Some keep the Sabbath going to Church (236) Emily Dickinson
(1830-1886) Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – I keep
it, staying at Home – With a Bobolink for a Chorister – And an
Orchard, for a Dome – Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –
I, just wear my Wings – And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton – sings. God preaches, a noted Clergyman –
And the sermon is never long, So instead of getting to Heaven, at
last – I’m going, all along.
Hello there! Corinna Laughlin here with the poem of the week.
For this week, I have chosen a classic by American poet Emily Dickinson.
Jackie O’Ryan will read the poem, then I will be back to offer a brief
commentary. Thank you, Jackie! You can see why we need
this Emily Dickinson poem right now! Emily Dickinson is one of the
greatest American poets; indeed, she is one of the greatest poets in the
English language. Born in 1830 in western Massachusetts, her childhood
was quite a normal one. Her father was a prominent attorney who even
served in the US House of Representatives. He was an imposing figure.
Dickinson admitted to a friend that she did not learn to tell time until
she was fifteen because she was too intimidated to tell her father she
didn’t understand his explanation. As a young woman, Dickinson
went off to school—Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, now Mount Holyoke
College, in nearby South Hadley. Established in 1837 by Mary Lyon, an
extraordinary figure, it was one of the first and best colleges for
women in the United States. It was an intensely religious environment,
and the school proudly displayed the names of graduates who had gone on
to Christian missionary work around the world. During Emily
Dickinson’s year at Mt Holyoke, the students would be regularly
questioned about whether they were “saved” or not, and categorized as
“professors,” “hopers,” and “no hopers.” Emily Dickinson landed among
the “no hopers.” The preaching and the emphasis on an emotional
conversion experience was constant. This is a sample of one of Mary
Lyon’s addresses to the students: “Do you not know that you are now
exposed to God’s wrath, that a miserable eternity awaits you?” This
religious language was not unusual; in fact, it was typical of New
England religious experience at the time. The emphasis on
conversion may have been part of the reason she left Mt Holyoke after
just one year, still classed among the no-hopers. Back home in Amherst,
a religious revival was underway. Over the years, many members of the
Dickinson family had conversion experiences and became active members of
local congregations, but Dickinson did not. She gradually became a
recluse, living in self-imposed isolation from her community and even
from much of her family. There were many reasons for this, but her sense
of religious isolation surely played its part. So was Dickinson
a “no hoper”? I think her poetry gives us the clear answer to that—no!
She was nourished by the Bible, and her writing is profoundly imbued
with Christian themes. In one poem, she wrote simply, “I know that he
exists.” God is ever-present and a number of her poems are addressed
directed to Christ. But when it came to church, Dickinson
remained profoundly skeptical. That is clearly evident in this short,
playful poem. While others go to church, Dickinson stays home and keeps
the sabbath in her own way. She has everything she needs—a chorister, a
dome, and even a noted clergyman - God. I have always loved
this poem, but I have always mentally argued with Dickinson at the same
time. What about community? We need each other! We need our shared
worship. During this lockdown, however, I have found this poem to take
on a whole new meaning. Now, when we cannot gather as community,
“keeping the sabbath” in our accustomed way, we can learn from Dickinson
other ways to keep the sabbath. In particular, we learn that God speaks
to us through the beauty of the natural world, with birds as our
choristers, trees for a dome, even a little sexton or sacristan—and of
course, God, the most noted clergyman of all, doing the preaching. Most
of us hopefully have had a chance to do a little more walking, a little
more looking around, and have been able to sense in new ways God’s
presence in creation. In the final lines of the poem, Dickinson
says, “instead of getting to heaven at last, I’m going, all along.” This
attitude is so different from the theology she heard from the religious
leaders of her day. Heaven is not a reward for the few, bestowed by a
judging and reluctant God. Heaven is quite simply being in God’s
presence. I am reminded of the words of the French Carmelite
mystic, St Elizabeth of the Trinity: “It seems to me that I have found
my heaven on earth, because my heaven is you, my God, and you are in my
soul.” I think Elizabeth and Emily might have a lot to say to
each other!
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