Dark Night of Love 6/24/03
Song of Solomon 3:1
By night, I seek the One I love.
I met my Love and was filled,
yes, filled to overflowing—
but that was too long ago.
You wanted me to come with You,
to enlarge my comfort zone,
that I would get out of the boat and
walk upon the water with You.
You called me to the mountains of difficulties.
But I turned You away, and now
wrestling shadows, fighting numbness,
Your painful yet tender chastisements
are upon me, and I am consumed.
The very remembrance
of our embrace in our secret place,
sustains me.
The glorious Prize, nothing less,
drives my heart’s seeking
satisfaction to its deepest longings.
Your words echo within me,
“O My Beloved, arise! Come away with Me!
Come away with Me to the mountain of myrrh.”
Enduring persecution,
muting condemning conscience,
I cross the line—
I swear a covenant.
You know that even in my weakness
You are the one I love.
My life is now a search—
a search for satisfaction
as deep cries out to Deep.
Only when we meet face to face
will this quest’s first leg come to conclusion.
Only when I see, hear, touch, smell the One
will this book close its cover.
(No dust collects on this book,
for it is as alive as the main characters
who search, seek, and walk
the testing path of love to the mountain.)
Only a filled heart,
set ablaze by Living Words
can illumine the path
to expose traps, trips, and deceit.
There’s not much foot traffic here.
A trail unblazed stands before me.
The terrors of the night,
thick darkness surrounds me.
Sneering voices, unable to discern
if from elsewhere, or from me.
Hot breath is felt down my neck.
I turn, but I see nothing.
The demons flee
even at the smoldering embers of Your words.
Lonliness.
A deep pain of emptiness.
Your voice draws my feet forward,
“I am with you always, even to the end.”
I will arise and walk upon
the wings of the wind, upon the water
And trust You to meet me.
The cost does not matter,
I will face my fears.
So when I find the One I love,
I will hold on and never let go.
I will never let go.
Desperation will lock my arms
Around my Prize and
My weak and broken body
will be restored, renewed;
And I myself shall shine brighter than the sun.
-Matthew Harri
