lessons from the lovesick

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love. 

Song of Solomon 5:8

This part of the Song of Solomon portrays a lover's misunderstanding. Solomon makes a clandestine night visit to the beloved, but by the time she rises, makes herself presentable, and gets to the door to answer his knocking, he is gone. Now this could be a literary "dream sequence" or it could be the re-telling of a quarrel. Either way it is filled with a longing for love.

She chases after her beloved through the streets of Jerusalem. At some point she is detained and punished by the night watchmen. She is willing to risk such treatment for the sake of finding her angered love. Her motivation is her strong love for Solomon and the need to make things right again. She wishes to settle the misunderstanding, to reconcile with her beloved, and to find rest again in his love.

So there is a lesson here as to the lengths to which love will go. I list a few observations:

1.  Love takes responsibility for misunderstandings and seeks reconciliation in an active way.

2.  Love will humble itself for the sake of the beloved.

3.  Love will search until it is satisfied.

4.  Love will consume itself with making things right.

5.  Love will accept consequences for wrong actions and actively seek change.