
and responding to someone with whom we
should be very intimate, more intimate than
even our spouses or friends. Prayer is our being
before God. Our love must be crystalized into
moments set aside to listen.
Do we take time out of our busy days just to
pray? Could a housewife stop her chores when
the young ones are taking their naps, to read
some Scriptures or just pray? Could the
businessman take his lunch somewhere and
quietly pray? Why not stay a few minutes after
work to listen and respond to God?
Prayer is not words or phrases to be rushed
through before meals and at bedtime. Rather,
prayer is myself -- my very being before God.
The authors of the Song of Songs and Psalms
were mystics, contemplatives, people who knew
and experienced God’s loving kindness in an
intimate and personal way because they took
time to stop, be open, listen and respond. So
should we. In this way we are called to be
mystics, contemplatives.
As Abraham Heschel so beautifully stated:
“All things have a home; the bird has a nest, the
fox has a hole, the bee has a hive. A soul
without prayer is a soul without a home . . .
For the soul, home is where prayer is.”
“THE PARALLEL which so readily
comes to mind between Mary of
Magdala and Jesus of Nazareth,
between a woman who loves so
ardently, one who is completely human
and yet in some strange way divine, is a
good introduction to the real problem
of the Song of Songs.” Jesus and
Magdalen meet after His resurrection in
this woodcut by Albrecht Durer. (NC
Photo)
My Beloved Is Mine
“HEAR THE ORPHAN’S PLEA. attention in an orphanage in Burundi.
Defend the widow.” A child cries for {NC Photo by KNA)
KNOW
YOUR FAITH
(All Articles On This Page Copyrighted 1976 by N.C. News Service)
< >
Isaiah: I’ve Seen The Lord
BY REV. ALFRED MCBRIDE, O. PRAEM.
“I’ve seen the Lord. I’ve seen the Lord. And he is
high and lifted up, and his train fills the Temple. And
the angels cry holy, holy is the Lord. ” Traditional
Spiritual
Reading Isaiah is like listening to the organ
and trumpets at Easter. His style is imperial and
he is at home with majesty. Most likely he was
an artistocrat, accustomed to life at court and
almost Shakespearean in the ease with which he
uttered stirring poetry. Small wonder that
Handel excerpted many of the Isaian texts for
the Messiah.
Scholars point out that the original Isaiah
wrote chapters 1-39. Men of his cast of thought
completed the remaining work in succeeding
centuries. Faithful to his vision, a “Second
Isaiah” composed chapters 40-55, and a “Third
Isaiah” completed chapters 56-66. It is with the
genius and life of First Isaiah that we are
concerned here.
We must first note that biblical prophets are
not cloistered ivory tower scholars. They are
outspoken advocates of the need for God’s
justice to appear in the public order. They are
not shy about “politics in the pulpit.” They
may at times comfort the afflicted, but they are
even more devoted to afflicting the
comfortable. It is not surprising that they were
subject to frequent abuse and martyrdom. They
are moralists, strong in their denunciation of
injustices, quick to call the state to its moral
obligations and equally pointed in demanding
that the Church fight for the claims of justice,
from the cries of the oppressed.
The very first chapter of Isaiah is a case in
point. In a fiery sermon he tells the people that
a dull ox is more sensitive to his human master
than is their knowledge of God’s will. When
they grow restless with his critique of their
moral blindness, he demands their attention
with the words, “Listen to me, you Princes of
Sodom!” (1:10) In likening them to the classic
sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah, he grades
them very low in moral achievement indeed.
He lashes out at their wallowing in public
piety while they remain blind to poverty and
deaf to cries for help. “What care I for the
number of your sacrifices? (In them) I find no
pleasure. Your festivals I detest. They weigh me
down. I tire of the load, says the Lord.” (l:12f)
Better that they should work for social concern
and justice. “Hear the orphan’s plea. Defend
the widow.” (1:17)
It’s not that he is against liturgy, but rather
against worshipers who see no connection
between religious acts and the moral
responsibility to correct society’s injustices.
Isaiah himself wasn’t always so sensitive. In
the sixth chapter he tells of his conversion from
being a bland unconcerned religious person to a
man filled with God’s passion to see justice
done. The glory of the Lord appears to him.
The divine purity makes him conscious of his
own shallowness. He begs for purification. An
angel places a burning coal upon his lips and the
divine fire transforms him into a dedicated
prophet of the Lord.
He spends his remaining days under four
monarchies fighting for justice and peace. He
scalds the conscience of the people to bring
them alive to the practical consequences of
covenant. He challenges the kings to pursue
peace with spiritual weapons. He attacked them
for reducing religion to diplomacy and
accommodation. He was even more furious
with court officials who thought the covenant
meant that God would save them regardless of
their moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
Thus he dealt with the age-old problems of
despair and presumption. The kings despaired
of God’s help and resorted to conspiracy and
duplicity. The courtiers settled for a smirking
presumption that God would save them no
matter what. To his credit Isaiah never faltered.
His conversion vision told him that he would
have a steadily dwindling audience. Blinder and
deafer they became, but he preached till the
end, when as a legend says, they martyred him
by sawing him in half.
The nation fell as he predicted. But a
brighter prediction of his also came true. It was
he who planted the consciousness that one day
a messiah would come and restore Israel and
save the world. In telling King Ahaz about
the birth of his son, he gave shape to a
prophecy more marvelous than he could
imagine. “The virgin shall be with child and
bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”
(7:14) “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
him ... Justice shall be the band around his
waist. .. . Then the wolf shall be the guest of
the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with
the kid; the calf and the young lion shall
browse together, with a little child to guide
them (11:2-6).
This foretaste of the messiah was taken up by
the later Isaiah writers and their words today
have the beauty of Christmas carols. With his
congregation empty and his nation falling in
ruins around him, Isaiah knew he was not
whistling in the dark. He sang of a maiden and a
child. He was right. We have lived to see his
dream come true. We still must work on his
other dream - make justice a reality on the
earth.