Hide & Seek: Reading the Song of Songs with Poets Retreat

No book of the Bible maps the landscape of love—human and divine—like the Song of Songs. For centuries the Song’s depiction of love’s push-and-pull has fed Christian devotion. Unsurprisingly, some of the ancient poem’s best interpreters have been poets. On this retreat we will venture into the Song of Songs accompanied by Christian poets old and new, including St. John of the Cross, Christina Rossetti and Kimberly Johnson. As guides to the Song, their poems will help us explore the ups and downs of life with a God who comes and goes and comes again.

Nate Wall is a student of the Hebrew Bible and its afterlife. As a PhD candidate at Wycliffe College (University of Toronto) Nate writes about the exegetical habits of John Donne, the 17th century poet-preacher. He currently teaches undergraduates at Redeemer University (Hamilton) and serves as Scholar-in-Residence at Church of the Redeemer (Toronto).