I:
Interlude
As I trotted my horse down the road I saw before me
a marvelous sight; a garden[i]
enclosed by high, strong walls[ii].
A beautiful silver palace sat in the midst of the garden[iii].
The garden had a spring[iv],
sending out streams of clear water[v],
watering plants, myriads of plants[vi].
I saw lilies[vii]
and pomegranates[viii]
in the garden; palm trees[ix]
and nut trees[x].
Even from where I rode, coming down the hill toward the garden, I could smell
the most marvelous smells coming over the walls: spikenard and saffron; calamus
and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the
chief spices[xi].
As I rode closer, I saw another sight, as
impressive in its own way. On the ramparts of the castle, splendidly arranged
in armor, were several young men, marching to and fro, and keeping a vigilant
eye in every direction. I saw that they had already seen me and were keeping a
wary eye on me.[xii]
My road led me to the front gate, where I saw
another man, an older man, in well-used armor[xiii].
He was standing in front of a gate, a well locked gate, all made of thick,
strong planks of cedar.
The man smiled at me as I rode up and said,
“Welcome, brother. Come and rest
yourself.” He waved his hand and I saw, standing beside the gate, a table. Even
as I stopped a young boy came forward to hold the reins of my horse and an
older woman and several younger women came to the table, setting it for a meal,
all unspeaking.
“I thank you all for your courtesy,” I said, “but
I have business that cannot brook delay.”[xiv]
“What, then, is your business?” the man asked.
“I come on behalf of another,” I said, “a young
man under my command. He begins to thirst, and hunger[xv],
and I seek a garden for him.”
“Is he a loyal son?” the man asked, “to you and to
our common Lord?”
“He is…” I said, but just as I spoke one of the
young warriors called, out.
“My lord, another man comes.”
We both looked up to see a young man come riding
up. “Welcome,” the lord said, and the young man leapt from his horse. “Refresh
yourself.”
The young man, pleased, went to the table and
helped himself to the food and wine. The
lord and I exchanged glances, and then he said, “Tell me, what is your business
here?”[xvi]
The young man flushed and said, “I would have your
leave to talk to the lady of this garden.”
The lord’s eyes chilled slightly, “I am the lord
of this garden, what words would you have with her?”[xvii]
“You are its lord?” he asked, “I had understood
that it was without a lord, that no one drank of its waters.”
“I am the lord of the garden, but I do not drink
of its waters. I and mine are charged with guarding it until the day comes when
I give the charge of it to another.”[xviii]
“You give it? Must not the lady herself give it?”
“The lady? She is under my authority. How can she
appoint her own lord? How can the lesser appoint the greater?”[xix]
“With your blessing!”
“My blessing?” the lord said, very coldly. But
then he softened, perhaps remembering the foolish young man he had once been.
“Tell me, my son, are you thirsty?”[xx]
The young man, having a cup of wine in his hand
paused and glanced at it, then, realizing that the question had nothing to do
with wine, he flushed, “I… no!”
“Then you have no need of a garden, my son,”[xxi]
the lord turned back to me. “The young
man you represent, he hungers and thirsts?”
“Yes.”
“And you understand the value of this, my garden?”[xxii]
I said I did, and together we discussed what price
would be paid. Then, agreed, we sat together. “Tell your charge that his lady
will await the day when he comes into his garden with great anticipation.”[xxiii]
“But I don’t understand!” the young man said.
“What of her permission?”
“Her permission?”
“You called her his lady, and yet she has not
given her permission!”
“She is mine… it is my permission that is needed,
not hers. But, just to reassure you, she
and I have talked, and she is prepared, and indeed, eager, to accept my choice
for her new lord.”
He turned back to me. “Go in peace, my brother,
and we will all await with eagerness the return of your charge.”
“Thank you. I will go and tell my charge to
prepare a place to put this wonderful garden.”
“We will miss it,” the lord said, wistfully.
I smiled, and looked at the young lords prowling
the ramparts, “I imagine that you will have many other gardens soon, and then,
if they are fruitful, yet more gardens.”
“True, my brother,” he said, grinning. “Fare
well.”
And so I went on my way, musing on the day, which I,
too, hoped would not be long, when my charge would come and take possession of
this marvelous garden, so tenderly prepared by our common Lord.
[i]
Song 4:12
[ii]
Song 4:12
[iii]
Song 8:9
[iv]
Song 4:15; Prov 5:15-18
[v]
Prov 5:15-18
[vi]
Song 4:13;
[vii]
Song 6:2,3; Song 2:16; Song 5:13; Song 7:2;
[viii]
Song 4:3; Song 4;13;
[ix]
Song 7:7-8;
[x]
Song 6:11
[xi]
Song 4;10-16; Song 6:2; Song 8:14
[xii]
Song 8:8-9; Gen 34
[xiii]
Deu 22:21; Song 8:9
[xiv]
Gen 24:33
[xv]
I Cor 7:2,9
[xvi] Gen 29:15
[xvii] Num 30:3-5
[xviii] Deu 22:21; Song 8:8-9
[xix] Num 30:3-5
[xx]
I Cor 7:2
[xxi]
I Cor 7:1-9
[xxii]
Exod 22:17; Prov 31: 10
[xxiii]
Rom 8:23-25
0 comments:
Post a Comment