"How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes begind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing." -- Song of Solomon 4:1-2

My how times have changed.  The woman receiving this compliment would have blushed, overcome by such lofty words.  Today, if I said this to my wife, her face would probably turn red too.

The poetry in Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs) is such that it celebrates the love of a man and a woman.  It is not, as some argue, a writing representing Christ and the Church.  It's about two young and vibrant people who are bursting with love and physical anticipation for each other.  Some find it hard to believe that the Bible is filled with so much sex and violence.  Enough for the ages, I'd say.

Readings:  Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) 1:1-4:16; 2 Corinthians 8:16-24; Psalm 50:1--23; Proverbs 22:22-23