Happy the man who meditates on wisdom,
and reflects on knowledge,
Who ponders her ways in his heart,
and understands her paths;
Who pursues her like a scout,
and lies in wait at her entry way;
Who peeps through her windows,
and listens at her doors;
Who encamps near her house,
and fastens his tent pegs next to her walls;
Who pitches his tent beside her,
and lives as her welcome neighbor;
Who builds his nest in her leafage,
and lodges in her branches;
Who takes shelter with her from the heat,
and dwells in her home.
He who fears the Lord will do this;
He who is practiced in the law will come to wisdom.
Motherlike she will meet him,
like a young bride, she will embrace him,
Nourish him with the bread of understanding,
and give him the water of wisdom to drink.
He will lean upon her and not fall,
he will trust in her and not be put to shame.
She will exalt him above his fellows;
in the assembly, she will make him eloquent.
Joy and gladness he will find,
an everlasting name inherit. (Sirach 14:20-27 & 15:1-6)
What beauty in the images of this passage! I cannot add anything at all to the word of God, but only recommend that they be read over and over again until they sink into our souls.
There is so much beauty of the feminine side of God in the OT. It is obvious that these references don't take away the sensual nature of faith. How did we come to denying the physical side of the relationship of humans to the God in each other's physical connections? How can a man learn what it means to treat a wife as Jesus described as his relationship with humanity if we deny the sacred in the sensual nature of all the world?
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