EMILY DICKINSON
(Dec. 10, 1830 - May 15, 1886)
23
Emily Dickinson was a reclusive,
unknown poet who lived in the middle of the nineteenth century. She was
unpublished in her lifetime, preferring to wait for fame posthumously. Sure of
her own place in history to come, she waited for the world to discover the
beauty and wisdom of a master craftsman. Unhappy with the world’s imprisoned
word meanings, she needed but a simple lexicon to fashion her new gems, her
crystals of reflected word, glistening in light and color. Living only for
beauty, and only for truth, she haunts us today with eerily beautiful and
mysterious poetry from deep within her mind and soul.
All of the poems in this chapter are taken from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited
by Thomas Johnson, 1st copyright 1890. First we will look at Emily's prophecy
of her own death. This serves to establish her prophetic validity.
Emily Prophecies her own death
ED #24 There is
a morn by men unseen –
1858 Whose maids upon remoter
green
Keep their Seraphic May –
And all day long, with dance and game,
And gambol I may never name –
Employ their holiday.
Here to light measure, move the
feet
Which walk no more the
village street –
Nor by the wood are found
–
Here are the birds that
sought the sun
When last year’s distaff idle
hung
And summer’s brows were
bound.
Ne’er saw I such a
wondrous scene –
Ne’er such a ring
on such a green –
As if the stars
some summer night
Should swing their cups of
Chrysolite –
And revel till the day –
Like thee to dance – like
thee to sing –
People upon the mystic
green –
I ask, each May Morn.
I wait thy far, fantastic
bells –
Announcing me in other
dells –
Unto the different dawn!
This poem was written early in Emily’s career in 1858. The "maids upon remoter green" are angelic transports (seraphic) to the next world. Emily asks the seraphs "each new May morn" if they are ready to come and take her so that she can join them and play with them "all day long," with "dance and game." She asks these angels for passage to the next world "remoter green" each and "every new May morn" because she knows she is to die in May, but doesn’t know what year.
E.D. #50 I
haven’t told my garden yet –
1858 Lest that should
conquer me.
I haven’t quite
the strength now
To break it to
the Bee –
I will not name it in the street
For shops would
stare at me –
That one so shy
– so ignorant
Should have the
face to die.
The hillsides
must now know it –
Where I have
rambled so –
Nor tell the
loving forests
The day that I
shall go –
Nor lisp it at
the table –
heedless by the
way
Hint that within the Riddle
One will walk
today –
In #50, Emily doesn’t tell her "garden," the "Bee," the "hillsides," or the "forests" because the foreknowledge of her death is a secret, but she foretells that someone "will walk in" or solve the riddle someday. "The day that I shall go" is of course the day of her death.
E.D. #160 Just
lost, when I was saved!
1858 Just felt the world
go by!
Just girt me for
the onset with Eternity,
When breath blew
back,
And on the other
side
I heard recede
the disappointed tide!
Therefore, as
One returned, I feel
Odd
secrets of the line to tell!
Some Sailor,
skirting foreign shores –
Some pale Reporter, from the awful doors
Before the Seal!
Next time, to
stay!
Next time, the things to see
By Ear unheard,
Unscrutinized by Eye –
Next time, to
tarry,
While the Ages
steal –
Slow tramp the
Centuries,
And the Cycles
wheel!
Here, Emily goes to heaven, the place ‘where ear has not heard and eye has not seen what God has prepared (New Testament KJV Bible)’ for His children, just as Enoch and some other prophets have, to receive revelation about certain aspects of future history. Since Emily has wanted to go and stay in heaven, she is disappointed when she returns and feels lost when almost saved by being returned from heaven after having been taken there. After having received her revelation and returning she has "odd secrets of the line to tell!" She is a terrified at what she has seen (see #443 regarding Bomb) and thus is a "pale Reporter" of the events she has witnessed before the "Seal" of Revelation. She consoles herself because she knows that "next time" she goes to heaven, she will have died and will be able to "stay" for good, some May day.
E.D. #412 I
read my sentence – steadily –
1862 Reviewed it with my
eyes,
To see that I made no mistake
In its extremest clause –
The Date, and
manner, of the shame –
And then the
Pious form
That "God
have mercy" on the Soul
The Jury voted
Him –
I made my soul familiar – with her extremity
–
That at the
last, it should not be a novel Agony –
But she, and Death, acquainted –
Meet tranquilly, as friends –
Salute, and
pass, without a Hint –
And there, the
Matter ends –
In #412, Emily "reads her sentence," which is her death sentence. She reads it over and over to be sure of "the Date and manner" of her death which is seen as a "shame" to those of this life. She turns the experience over in her mind to "familiarize" her soul with death, which is the most "extreme" of circumstances. She becomes "acquainted" or comfortable with the idea of dying and she continues on, "tranquilly" turning to other things.
