Finding God with Emily Dickinson

Poet Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Mass. on December 10, 1830. While she was alive, few people knew her as a poet. In fact, few people knew her. She stayed in the family home for most of her life and was not known as a poet probably because few of her poems were published during her lifetime. In fact, only ten appeared in print during her lifetime, but now we have this 25-poem portion in I told my soul to sing published by Paraclete Press, www.paracletepress.com.
　
Author Kristin LeMay, who teaches writing at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, sees herself as a good match for "Emily," as she calls her. They seem to have similar likes and dislikes, thoughts and beliefs. Both are poets, both sometimes waver between faith and doubt. LeMay thinks of Emily as "patron saint of all who wrestle with God."
　
Emily was brought up in a strict, conservative, Calvinistic atmosphere, as her father ruled the family with love and firmness, but probably not much fun and humor. They were in a college town, but Emily had few contacts outside her own family and church. She and her brother Austin were close friends during their growing-up years, and when he married, his father had a home built for him and his wife on the family property. Sister Lavinia, third child, also stayed at home, caring for their mother and the household when their mother became ill.
　
During those years, there was a lot of pressure from both family and church to "be converted, believe in God." This was after the Great Awakening, 1740 and onward, and many small towns in New England and all over the country felt the pressure to "convert to Christ." As a teenager, Emily attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for one year, then returned home and traveled very little during the rest of her life.
　
When Emily died at 55, her sister Vinnie found a box full of letters and poems that Emily had written. There were more than 1800 poems and over 1,000 letters. Author LeMay explores her choice of 25 of those poems. She says hers is "not a scholarly account" and she goes on to explain how Emily’s poems and prayers have enriched LeMay’s own spiritual beliefs and helped with her doubts. Emily is very open and vocal about what she thinks about God, nature, believing, doubting, on and on. Over the years her beliefs became more firm and settled, but she still had many moments of doubt, as her poems show.
　
It’s interesting to watch how Emily’s spiritual life opened up as she became concerned about the people she knew: relatives, friends, and correspondents. She wrote to them with love and offered encouragement and even care where possible. Emily loved to bake and used her ability there to give gifts to those for whom she was concerned. She wrote loving letters to her cousins for instance, and sent them bits of poetry for encouragement. She told them she "cannot pray," but then she did pray throughout her poems.
　
Emily said it’s okay to borrow words for prayer, so LeMay, when faced with doubts sometimes borrows Emily’s words for her own prayers. LeMay also discovered the Scriptures, especially the Psalms, can be useful for our prayers.
　
Emily stayed inside her home and gardens. At some point she began to wear white dresses. She avoided talking with people. She did not attend church. Perhaps Emily used her own poetry as a path to conversion. LeMay says that Emily’s poetry was "her means for working out her own salvation." LeMay believes that Emily "never stopped converting, never stopped turning and turning around those questions of life and death."
　
I am thinking that Emily Dickinson suffered from an ailment that probably was not known in her day, now called Agoraphobia. There are many people who have some of the symptoms, but they probably don’t know what it is nor how to cope with it. Sometimes it begins with a stressful event and over time, the person may consider more and more public places as "out of bounds," until eventually they are confined to their homes. They may have panic attacks and try to avoid that by staying at home. There may be depression. It is a type of anxiety disorder, but there is treatment and Agoraphobia responds well to treatment.
　
Emily tried to deal with it as best she could, I’m sure. Staying home, writing poetry and letters to her friends, probably all helped. And, we have the gift of her poems and letters. Many thanks to Kristin LeMay for her book. Anyone who appreciates Emily Dickinson should have this book to read, study, compare, question, and enjoy.
　
—Lois Sibley

Keeping the Feast

"Life happens around the table, in the making of meals and memories, in the sharing of food and friendship," writes Milton Brasher-Cunningham in his book Keeping the Feast, Metaphors for the Meal published by Morehouse Publishing, www.churchpublishing.org.
　
Brasher-Cunningham writes about the "different meals of our lives," offering "Metaphors for Communion" in the meals he describes as "new ways to think about The Meal." His book is a gift during this Holy Week, as we are already thinking of Coming to the Table, and The Great Thanksgiving, and words like Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, and The Meal That Matters Most.
　
Brasher-Cunningham believes "it was the years of breakfasts and dinners stacked up in my soul like pancakes that produced an unflinching tether" to the importance of family meals shared together and to which he has clung and applied to his life-long learning.
　
Described as writer, chef, poet, teacher, minister, youth leader, small urban farmer, musician, husband, and keeper of Schnauzers, Brasher-Cunningham shares not only his food recipes, but also his poetry, as well as reflections on his experiences with co-workers, family and church members, and friends.

