酷我-北美枫

[ericcoliu]

Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church

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 the 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.

---- Emily Dickinson


In her 324th poem, Some keep the Sabbath going to Church, Emily Dickinson enthusiastically expresses her desire to seek the divine presence in nature rather than, as the majority of her contemporaries do, in church, and confidently believes that she has already witnessed and tasted the sweetest of the Kingdom of God along her pilgrimage toward the paradise of nature.

In Dickinson’s conceptualization, God’s creations, not man’s, are the instruments of worship. For her, the singing of birds serves as a choir, and an orchard looks like a cathedral. More importantly, she imagines herself like a joyful bird fully participating in the Sunday service and singing her praise to God. The most impressive part of her vision of church service is that God himself, without the clerical middleman, is preaching through his creation and delivering a short sermon, giving his creatures more time to mediate on his message instead of passively listening to the long ‘God talk’ given by the clergyman. Setting aside the religious institution, Christian doctrines, and social norms, Dickinson spends her Sunday in harmonious communion with nature, rests her soul in mystical union with God, and experiences the richest of the heavenly home in the here and now instead of dreading the advent of the Judgment Day.

Through the humorous use of comparisons between the religious formalities of the Sunday service at church with her own merry celebration of the Sabbath at home by appreciating nature, Dickinson implicitly questions the sincerity of those who attend church on Sunday in order to conform to social custom. Also, she skilfully questions the pervasive notion that merely attending church will lead towards salvation. The reader can get a sense of biting humor in the last stanza. With her skillful use of humour, Dickinson softens a critique of her contemporaries, and at the same time provokes them to look at the taken-for-granted issue – churchgoing – from an unorthodox yet challenging view.

Read within the religious context of her day, this poem challenges Christians with a new understanding of churchgoing, sermons, worship, and even attitudes about the afterlife. Dickinson dismisses conventional faith as the easiest way toward salvation, and reveals her own radical vision of religion: a spiritual shift of worship from the established church to nature; it is a prophetic echo through the late 20th century creation spirituality that American Theologian Matthew Fox advocates. This poem also shows one of her inspiring poetic responses to the new religious style of her day, a historical period between 1800 and 1860 during which the popular religious discourse gradually shifted from the doctrinal to the imaginative, and even to colloquial humour. When Dickinson finds a sacred place in nature, she frees herself from some restrictive aspects of the 19th century American puritan tradition.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church

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 the 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.

---- Emily Dickinson


In her 324th poem, Some keep the Sabbath going to Church, Emily Dickinson enthusiastically expresses her desire to seek the divine presence in nature rather than, as the majority of her contemporaries do, in church, and confidently believes that she has already witnessed and tasted the sweetest of the Kingdom of God along her pilgrimage toward the paradise of nature.

In Dickinson’s conceptualization, God’s creations, not man’s, are the instruments of worship. For her, the singing of birds serves as a choir, and an orchard looks like a cathedral. More importantly, she imagines herself like a joyful bird fully participating in the Sunday service and singing her praise to God. The most impressive part of her vision of church service is that God himself, without the clerical middleman, is preaching through his creation and delivering a short sermon, giving his creatures more time to mediate on his message instead of passively listening to the long ‘God talk’ given by the clergyman. Setting aside the religious institution, Christian doctrines, and social norms, Dickinson spends her Sunday in harmonious communion with nature, rests her soul in mystical union with God, and experiences the richest of the heavenly home in the here and now instead of dreading the advent of the Judgment Day.

Through the humorous use of comparisons between the religious formalities of the Sunday service at church with her own merry celebration of the Sabbath at home by appreciating nature, Dickinson implicitly questions the sincerity of those who attend church on Sunday in order to conform to social custom. Also, she skilfully questions the pervasive notion that merely attending church will lead towards salvation. The reader can get a sense of biting humor in the last stanza. With her skillful use of humour, Dickinson softens a critique of her contemporaries, and at the same time provokes them to look at the taken-for-granted issue – churchgoing – from an unorthodox yet challenging view.

Read within the religious context of her day, this poem challenges Christians with a new understanding of churchgoing, sermons, worship, and even attitudes about the afterlife. Dickinson dismisses conventional faith as the easiest way toward salvation, and reveals her own radical vision of religion: a spiritual shift of worship from the established church to nature; it is a prophetic echo through the late 20th century creation spirituality that American Theologian Matthew Fox advocates. This poem also shows one of her inspiring poetic responses to the new religious style of her day, a historical period between 1800 and 1860 during which the popular religious discourse gradually shifted from the doctrinal to the imaginative, and even to colloquial humour. When Dickinson finds a sacred place in nature, she frees herself from some restrictive aspects of the 19th century American puritan tradition.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[anna]

Good to share.

Thanks.
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

Good to share.

Thanks.
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[anna]

sexton
n.
寺庙里的杂役, 教堂司事


Sabbath: 安息日

surplice.
白色法衣, 白袈裟

I agree with this poem.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman –
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –
I’m going, all along.

-------
I had some old ones related GOD.

God’s eye

I see the pupil of your eye
and myself embraced within.
Blind days have past
your light has shed through the opened ocular.
Under your might,
I gain new sight.
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

sexton
n.
寺庙里的杂役, 教堂司事


Sabbath: 安息日

surplice.
白色法衣, 白袈裟

I agree with this poem.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman –
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –
I’m going, all along.

-------
I had some old ones related GOD.

God’s eye

I see the pupil of your eye
and myself embraced within.
Blind days have past
your light has shed through the opened ocular.
Under your might,
I gain new sight.
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[ericcoliu]

Maybe that is one of reasons Amazing Grace becomes the most often sung Christian hymn in North America.

Amazing Grace Lyrics

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

T’was Grace that taught…
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear…
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares…
we have already come.
T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far…
and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me…
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be…
as long as life endures.

When we’ve been here ten thousand years…
bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise…
then when we’ve first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Maybe that is one of reasons Amazing Grace becomes the most often sung Christian hymn in North America.

Amazing Grace Lyrics

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

T’was Grace that taught…
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear…
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares…
we have already come.
T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far…
and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me…
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be…
as long as life endures.

When we’ve been here ten thousand years…
bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise…
then when we’ve first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[星子]

Great hymn. I believe a lot gain their sight.
_________________

[[ANNA]]

Great hymn. I believe a lot gain their sight.
_________________