return

you have scattered your

favors to foreign gods

under every spreading tree...

return, faithless people,

for i am your husband.

(jer. 3:13-14)

o my bride

my church

i am your God

your husband

your lover 

i made you for myself

that i might give myself to you

and you might give yourself to me

in a sacred romance

of union and intimacy

beyond your wildest dreams

but you have turned away

you have given

the most intimate

parts of yourself

to other lovers

you have given your

attention and affection

to foreign gods

who cannot love you

the way i do

i see you

giving yourself to them

under every green tree

thinking they have something

to offer you

that i do not

scattering your favors

among them

as if they were worth nothing

o my love

my bride

what shall i do with you

you have broken my heart

how i long to be

the focus of all your love

the object of

your deepest affections

how i long for you

to return to our bed

that i might show

my love to you once again.

but i will not share you

with another

i will not compete

for your love

you must leave

your other lovers

and return to me

return to me

my love

my bride

for i am

your one true love

—Seasons by Jim Branch