Chapter 6:10
“Who is that rising like the morning star?
Clear as the moon, bright as the sun,
Daunting as the stars in the sky.”
100 billion galaxies.
I try to understand. I try to fathom
the wisdom of cosmologists.
We live in a tiny corner of one galaxy,
In a small cul-de-sac called the Milky Way. This is my daily practice:
I say to myself, “There are 100 billion galaxies!”I try to fathom; I am daunted.
My mind, just a tiny corner of a galaxy,
is not big enough to hold this, but I try…
and then my mind just shuts down.I take a breath,
I close my eyes,
I fall into my heart…
which is LARGER than 100 billion galaxies.
There, I rest, expanding out towards the edges of the universe, leaning into Love’s embrace.
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: Who Is That Rising?
Commentary
As we open to the power of Love, we are joining the Dance of the Cosmos.
Bridge to Torah
The Torah introduces us to Pinchas who is rewarded for his zeal. He is given the Divine Covenant of Peace and the gift of eternal priesthood. He represents a powerful energy that rises from within us, that acts in the name of love, bearing the sword of truth, with alacrity and deliberateness.
The Song of Songs asks, “Who is that rising like the morning star?” To be like the morning star is to shine with the light of Venus. I imagine Venus, the feminine goddess of Love and Beauty instructing Pinchas, the zealot in the ways of tenderness. Pinchas’s zealotry is then tempered and made wise in the light of love.
Click to see Numbers 25:10–30:1 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985) or the associated Torah Journeys page.
Questions for Contemplation
Who is it? What is it that is rising within me, as I turn towards those 100 billion galaxies?
Resources
View Love at the Center Resources.
Click to see Song of Songs Chapter 6:10 in Hebrew with the English JPS (1985) translation.