INTIMACY UNROBED – SONG, November 19, 2025

That evening, Hup and Cordia got together with a  two married couples who had approached them at church. They had heard Hup talking about his study of the Song of Solomon, and believing it was written for married people, they asked if they could join him. Of course, he wasn’t going to send them away, but he did explain that there was far more going on than some said. The Song of Solomon wasn’t just Hebraic poetry or an erotic stroll down a scroll of marital bliss, but was embedded with the fragrant allegories of gardens, fountains… vineyards and little foxes… if any mattresses were mentioned they were flower beds without a sleep number. Then again, as Spurgeon called the Song a book of mystery… the mystery was as seen in the shroud of Turin which presented an image, but the heart, mind and soul of the believer was the cypher.

 

Hup remembered the conversation. Bill Collier came up to him at church. “Hey Hup? Can I talk to you a second?” Hup went to him, and Bill led him into a corner.

 

“What is it Bill?” Hup asked, suspecting he knew, but he preferred to keep the rumors that he had heard to himself.

 

“Yeah, well, I guess you heard… ” Bill started out. 

 

Hup supposed the cat was never in the bag to avoid embarrassment. Bill tackled it head on, and he appreciated that. 

 

“Look, Hup… you know Connie and I have had our challenges.”

 

Hup didn’t say anything. Why would he? He was tired of the gratuitous, ‘Yeah, been there, done that’ with the head bob as if he had a real fish on the line.

 

“Yeah, well, Connie and me we heard you were studying the Song of Solomon, and were excited about it.”

 

“That’s true. I am.”

 

“We heard this book has sex tips from God.”

 

Hup had to suppress his laugh. If self-control wasn’t a fruit of the Spirit, he didn’t know what he’d have done… other than to collect himself before answering. Smiling, he shared his thought: “It does… but the sex tips are not what you think… it’s about Jesus, and once you see that, your marriage will never be the same either.”

 

“Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense,” Connie finished reading the passage from Chapter Four, verses 1 though 6.

 

“Who’s Solomon talking about Hup?” Bill asked. ‘It’s a lot of stuff man… goat hair… teeth like a flock of sheep even shorn, washed…”

 

“Lips like a thread of scarlet?” Connie added.

 

“I can see the two breasts looking like twins,” Bill said and laughed. Connie gently hit him and gave him ‘the look.’ “You’re so immature,” she said.

 

“Aren’t we all?” Cordia replied, and gave Connie a smile. 

 

“I know I blushed when I first read this passage. I had a difficult time when the Puritan divines used the word ‘intercourse’ to explain our relationship with Jesus. Just goes to show how our flesh is at war… Spirit lusting after the flesh, the flesh after the Spirit… sin creating in us an excuse to not pursue a greater… deeper knowledge and intimacy with Jesus?” 

 

“Sorry about the joke… poor taste, you know?” Bill appealed to those who were there, especially acknowledging his wife.

 

“Let’s just take a break… we have coffee and tea… I think Cordia put some of her cookies out. We’ll come back and delve into this passage – okay?”