Directions of a Pastoral Lifetime

I Had Been Asked To Do A Bible Study When I Began My First Church Out Of Seminary. I Agreed So Long As I Could Do It My Way. In The Fourth Year Of My Work At Hilltop Christian Church In Mantua Ohio I Chose To Do The Song Of Solomon (Known In Many Circles As The Song Of Songs). I Was Guided In The Development In Part By The Then-Recent Anchor Bible Commentary By Marvin Pope. The Study Influenced Me Greatly. In The Next Decade Or So I Indulged A Variety Of Works On The Song Of Songs Largely But Not Exclusively In The Christian Mystical Tradition. In 1997 I Found A Way To Work On A Devotional Development From The Song Of Songs Resulting In A Work I Found Satisfying. From Those Two Major Efforts A Few Minor Ones Arose. I Have Collected Here The Ways In Which The Song Of Songs Has Woven Into My Work As A Pastor.