Song of Songs: Preview of Kathy's Book...
By request, here is something I will post on Song of Songs. Thanks, Katy, for asking! This admittedly is the easy way out of putting some thoughts down on this book. I will get around to more discussion in, well, no promises...I keep either getting emails of things I want to post, real life pops up with amusing anecdotes, or a beautiful sunrise happens in my back yard and I get sidetracked...But in the meantime here is what I am posting.
Earlier this summer I got a contract with Regal to write a book called What the Bible is All About for Moms. This is the project I ran away to Roatan to work on. I completed just about the entire rough draft while I was there and it has been sitting ever since. I am just practicing what every good author's advice column recommends: let your draft sit for awhile before going back to it. So it has sat.
Even though my deadline isn't till March 1st, I am planning on wrapping it up by December 1st. That way I won't stress over the Holidays, can pace myself on preliminary work with the pregnancy book and hit the ground running January 1 with that. My deadline for that is June 15th, but I have two releases coming out this Spring: The Bible Study and Stressed Out Moms Devotions to Go, so as to not get too stressed out myself I need to keep on track...all that to say what appears below is the rough draft, untampered with for the book. Editorial comments and suggestions happily accepted!
The concept of the book is to write from a contemporary point of view with a brief synopsis of each book, snapshot from Henrietta, since this book is tied in to her work, What the Bible is All About, and on the edgy side. So the Snapshot is the book overview, and the Mama Mia section is the story. Then at the end, there are segments for applying it to today's woman with Biblical application and questions for reflection. You will notice I haven't written those yet, but just wanted to include the headings to give you a sense of the flavor of the layout. There is one chapter for every book of the Bible based on either a mom in that book, or issue that moms deal with...happy reading!
SONG OF SONGS: WHITE TEETH AND PLASTIC SURGERY
SNAPSHOT FROM HENRIETTA: Hey, hold on to your hats. There’s some pretty racy dialog in this book of the Bible, written by Solomon, who also penned Proverbs. Didn’t know the Bible could get provocative, as in chick lit romance reading? Yeah, it surprised me too. The dialog takes place between wise King Solomon and a woman from Shulam (also referred to as a Shulamite) but symbolically paints a picture of God’s love for His people. It is a wonderful portrait of personal love to Christ, which Dr. Mears calls “the greatest need of the church today” (p.217). It’s just that the writing is a bit more explicit in this particular book; at least PG-13, sometimes R. No wonder it doesn’t get much flannel board attention in Sunday School...most parents try to put off these kinds of conversations for awhile...
DR. MEAR’S SUGGESTED READINGS:
Her Synopsis: Jesus Christ, the Lover of Our Souls
Her Suggested Bible Readings:
Day One: Joyful Communion (Song of Songs 1:1-7; 2:1-7)
MOMSENSE: How many women are satisfied with their physical appearance, especially after they have had a child or two? Well, some of the passages in this racy book aren’t likely to make women feel much better. In fact plastic surgery may seem more appealing than ever after some reading…white teeth, full, red lips, a graceful neck, and supple, fawnlike breasts? The reality is a different story…
SCRIPTURE: “Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing…Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, your mouth is lovely…your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance…Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.”
-Song of Songs 4:2-5
MAMA MIA: OK, so I fully understand that I should love and accept my body just the way it is, but it was much easier to do that years ago when I was in my twenties. Even though I had had a couple of kids by then, I still seemed to be able to get back into shape.
Today I am decidedly approaching middle age, and it all just seems to be going downhill. Something happened when I turned forty, and it wasn’t pretty… My belly and hips are expanding, my boobs are sagging and my brow is starting to wrinkle. I remember one year asking for liposuction for Christmas. “I just wish I could get rid of twenty pounds between my naval and my knees…” Santa didn’t bring me liposuction (or Botox for my brow…even though I am married to a dermatologist) just clothes that were the next size up.
