Chapter 4:15-16
You are a garden spring,
A well of living waters
That flow from Lebanon.
Awake north wind! Oh South wind, come!
Blow upon my garden
and let its spices stream out.
Let my lover come into his garden
And taste its luscious fruit.
Only You, my Beloved Mysterious Infinite Void, can call
forth and receive this infinite flow… through the vessel
that I am becoming. With this stream of love,
You make me known to myself.I invite the winds of change to blow into my life. Who can fortify against them?
I do not resist,
I welcome them, honor them;
They whip through me —
I vow to ride the winds, to consciously use their force to
free myself,
To liberate my true fragrance —
so that I might bless the world with my unique essence.
I vow to receive Life in both its awesomeness and its awfulness, all of it.My garden is dynamic, ever-changing,
ever-seeding, ever-sprouting, ever-greening,
ever-blossoming, ever-fruiting, ever-rotting,
ever-going-back-to-seed. I offer these seeds to the winds.
Catch them, carry them, take them! “You never know!”
You never know what seeds will take root, somewhere in someone. You never know what will grow, how or when.
Within my garden that is buzzing with life and change, disaster and renewal, storm and bright sun, fragility and resilience… there is a center of calm, my still and spacious, waiting, open heart.
Into that center I invite the Beloved.
In the Fever of Love ©2008 Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.
Illustrations ©2009 Phillip Ratner, courtesy of the Dennis & Phillip Ratner Museum and the Israel Bible Museum collection. All rights reserved.
Practice
Chant: Awake North Wind! (Uri tzafon)
Commentary
There is a natural tendency to resist change, in order to maintain the illusion of control and the fantasy of security. Yet life moves on, bringing with it upheavals, losses, transformations and shifts in perception. What if instead of resisting the winds of change, we surrendered to those powerful forces, as the messengers of expanded consciousness? In the spirit of welcome, those changes that we might resist can become opportunities for adventure, growth, surprise and awakening. The spices of our garden represent the hidden inner strength and beauty that is unlocked through times of tumult and change.
Bridge to Torah
The Torah of Acharei Mot describes the ritual of purification that is performed by the High Priest once a year on Yom Kippur, a ceremony that serves to maintain the purity of the Sanctuary. That purity is necessary for creating an invitation for the Divine Spirit to dwell. The Song of Songs also sets forth an invitation to that Divine Spirit of Love. The garden is our sanctuary, a place of sweet fragrance, and living waters. We each become the High priest there, summoning the winds of Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, to blow upon our garden so that the essence of each flower can be known, and the fruits of holiness can be savored.
Click to see Leviticus 16:1–18:30 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985) or the associated Torah Journeys page.
Question for Contemplation
Can I invite the winds of change to blow on me (rather than resist them) and know those winds as the forces which will unlock my true essence?
Resources
View Love at the Center Resources.
See also SHS Commandment 8.
Click to see Song of Songs Chapter 4:15-16 in Hebrew with the English JPS (1985) translation.