Today’s Scripture Reading (April 30,
2013): Song of Songs 6
Ownership is
tough. There is a very real level where we really own nothing – at most we
rent, but sometimes even that is a stretch. In 1984 I bought my first new car.
I had had cars before, but they were never new, someone had always owned them
before me. My wife and I were really just getting started in our life together,
and we scrimped and saved so that we could by the car – a tan 1984 Toyota
Tercel. It was great. That car got us through a lot of tough times. But I do
not still have that car. It passed on to other hands a number of years ago. In
fact, there have been a number of cars that have passed through my hands since
the Tercel – although the Toyota Tercel remains the only car that we have ever purchased
new off of the lot. The vehicles were mine, but only for a time.
I own my
house – well, me and the bank. But there is this knowledge that it is mine
under certain conditions. As long as I make the mortgage payments and pay the
taxes it is mine. But in the back of my mind I am also reminded of all the
people in the history of our world who have lost their homes because they fell
out of favor with reigning political power. What they thought was theirs they
found out was really was not theirs. It was theirs only under certain
conditions. And when the conditions were not met, what they thought was theirs
was passed on to somebody else.
And when it
comes to the ownership of people - that we really frown on. We have had our
fill of slavery with all of its evil. We argue that people cannot be owned.
That extends from the marginalized in our society to those that are closest to
us – no one can be owned. And it has become fashionable to recognize our
individuality even inside of the marriage relationship. I have spoken with
couples about the fact that I disagree with the idea that “we are made for each
other.” I rebel against the idea that anyone can “be completed” by another
person. The most healthy marriage relationships that I know of are the ones
between two people that were completed in themselves long before they ever met
the other person and began discussing the possibility of marriage.
But ...
there is also a level of ownership inside the marriage relationship. The Song
of Songs says it this way – “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” The
idea is that I am owned by my wife and I own her. It is not a financial
ownership, but because I love her I want to do the things that make her happy.
The level of love between a couple can sometimes be summed up by all of
activities that we get involved in that we would never initiate on our own. The
only reason why we watch that movie, or go shopping at that store (or for some
of us – any store) is because we are owned. The most enduring relationships are
the ones where we are willing to sacrifice for each other – we are owned – and
because of love, we would have it no other way.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Song of
Songs 7
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