I recently decided enough was enough, but rather than engage in the difficult, sensible (and only successful) approach to weight loss, I succumbed to the infomercial sales pitch wooing me from the TV screen for the ten minute trainer. “Ten minutes of targeted exercise employing revolutionary stacking technology guaranteed to transform your body!” How gullible am I? It was the “ten minute” part that appealed to me. Never mind I spent much more time than that packing in the food.
The infomercial continued to seduce me into purchasing something I couldn’t believe I was considering. But just a few minutes later I was dialing 1-800…on my cell phone (because I was away from home in a hotel room and totally captivated) and found myself placing the order for the “money back guaranteed” ten minute trainer. I even opened my conversation with the very well trained phone sales gal by saying I had never, ever done anything like this ever in my life before, would she please tell me I wasn't crazy?”
Well, excuse me, what did I think she would tell me? Anything other than what I wanted to hear? But she gladly obliged and we had a delightful conversation, the entire time she continued to assure me that my impulse buy was completely guaranteed and completely refundable. So I did the unthinkable and read off my sixteen digit credit card number complete with expiration date. And I lied, I did do something like this once very long ago…at another time I also wasn't satisfied with my body. But then it was because I wished my boobs were bigger and I was duped by some breast enlargement gizmo that ended up being some pectoral muscle exercise device. There. True confessions of a frumpy model wanna be (not really).
So my ten minute trainer system arrived, and I was more than a little embarrassed and not 100% satisfied. So I did send it back and decided to do it the old fashioned way. Less consumption, more movement and increased gratitude that I am healthy.
WHAT’S A MOTHER TO DO:
LIGHTENING THE MOTHER LOAD:
MUSINGS FOR MOMS:
Comments gladly accepted. As a matter of fact, maybe I should gather an Editorial reader's panel to help make it the best it can be. It is geared to both readers who are not familiar with the Bible, to show a different than generally perceived side (like it is stodgy and has nothing to do with my real life, here and now) and those who are familiar but also like to relate it to real life.
Earlier this summer I got a contract with Regal to write a book called What the Bible is All About for Moms. This is the project I ran away to Roatan to work on. I completed just about the entire rough draft while I was there and it has been sitting ever since. I am just practicing what every good author's advice column recommends: let your draft sit for awhile before going back to it. So it has sat.
Even though my deadline isn't till March 1st, I am planning on wrapping it up by December 1st. That way I won't stress over the Holidays, can pace myself on preliminary work with the pregnancy book and hit the ground running January 1 with that. My deadline for that is June 15th, but I have two releases coming out this Spring: The Bible Study and Stressed Out Moms Devotions to Go, so as to not get too stressed out myself I need to keep on track...all that to say what appears below is the rough draft, untampered with for the book. Editorial comments and suggestions happily accepted!
The concept of the book is to write from a contemporary point of view with a brief synopsis of each book, snapshot from Henrietta, since this book is tied in to her work, What the Bible is All About, and on the edgy side. So the Snapshot is the book overview, and the Mama Mia section is the story. Then at the end, there are segments for applying it to today's woman with Biblical application and questions for reflection. You will notice I haven't written those yet, but just wanted to include the headings to give you a sense of the flavor of the layout. There is one chapter for every book of the Bible based on either a mom in that book, or issue that moms deal with...happy reading!
SONG OF SONGS: WHITE TEETH AND PLASTIC SURGERY
SNAPSHOT FROM HENRIETTA: Hey, hold on to your hats. There’s some pretty racy dialog in this book of the Bible, written by Solomon, who also penned Proverbs. Didn’t know the Bible could get provocative, as in chick lit romance reading? Yeah, it surprised me too. The dialog takes place between wise King Solomon and a woman from Shulam (also referred to as a Shulamite) but symbolically paints a picture of God’s love for His people. It is a wonderful portrait of personal love to Christ, which Dr. Mears calls “the greatest need of the church today” (p.217). It’s just that the writing is a bit more explicit in this particular book; at least PG-13, sometimes R. No wonder it doesn’t get much flannel board attention in Sunday School...most parents try to put off these kinds of conversations for awhile...
