September 21

Today’s Readings: Psalm 50 & 40; Hosea 2:2-14; Luke 11:37-52; Revelation 21:18-27

A few days ago, I professed my love of the prophetic literature found in the Hebrew Scriptures. I guess I should have qualified that a bit, for the book of Hosea is a challenge for me to say the least. I struggle with Hosea’s language (i.e. back in yesterday’s reading from Hosea 1:2 as found in The Message: “Find a whore and marry her. Make this whore the mother of your children”) and characterization of relationships (i.e. Hosea 2:4: “I’ll have nothing to do with her children, born one and all in a whorehouse”). Needless to say, the passage challenges my sensibilities in many ways. As I was finishing today’s passage from Hosea, however, one verse struck me that helped me experience the book in new ways. The second half of verse 13 of the second chapter reads (this time in the NIV): “’She decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,’ declares the Lord.” This language is clearly the intimate, passionate, and intense language of a jilted lover. It was interesting for me to think of God’s love for us in those terms: intimate… passionate… intense… As I’ve wrestled with the frustrations I alluded to in yesterday’s post involving my dark night of the soul period, I realized those are the very words I would use about my experience of God right now. Intimate. Passionate. Intense. Today, across the millennia, Hosea invites you to perhaps think about what words you would use to describe your relationship with God. Would you use those words? Or would you choose others? I’ll leave you to ponder adjectives on your own. Til next time…