And don’t forget the recipes. Among them are Refrigerator Rolls; Saturday Night Chicken; Maple-Glazed Brussels Sprouts; Open-Faced Chicken Pot Pie; Cornbread Dressing; Barbecue Bonfire Packs; Strawberry Shortcake; and White Chocolate, Cranberry, and Pumpkin Seed Cookies. He writes at www.donteatalone.com.
　
—Lois Sibley

"Where is my Dad?"

"Where is my Dad?" the young boy cried. "I want my Dad." He was only two or three then, but at church and the daycare, he saw that other kids have dads, so he must have one, too. His mom explained that he has two brothers, but no dad in the home, because she is a single mom. He listened, and he loves his mom and his brothers, but still, he longs for a dad.
　
In Church for the Fatherless published by www.ivpress.com,  Rev Mark E. Strong writes of his concern for the children, both boys and girls, who are fatherless and what the church can do to help them. Pastor Strong offers examples of  families who have struggled with this ever-rising problem of no father in the home, or with a father who is "not loving and merciful, but harsh and overbearing."
　
Strong notes that more than 40% of children in the U.S. live apart from their fathers and that number continues to rise. He believes that "the church as God’s redemptive agent in the community has a responsibility" to address this growing problem. His goal with this book is to help readers "gain a deeper understanding of the problems surrounding the issue of fatherlessness; to share some practical and doable ways your church, ministry, or organization can serve the fatherless; and to inspire and encourage you to engage in and be a part of God’s answer to fill the fatherless void."
　
Strong says that ministry to the fatherless is not just an option, it is a biblical mandate. He reminds readers that in Psalm 68:5, God is called "a father to the fatherless," and in the Old Testament, over 40 Scripture passages "make ministry to the fatherless a priority and a matter of justice" for the community. And the fatherless problem is not limited to a single ethnic group. Just look around. Rich, poor, white, black, brown, yellow, red, mixed—all are affected.
　
Churches can be mobilized to help. Strong suggests starting a small group for fathers in your church. "Keep it simple and make it fun." Church members can be taught to be mentors to the children in the church who lack a father in the home, much as Paul and Timothy’s relationship in the Bible. See 1 Corinthians and the Letters to Timothy in the New Testament.
　
Strong shares many practical tips on how to help the fatherless find "a healing path for their wounds." How to get started? "Begin. Be encouraged, connected, equipped, thankful, joyful, smart, tenacious, prayerful and, most of all, believe." Faith in God is required when working with the fatherless. You and your church can make a difference. Go ahead! Start now!
　
—Lois Sibley
　

Lent, Year C

Lent for Everyone, Luke, Year C continues N.T. Wright’s series on Lent, published by WestminsterJohnKnox (www.wjkbooks.com).
Author of many books, Wright is also Professor of New Testament at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
 　
Beginning our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday and concluding with Easter Saturday, Wright provides us with his own translation of the Gospel stories. He gently guides readers into each story as, watching, listening, and learning, we follow Jesus on his way.
　
The Contents page guides us to the portion of Luke and the verses we are focusing on each day. Sundays begin with an appropriate Psalm and the conclusion of Luke’s Gospel is followed by four portions of Acts that continue the story.
　
Each day we begin with the Gospel passage for the day. Then Wright jumps from the long ago culture described in Luke to our own culture, describing, comparing, appreciating and noting the differences and the similar happenings and attitudes. He reminds us that the Creator of the World promised that one day the world will be turned "the right way up at last." Now, in Luke, we read of tell-tale signs appearing, when an angel comes and talks to a young girl named Mary.
　
Wright assures us that "The whole of Luke’s Gospel is about the way in which the living God has planted, in Jesus, the seed of that long-awaited hope in the world. It begins with that tiny life in Mary’s womb." And it continues...
　
It’s fun to follow as Wright helps us join in, be part of each story, and "make it our own." He suggests we "pause and pray" about any messages we may get from time to time on our Lenten journey, and he provides a brief, sample prayer for each day.

---Lois Sibley
　

Ben, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Black History Month...