DR. MEAR’S SUGGESTED READINGS:
Her Synopsis: Jesus Christ, the Lover of Our Souls
Her Suggested Bible Readings:
Day One: Joyful Communion (Song of Songs 1:1-7; 2:1-7)
MOMSENSE: How many women are satisfied with their physical appearance, especially after they have had a child or two? Well, some of the passages in this racy book aren’t likely to make women feel much better. In fact plastic surgery may seem more appealing than ever after some reading…white teeth, full, red lips, a graceful neck, and supple, fawnlike breasts? The reality is a different story…
SCRIPTURE: “Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing…Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, your mouth is lovely…your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance…Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.”
-Song of Songs 4:2-5
MAMA MIA: OK, so I fully understand that I should love and accept my body just the way it is, but it was much easier to do that years ago when I was in my twenties. Even though I had had a couple of kids by then, I still seemed to be able to get back into shape.
Today I am decidedly approaching middle age, and it all just seems to be going downhill. Something happened when I turned forty, and it wasn’t pretty… My belly and hips are expanding, my boobs are sagging and my brow is starting to wrinkle. I remember one year asking for liposuction for Christmas. “I just wish I could get rid of twenty pounds between my naval and my knees…” Santa didn’t bring me liposuction (or Botox for my brow…even though I am married to a dermatologist) just clothes that were the next size up.
I recently decided enough was enough, but rather than engage in the difficult, sensible (and only successful) approach to weight loss, I succumbed to the infomercial sales pitch wooing me from the TV screen for the ten minute trainer. “Ten minutes of targeted exercise employing revolutionary stacking technology guaranteed to transform your body!” How gullible am I? It was the “ten minute” part that appealed to me. Never mind I spent much more time than that packing in the food.
The infomercial continued to seduce me into purchasing something I couldn’t believe I was considering. But just a few minutes later I was dialing 1-800…on my cell phone (because I was away from home in a hotel room and totally captivated) and found myself placing the order for the “money back guaranteed” ten minute trainer. I even opened my conversation with the very well trained phone sales gal by saying I had never, ever done anything like this ever in my life before, would she please tell me I wasn't crazy?”
Well, excuse me, what did I think she would tell me? Anything other than what I wanted to hear? But she gladly obliged and we had a delightful conversation, the entire time she continued to assure me that my impulse buy was completely guaranteed and completely refundable. So I did the unthinkable and read off my sixteen digit credit card number complete with expiration date. And I lied, I did do something like this once very long ago…at another time I also wasn't satisfied with my body. But then it was because I wished my boobs were bigger and I was duped by some breast enlargement gizmo that ended up being some pectoral muscle exercise device. There. True confessions of a frumpy model wanna be (not really).
So my ten minute trainer system arrived, and I was more than a little embarrassed and not 100% satisfied. So I did send it back and decided to do it the old fashioned way. Less consumption, more movement and increased gratitude that I am healthy.
WHAT’S A MOTHER TO DO:
LIGHTENING THE MOTHER LOAD:
MUSINGS FOR MOMS:
Comments gladly accepted. As a matter of fact, maybe I should gather an Editorial reader's panel to help make it the best it can be. It is geared to both readers who are not familiar with the Bible, to show a different than generally perceived side (like it is stodgy and has nothing to do with my real life, here and now) and those who are familiar but also like to relate it to real life.
Labels: Regal Books, Song of Songs, Stressed out Moms, What the Bible is All About
posted by www.kathypride.com at
8:12 AM
3 Comments:
You're right; my comments didn't come through yesterday. I pretty much just told you my response and my arm hurts again so I don't feel up to writing more.
Another day and I'm feeling okay right now, so I wanted to share my thoughts on SOS.
In rereading your Mama Mia response, I understand what you were saying and why it made you think (and feel) the way you did. I think, however, you are not seeing the forest for the trees.
