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The son of man speaks
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1. I AM the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. 2. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. |
In the same way that I grew up in sinless humility surrounded by Adam’s children, so the Comforter, divine Love, arrives in secret amid lust and hypocrisy.
The woman's experience
| 3. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. |
My holy calling has given me a singular place above the thought of my peers. I shall sit at his feet with great delight, savoring every word and preparing to reintroduce His healing fruit. (Christian Science repeats and explains the divine pattern lived by the Master.)
| 4. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. |
You brought me as your bride to the marriage feast, wearing a signet of your affections — a crown of supreme Love.
| 5. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. |
So, here I am, hungering and thirsting after righteousness now that all human affections have failed me. (“The world was dark. The oncoming hours were indicated by no floral dial. The senses could not prophesy sunrise or starlight” [Ret 23:10].)
| 6. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. |
The Christ is sustaining my body even as I outgrow it. Truth dominates my thought and wraps me up with love.
| 7. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. |
Heed this, my children: Do not be anxious; you cannot fail. Just see to it that you do not make a move until you are awake to the Lord’s thought of you.
| 8. The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. |
(“When the door opened, I was waiting and watching; and, lo, the bridegroom came! . . . My heart knew its Redeemer” [Ret 23:14-16, 17].) Here he is now! He that commands the earth, and it stands still, is here!
| 9. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. |
The Christ, forever new, is ever present, waiting for admittance. Only depraved mortal mind blocks our knowing. Through the transparency of our own heart, we see the divine pattern outside of our own limited framework.
| 10. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. |
My pure consciousness is alert, hearing the call to come out and be at one.
| 11. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; |
rozen mortal mind is melted; the floodwaters are swallowed up.
| 12. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; |
Examples of Christ’s presence are appearing right in front of us as beautiful forms and sounds.
| 13. The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. |
Heaven is bursting forth in immortal forms of glory.
| Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. |
It is time to act!
Manhood encourages the woman
| 14. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. |
My dear woman, my dove, my “symbol
of divine Science”, you are safe in the rock, Christ, which
protects you and holds you (SH 584:26). The stairway to understanding
is no longer hidden. (See an interesting prophecy.1) It is time
to come out from obscurity. Your voice is my voice sweetened.
Your countenance is my countenance more lovely.
1. Rev. Gardiner Spring, "The
Church in the Wilderness," in Fragments from the Study
of a Pastor, vol. 1 (New York: John S. Taylor, 1838).
| 15. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. |
Together we will root out subtle error so that every budding thought can mature.
| 16. My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. |
As ‘I AM THAT I AM,’ so are we the two witnesses, no longer in the company of thorns but graced with beauty like the floral apostles..
| 17. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. |
Humbly wait for the Christ presence to dawn upon you. The MORNING STAR is rising in your heart, and playful joy is lighting the universe.
| Home | Introduction | Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | Listen |
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