# Intimacy Day 2 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *O God, who existed before all things, draw near to my heart today as I draw near to yours. Grant that as we are together during this time—as well as this day—I will know of your presence to the very core of my being. Let me experience the intimacy with you that I was created for. In the name of Jesus, the Word made flesh. Amen. (JLB)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 131 #### I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul #### A Song of Ascents. Of David. *131 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high;I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.* #### Scripture for the Day: Song of Songs 7:10-13 *10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me. The Bride Gives Her Love 11 Come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields and lodge in the villages;[a] 12 let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.13 The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits,* *new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.* #### Reading for Reflection: *My meditations on the story of the woman who poured her perfume all over Jesus has elevated the affections of my heart toward Jesus. Just like the woman in the story, I long to be passionately indifferent to the reactions of those around me, lost in the extravagant expression of my affection for Jesus. I want my love for God to become as wild, reckless, and free as his for me. (Running on Empty by Fil Anderson)* *In their book The Art of Intimacy, the Malones, a father and son team, make an important distinction between closeness and intimacy.* ​ *Closeness, they write, “is a very intense personal awareness of the relationship you have with another.” It’s the feeling we get when we agree with someone, when someone is like us, when we share space and emotional warmth together.* ​ *Intimacy is often confused with closeness. We think we’re intimate when we’re close. That may be true, but the desire for closeness may also become a trap. It can gradually force us to deny ourselves (our true selves) and to live a lie in order to maintain the illusion of warmth and togetherness. This produces an unnatural “truce” in which our true passion is sacrificed for the sake of peace.* ​ *According to the Malones, intimacy is distinguished from closeness. The word Intimacy is derived from the Latin word intima, meaning “inner” or “innermost,” and carries the idea of being in touch with our inner selves. It does not focus on the feelings of warmth or the awareness of similarity. Intimacy is the art of bringing our true selves into the relationship. (The River Within by Jeff Imbach)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Draw Me Close to You *Draw me close to You never let me go* *I lay it all down again* *To hear You say that I'm Your friend* *You are my desire no one else will do* *'Cause nothing else could take Your place* *To feel the warmth of Your embrace* *Help me find the way bring me back to You* *You're all I want* *You're all I've ever needed* *You're all I want* *Help me know You are near* ### Closing Prayer *Lord you are my Lover, it is you whom I desire. You flow through my body like a stream, you shine on my face like the sun. Let me be your reflection.~St. Mechthildis*