I've been reading Emily Dickinson's poetry the last few weeks. I also finished a biographical novel about her. I'm now reading a book about the faith of Dickinson. Ever since high school I have liked her brief, staccato verses. I didn't realize then how sophisticated and complicated they are.
I feel an affinity with Emily in some ways. We are both obsessed with death. I think about death a lot. She writes about it frequently. We both like cemeteries. In my pastoral career I have stood in cemeteries so many times with the feeling of peace.
Emily lived and wrote at a time of transition. Traditional authorities were losing ground. Our nation went through the Civil War while she wrote rhymes. Her language drew from the King James Bible, but her thought was resonating with the new Transcendentalist Movement. Emerson was a great influence. Right now this country is seeing the 'coming out' of atheists. Traditional religion is losing ground. My personal transition has been from fundamentalism to liberalism; and from the Christian Tradition to a broader Wisdom Tradition (still seen through the lens of the Christian faith).
Both Emily and I struggle with faith and prayer. We both have a Jacobean faith--we wrestle with God or Reality or whatever. She found the divine in nature. I have more and more experienced God in the ordinary, everyday things. The 19th century Romanticism appeals to me. The very Pulse of life keeps me believing in some kind of purpose in our existence. The power of metaphor functions for me as an open door to something more.
Emily's brevity appeals to me. Like those brief stories of Jesus. Like bursts of energy; like lightning that illumines the darkness. I'm an introvert. I don't say much. Brevity is honesty. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.
Emily's poetry has a sad tone about it. And my life has an under tone of sadness. Thank God I also experience joy. It's always a struggle. When I read Emily's poems I feel her desire to believe. But she has to be true to herself. She has integrity. And that's what matters.
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