God’s love letters
Madly in love with a maiden, a youth wrote her love letters daily. He did this for years, till she married the postman! Something similar happens while reading scripture. We forget who has written, what, how and why. I laughed when someone complained: “The Biblical Song of Songs is like pornography!” Reason? “God” never appears even once in its eight chapters; but lover-beloved, kisses-embraces and breasts-thighs do, with shocking frequency.
In a recent lecture, Frank Clooney, professor in Harvard’s Divinity School, stressed the need to read scripture of other religions to harmoniously live in multi-religious societies. Clooney reads the Ninth century Tamil text, Tiruvaymoli (Holy Word of Mouth) by Shatakopan, “our saint” (Nammalvar) and draws insightful parallels with the song:
She muses longingly: “Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him and found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer” (Song 3:1). Tiruvaymoli reads: “Our lord, he lies on the snake bed, but he does not come. Alas, who will save the life of this doer of stubborn deeds now? The whole city sleeps, the whole world is intense darkness” (V.4.1).
She suffers heartache: “I look for just one word to say to you alone, but I don’t find it anywhere. My shell-bracelets have slipped, I have lost my lustre, my full breasts have turned pale, I grow weak; my king rides the eagle with cruel eyes, yet I keep on desiring that lord of Venkatam” (Tiruvaymoli VIII.2.1). “I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and was gone. My soul failed me when he spoke; I sought him but did not find him; I called him but he gave no answer” (Song 5:6).
He overwhelms her: “My beloved is all radiant and ruddy, distinguished among 10,000. His head is finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven” (Song 5:10-11).
“Oh, my heart is melting beyond the limit of my life’s breath, my desire grows — what can this servant do now, how can I think of the wondrous one who dwells in holy Katkarai where fragrant kavi flowers perfume the streets?” (Tiruvaymoli IX.6.1).
“The saints are drunk with love, their thirst is for love,” wrote Kabir. Mystics have exulted in their relationship with God as lover-beloved, or with God as lover and them as beloved. Yet, God’s loving presence is punctuated by God’s agonising absence.
Thus, life becomes an ecstatic excruciating seesaw of love-and-loss best felt in the union-and-parting of lovers. Transcending religious boundaries, can’t we allow God’s love letters, scripture, to nurse our hearts?
Lurking behind our daily loves we’ll sense the one who is love. Then, we’ll neither dismiss scripture as pornography nor wed those who are but carriers of God’s love.
Francis Gonsalves is the principal of the Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi.
He can be contacted at fragons@gmail.com
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