If you think about those who you love, especially people you've known for a long time -- your husband, college and high school friends, your parents, your parents' friends, even your old friends' parents -- intellectually, you understand that they have aged, right? But I bet you a million bucks (not worth as much as it once was) that you don't see them in the same light that you would a person the same age that you just met.
Think about it. To you, who are carrying around an image of them first formed many years ago, they look pretty much the same. You overlook the extra weight, less hair and wrinkles and see their true ageless inner beauty.
This is 100% true story: In January 2007, I went to Syracuse to pick up my mother from the hospital there after she had had two abdominal aortic anyurisms removed. I only knew one person in the area, an old high school friend that I hadn't seen since before either of us had children. She happily agreed to let me stay with her the night before I was to pick up my mom. When she opened the door to her house, I swear she looked EXACTLY the same as the last time I saw her and she said the same of me. Honestly, I wasn't sure I would even recognize her after over 20 years. What does that tell you?
My point is that Solomon and his love could very well being seeing each other through those same eyes. To an outsider, neither may have been stunning to look at, but to each other, the superlatives flow in their attempts to describe each other.
It is that love and passion that I feel this book talks about. And glorying in the happiness and gratitude they each feel to be able to experience those wonderful feelings. I think they both are aware that that sort of passion is a gift, from God if you will (and I know you will), a gift that they are supremely grateful for.
So as much as they are singing each other's praises, they are singing God's.
I know that many (including your Dr. Mears) interprets SOS as a representation or allegory about our relationship with God.
But even if taken more literally, as a beautiful, sacred love poem, God is still central to this book.
Like your picture of the sunrise, Solomon and his bride realize their passion for each other and appreciation for each other's physical attributes is a gift from God.
I am not jealous of the descriptions of her body and it doesn't make me want to run out and change my looks. Furthermore, I bet if King Solomon got a look at either you or me, he would use some of the same adjectives about us. Our teeth must be blindingly white and straight (with our advances in dental health) compared to what his brides' looked like. And we are able to continue to look as if we have fawn-like breasts just by wearing an underwire bra, which wouldn't have been available to his bride. I'm also not entirely sure I WANT my hair to look like goats running towards (or down, I can't remember) Mount Gilead. I like what conditioner does to my hair just fine. Anyway, my point is, it's all relative. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Finally, I think that SOS tells us that God wants us to have this wonderful passion in our hearts for Him, for our spouse, for a cause. I guess you could say that SOS is a rubber stamp of God's approval to feel the way He made us and our brains and our emotions -- to feel passion. This puritanical reaction experienced by some Christians to deny that earthy part of ourselves may as well be a rejection of the way God made us. Does that make sense? I oversimplified it, but only to make a point.
So I don't agree with Dr, Mears that SOS might be rated PG-13 and certainly not R. Realize that this opinion is coming from an artist who was taught that all bodies are beautiful and who doesn't think that paintings and sculptures of nudes are pornographic. Realize also that this opinion (one that anyone reading this is free to agree or disagree with) is coming from a cancer survivor who absolutely loves that she even HAS a body and loves that body very much. And appreciates all the wonderful things it does -- heals, feels pain AND pleasure, gets tired and then feels refreshed after sleeping, walks and runs, and has the full gamut of emotions. And I am grateful EACH DAY for the experiences, ALL of them, INCLUDING the feelings described in SOS.
Love,
Katy
Hi Katy,
I love your observations and views, and agree also with much of what you write. It is great food for thought. Do I need to go back and re-write the story? Maybe. Maybe not. I know that when I wrote the proposal, there were plenty of examples and particular Scriptures that I could have chosen and I happened to select phsical attributes because so many women are not happy with their bodies (like yours truly...)I know that the theological editor had commented that he particularly liked my "creative" examples with Scripture and the stories I would use to illuminate them, but the overarching theme of God's love and acceptance and face to face intimacy with God. I will be getting back to the stories and edits on that project soon; most of November that will be what I will be nitpicking apart.
Thanks for your thoughts, they are another facet in looking at and reading this book.
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