“O that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth” (Song of Songs 1:2)
The following is a meditation on this line.
           The mouth is the source of many important aspects of human existence. It is the place where the words of the heart are articulated. What is within comes into contact with that which is without, with that which is other. Through the mouth, I speak to the other and am drawn out of myself in communication.
            And what do I desire to communicate? Often I am frustrated when I desire to express the deepest aspects of my heart, and my attempts are limited. As beautiful as the mouth is, it somehow falls short of the desire of my heart.
            But yet it is with the mouth that I learn to communicate the secret desires of the heart. The kiss is the symbol of that human desire for communion with the other. It expresses the deep longing to communicate love in ways that go beyond words. Language falls short of the intimacy which stirs the heart and leads me to seek the other with greater fervency and desire.
            And who is the other? Certainly there is the companionship of the opposite sex. The gift of marriage is a beautiful reminder of yet a deeper reality. Ultimately, my heart desires communion with God. It is in this intimate exchange that my heart rests. I long to kiss the Divine, and in longing I come into contact. My heart cries out for that kiss and the desire itself is a form of prayer. The desire itself is a preparation for heaven; it is the whole content of hope.