Since Dan was so kind to fill this blog with a Proverb a day, I'm going to do something similiar. One chapter from Song of Songs a day! Well, since there are only 8 chapters, we'll do this once every four days. And Dan, well, he was too lazy (I guess becoming a Priest is more important to him than Lino, a damn shame!) to spell out the connection to Lino in depth, I will do so with each chapter of Song of Songs.

Because Lino is a chaste man. Lino is a good man. A beautiful man filled with quality and purity, something his girlfriend should be very thankful for. In fact, it is Lino's dedication to being chaste that connects him with Song of Songs more than any other passage of scripture. Think of this as one of them protestant Bible studies, where we dive into scripture and surgically decipher every word.

So here is the first chapter, or song. B stands for Bride, D stands for Daughters of Jerusalem, and G stands for Bridegroom. Lino's connection follows shortly.

The Song of Songs,
2. B. Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth!, More delightful is your love than wine!
3. Your name spoken is a spreading perfume- that is why the maidens love you.
4. Draw me!- D. We will follow you eagerly! B. Bring me, O king, to your chambers. D. With you we rejoice and exult, we extol your love; it is beyond wine: how rightly you are loved!
5. B. I am as dark-but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem-As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Salma.
6. Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, because the sun has burned me. My brothers have been angry with me; they charged me with the care of the vineyards: my own vineyard I have not cared for.
7. B. Tell me, you whom my heart loves, where you pasture your flock, where you give them rest at midday, Lest I be found wandering after the flocks of your companions.
8. G If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, Follow the tracks of the flock and pasture the young ones near the shepherds' camps.
9. G To the steeds of Pharaoh's chariots would I liken you, my beloved:
10. Your cheeks lovely in pendants, your neck in jewels.
11. We will make pendants of gold for you, and silver ornaments.
12. B For the king's banquet my nard gives forth its fragrance.
13. My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh to rest in my bosom.
14. My lover is for me a cluster of henna from the vineyards of Engedi.
15. G Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved, ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves!
16. B Ah, you are beautiful, my lover-yes, you are lovely. Our couch, too, is verdant;
17. the beams of our house are cedars, our rafters, cypresses.


First lets look at the meeting place of the bride and king. It's a shepherd's hut, made beautiful by their love (beams of the house being cedars). This is a lot like New York. It's dirty, it smells of urine, but when Lino and the girlfriend are in town, NYC is made beautiful by their love.

Also, take a look at verse 7. The bride is longing to be in the King's company. Reading that, last week immediately comes to mind, with the girlfriend pestering Lino to get a plane ticket to visit Minnesota for Thanksgiving.

And finally, the bride calls the couch Verdant in the last verse. Verdant means growing with vegeation. Since Lino has to sleep on the couch when the girlfriend comes to visit, it is safe to say that the vegetation that is growing on his couch is his maturity, his strength in the Lord by remaining chaste. Or his backhair. You make the call at home.

We'll have more Song of Songs in four days (Friday!).