Back to the Garden
Sex in the Song of Solomon is good for you, rich in antioxidants, like pomegranate juice, like dawn in the Garden of Eden. Who among us has such a wholesome love life?
When Pastor Darin asked me to make a painting for the Song of Solomon sermon series, I had no idea if I was still capable of that. God had humbled me in my professional ambitions, and this made me desperate to know Him. If I had been a successful painter, I would not have become a Christian. God then gave me a good husband, whom I in no way deserved. Because of my work as a pastor’s wife and my passion to see my children get a classical Christian education, I put my career as an artist on indefinite hold. Life is short, art is long, but people are eternal. This month, my sole ambition was to beautify the upcoming sermon series, but I had no confidence in my abilities to do that. My sister pointed out that, “Mary K, you have counseled others that when you need to lay aside parts of yourself to care for your children, God preserves your identity. Now, you must believe that for yourself.”
I knew I had to make this simple for myself, by taking photographs close as possible to what I wanted, using my most available models. The Song of Solomon is full of hot colors, tropical fruit, frankincense, henna. It makes you long for summer. Therefore, I upped the color saturation of my photos. I bought grapes, pomegranates, and kalanchoe from Giant. That is as close as I can get to the vineyards of Lebanon here in Pennsylvania during the nadir of Covid January.
And then I began. The quiet was daunting. I had become accustomed to the interruptions and excitement of motherhood. Creativity takes faith. I remember now. Spring up O well.
The church fathers were uncomfortable with the Song of Songs’ frankness and considered it allegorical. Maybe, they thought, the woman’s two breasts represent the Old and New Testament. Yeah, no. In fact, the Song of Solomon is about human marriage. On the other hand, all of marriage is a “mystery,” an object lesson, a mere puppet show of the love of God and His people, pointing to the upcoming wedding, which is for all believers. “See children, this king puppet is Jesus. This princess is the Church. They kiss. Isn’t that nice?”
Even so, my painting is a crude representation of my marriage, which is a crude representation of the love of Christ and the Church.
Whatever the success of this little painting and its children, I was deeply glad to return to paint to thank God for my marriage and its mystic connection to the love of Christ. Love is the very flame of the Lord, the Burning Bush. What we give up for holy love appears to be consumed, yet is not, for it is filled with the living love of God.