On January 1, 1863, 150 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. A five-page document, cherished by some, ignored by others, it was a surprise to a young slave, apprenticed to a tailor in Charleston, South Carolina. His father had taught him a few letters of the alphabet but he warned Ben not to let anyone know, as slaves were not allowed to read.
　
As Ben moved around the city on errands for his master, he looked at street signs and learned their names. In the market place, as he purchased items for his master’s wife, he knew the names that went with boxes of fruit and produce that she asked him to get for her. He thought that he could teach himself to read, so he did.
　
When Ben visited his mother on the plantation where she was a slave, she showed Ben a precious gold coin for which she had saved by doing extra jobs. She promised Ben he would have it when he learned to write. So he found scraps of paper, made a kind of watery ink, and practiced as he washed floors and windows, making letters and words and then washing them off before anyone noticed. And at Christmas, his mother gave him the gold coin.
　
But suddenly the Civil War came to Charleston. There were gray uniforms everywhere and many residents were fleeing, including the tailor to whom Ben was apprenticed. Ben was sent to live in a slave prison. Other slaves who knew he could read often begged him to read to them, and to teach them how to read. One night they woke Ben up, brought him a torch, and several pages of a newspaper. "Read it, read it," they begged. "President Lincoln wrote it," they said. Ben was surprised but he began to read. "Stand up." "Speak louder." And so he did. "All persons held as slaves...shall be thenceforward and forever free...." There was loud cheering all around him, but quiet comfort in Ben’s heart. He knew his mother would be proud of the way he read that night.
　
Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation is a true story, well-written by Pat Sherman and beautifully illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, http://www.eerdmans.com/youngreaders, this remains one of my favorite books.
 　
Sherman adds that Ben’s name was Benjamin C. Holmes. He later worked in Tennessee, where he was drafted into the Confederate Army. After the war, he held several jobs, then attended the new Fisk University in Nashville. He sang with Fisk’s Jubilee Singers and traveled with them in America and Europe. He died in the 1870s, possibly from tuberculosis. Ben is one of many men and women, boys and girls we remember during Black History Month.

---Lois Sibley

Here's a challenge...

You might like to try this: "Read the Bible in a Year." That’s the subtitle of a new book called The Bible Challenge, edited by Marek Zabriskie, and published by Forward Movement (www.forwardmovement.org) with promises to help you do that. Zabriskie is founder of The Bible Challenge and the Center for Biblical Studies, as well as rector of St. Thomas’ Church, Whitemarsh, Fort Washington, Pa.
 　
Zabriskie says you can start anytime, but he suggests starting on a Monday with Day 1, assuming readers will be in church on Sunday hearing the Scriptures for that day. He also says, "read slowly and meditatively, as if it were a love letter written by God especially to you."
　
More than 100 clergy and other Christian leaders were asked to join in the experience, each one providing three brief commentaries and meditations in a row, a question or two to think about, and a prayer. They do cover the whole Bible (every day except Sunday when we are in church), naming the sources each day from the Old Testament, the Psalms, and the New Testament. Keep your own Bible nearby so you can read the biblical stories along with the meditations.
　
Each of the contributors is named with his or her position and whereabouts around the world. They were encouraged to use their favorite translation of the Bible. The Foreword was written by the twenty-fifth Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, The Rt. Rev. Frank T. Griswold, who says that we learn in Hebrews 4:12 that "the word of God took the form not only of speech, it also ‘happened.’ It took the form of events and encounters, visions, and words heard with the ear of the heart." What can we do, but listen, and follow!
　
You may contact www.thecenterforbiblicalstudies.org for tips, schedules, resources, and ways to connect with other readers.
　
Zabriskie advises that readers "put yourself in the presence of God before you read any portion of the Bible." It sounds like a good plan. Let’s try it!
　
—Lois Sibley

Following the Path of Celtic Prayer

This blog began in mid-June 2012 as a way for me to continue reviewing religious books, as I had been doing for years and in various publications.
　
Now on nearly the last day of 2012, I want to tell you a little about Calvin Miller’s the path of CELTIC PRAYER, first published in 2007 but as of November 2012 available in paperback and well worth reading and thinking about (ivpress.com).
　
Miller is entranced by Celtic lore and the depth of Celtic spirituality and he shares what he has learned from their history and practice. His goal for this book is seen in the subtitle: An Ancient Way to Everyday Joy. He wants readers to see and know that, whether of praise or confession or whatever our prayers may be about, each day they bring us closer to God, and as with the Celts, "our hunger for Christ keeps us talking with God."
　
As Miller says, "For Celts, to know God was to talk to him as he is. When they sang or prayed or hunted or played, they did so in the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." Consistent adoration of the Trinity "filled their theologies, and the oneness of the Three permeated their art," and in fact, all they did and said and prayed. It’s amazing to see it in their words and their art, but it seems so right when we do see it.
　
In six chapters, Miller shares six ways of praying, calling them: Trinity Prayer, Scripture Prayer; Long, Wandering Prayer; Nature Prayer; Lorica Prayer (referring to the breastplate of protection described by Paul in Ephesians 6); and Confessional Prayer. He claims that "the Celtic embers of spirituality are catching fire all around us," as "the Celtic way stirs anew." Sounds to me like the right book to start the new year of 2013.
　

And a companion volume could be Miller’s Celtic Devotions, A Guide to Morning and Evening Prayer, also from InterVarsity Press. In this one, he offers 30 days of morning and evening prayer based on Psalm 119. He calls readers to be as pilgrims on a pilgrimage, making a journey "into the eternal presence of God." Each day includes a quote from the psalm as well as meditations and poems from Miller’s pen, and quotes from Celtic prayers and poems, especially from the Carmina Gadelica, a collection of early and traditional "Gaelic songs."
　
I count these two books a treasure, and maybe you will, too.

—Lois Sibley