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Some keep the Sabbath going to the Church — by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886) Timeline Original Language English Secular or Eclectic Christian : Protestant 19th Century Some keep the Sabbath going to the 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.   1860   -- from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Thomas H. Johnson Amazon.com   / Photo by doug88888 /	Themes   Sound         Recommended Books American Triptych: Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, and Adrienne Rich, by Wendy Martin Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Mabel Loomis Todd / Edited by Thomas Wentworth Higginson The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Thomas H. Johnson Dickinson: Poems: Everyman's Pocket Library, by Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson and the Art of Belief: (Library of Religious Biography), by Roger Lundin More >>
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

I like the way Emily Dickinson talks about true worship being at home -- or within oneself -- rather than requiring church. She celebrates a worship that is simple, essential, direct.

For her, trees form the roof of her church ("an Orchard, for a Dome").

It is in her solitary moments and her private communions with nearby nature that Dickinson hears her sermons. She finds within this interior world that God preaches to her directly -- "a noted Clergyman" indeed!

I especially love the closing lines:

So instead of getting to Heaven, at last —
I'm going, all along.

The journey to heaven has become a part of her, it fills her entire world. It is not relegated to the future, but a continuous unfolding in the present.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.