12/10/2015 - Reflection for Thursday of the second week of Advent - Emily Dickinson - a poet in exile

      The people of Israel were in exile in Babylon for such a long time.  We can feel like we are in exile as well on our own journey of faith.  We might feel in exile during this holy season of Advent, trying to prepare for the coming of the Lord. Indeed, exile can occur in different ways in our lives.  It can be self-imposed.  It can be due to political and life circumstance.  It can be due to our physical or mental or spiritual health.

    Poetry sometimes speaks to us concerning certain aspects of our human condition that other words cannot touch. Today happens to be the birthday of the great American poet Emily Dickinson.  She was born on this day in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts.  We could say the Emily Dickinson lived a life in exile, but it would be difficult to say how much this was self-imposed or due to her health or the circumstance of her life.  It was probably a combination of all the above.  She was unrecognized as a writer and poet in her lifetime. Her family was not even aware of the poetry that she wrote.  She lived a reclusive life in her family’s homestead.  She filled notebooks with dozens of short poems and wrote hundreds of letters.  She is now considered one of the great figures of American literature and one of the greatest poets the world has ever seen, so striking and bold in its creativity. Her poetry is considered original and unique in form and in syntax.  Her poetry help set the stage for the creative and innovative American poetry that was to come. 

       Although Emily Dickinson spent a great deal of time caring for her invalid mother, scholars speculate as to whether her exile or reclusiveness was due to agoraphobia or anxiety or depression.  As we struggle through our own demons in life, may the journey of Emily Dickinson and her beautiful words of poetry give us encouragement and hope on our journey, just as this holy time of Advent is to give us encouragement and hope.