Listen! Listen for the sound of the Beloved, Who comes leaping upon the mountains and bounding over the hills. Strain your ears for the sound of this Voice.
Listen for the Voice of our Beloved!
Behold the Beloved, standing like a gazelle behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.
Listen for the Voice of our Beloved!
Our Lover speaks to us: “Arise, oh fair ones, oh fearful ones, oh weary ones, both long-faced and cheery ones, and come away with me.”
Listen for the Voice of our Beloved!
For lo, the winter is past, the flowers push through the cold and hardened soil. The time of singing has come. The fig puts forth bloom; the veins of the vine course with life; earth’s fragrance fills the air.
Listen for the Voice of our Beloved!
In unision: O Lovely One, let me see your face, let me hear your voice. As sure as the day breathes and the shadows flee, I shall indeed arise and be joined with You, oh Lover of All Souls.
©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Background to this litany, a paraphrase of Song of Solomon 2: This text is oddly placed in our seasonal calendar, since it anticipates the coming of spring, saying “the winter is past” and that “flowers appear on the earth.” We speak these praises while calling to mind our connections with people of faith in the southern hemisphere, who now are coming out of winter and anticipating the blossoms of spring.