E.D. #443 I
tie my Hat – I crease my Shawl –
1862 Life’s little duties
do – precisely –
As the very
least
Were infinite – to me –
I put new
Blossoms in the Glass –
And throw the
old – away –
I push a petal
from my Gown
That anchored
there – I weigh
The time ’twill be till six o’clock
I have so much
to do –
And yet –
Existence – some way back –
Stopped – struck
– my ticking – through –
We cannot put
Ourself away
As a completed
Man
Or Woman – When
the Errand’s done
We came to Flesh
– upon –
There may be –
Miles on Miles of Nought –
Of Action – sicker far –
To simulate – is
stinging work
To cover what we
are
From Science –
and from Surgery –
Too Telescopic
Eyes
To bear on us unshaded –
For their – sake
– not for Ours –
’Twould start them –
We – could
tremble –
But since we got
a Bomb –
And held it in
our Bosom –
Nay – Hold it –
it is calm –
Therefore – we
do life’s labor –
Though life’s
Reward – be done –
With scrupulous exactness –
To hold our Senses – on –
In #443, Emily stands in front of a mirror exactly "tying her hat" and "creasing her shawl" to distract herself from the terror of her revelation and to keep busy because "life’s Reward," her poetry and prophecy, are now completed. She weighs the "time ’twill be till six o’clock" because that will be the hour of her death for which she will wait patiently, as her primary service to God "her Errand" which "she came to Flesh upon" is complete. She understands that between "errands" there is a lot of waiting and occupying of oneself during "Miles on Miles of Nought." She feels she has to pretend or "simulate" to "cover what" she is because she knows that the worldly and dissecting eyes of scientists and doctors (surgery) would be startled and shaken (’Twould start them) by the spiritual realities with which she has lived her life. And she doesn’t want to disturb their restricted, overly skeptical world view when that same world possesses "a Bomb," nuclear implied, we can guess. (discussed later)
E.D. #1422
Summer has two Beginnings –
1877 Beginning once in
June –
Beginning in
October
Affectingly
again –
Without,
perhaps, the Riot
But graphicker
for Grace –
As finer is a
going
Than a remaining
Face –
Departing then –
forever –
Forever – until
May –
Forever is deciduous –
Except to those
who die –
In #1422, Emily states that summer has two beginnings "once in June" in the northern hemisphere and once in October in the southern hemisphere. She then reflects that summer’s grace is best appreciated in its leaving, rather than its coming. She then switches gears to human life and death, and decides that death is finer than her remaining errand-less life, she is just "a remaining face" that endures until a future May takes her in death forever to where there are no "deciduous" cycles of birth and decay, just ever expanding realms of infinity.
E.D. #1737
Rearrange a "Wife’s" affection!
When they
dislocate my Brain!
Amputate my
freckled bosom!
Make me bearded
like a man!
Blush, my
spirit, in thy Fastness –
Blush, my unacknowledged clay –
Seven years of
troth have taught thee
More than
Wifehood ever may!
Love that never
leaped its socket –
Trust entrenched
in narrow pain –
Constancy thro’
fire – awarded –
Anguish – bare
of anodyne!
Burden – borne
so far triumphant –
None suspect me
of the crown,
For I wear the
"Thorns" till Sunset –
Then – my Diadem
put on.
Big my
Secret but it’s bandaged –
It will never
get away
Till the Day its
Weary Keeper
Leads it through
the Grave to thee.
In #1737, Emily describes her loneliness and lack of human recognition (‘unacknowledged clay’) during her life of self-sacrifice in the flesh. Her "errand" is a lonely "burden borne so far triumphant." "None suspect" her of her "crown" of chosen-ness to do God’s most important work. Like the great Prophets of Old, the glorious crown feels sometimes like Jesus’ painful crown, of sacrificial "Thorns." Notice, Emily wears her crown of thorns till sunset, which will accompany her death sometime in May at 6 o’clock pm as noted previously. Her "secret" ministry is bandaged because it has caused a wound that cannot be shown to anyone yet and so it is "bandaged" to conceal itself. Her secret is "Big" and she vows to never let it get away "until the Day its Weary Keeper," "leads it through the Grave to" an unspecified "Thee," the reader, we presume.
We will soon discuss some of her "Big" secrets hidden in her poetry. The following quote is from her brother’s (Austin) diary on the day of her death. Unaware of Emily’s "secrets," and her private poetry, Austin writes of Emily’s death:
May 15, 1886
"The day was awful. She ceased to
breathe
that terrible breathing just
before
the whistles sounded for six"
(Quote from Richard B. Sewell’s,
The Life
of Emily Dickinson.)
One can be quite sure that the sun was setting when Emily died at 6 p.m. on May 15, 1886. Note that Emily prophesied the month and hour of her death in poems written nearly thirty years (1858) prior to the event. This is a demonstration of the validity of her prophetic revelations so that we know we can trust her other specific revelations.
Emily’s Errand
Emily tells us in her poetry that she has a special "errand" to do. The following poems shed some light on this concept.
E.D. #85
"They have not chosen me," he said,
1859 "But I have
chosen them!"
Brave – Broken
hearted statement –
Uttered in Bethlehem!
I could not have
told it,
But since Jesus
dared –
Sovereign! Know a Daisy
Thy dishonor
shared!
From somewhere, Emily (Daisy) gets the information that Jesus chose his life’s mission for himself, rather than having it been chosen for him by somebody else. Emily says she "could not have told" this truth, which applies to herself as well, unless Jesus "dared" to say it first to lead the way. Chosen and elect are nearly the same word meaning and throughout scripture are symbolized by the wearing of a "crown" as it is here in Emily’s circumstance as well. God’s royalty is nothing like man’s royalty though, for the "greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is servant of all" and it is "the meek who will inherit the earth." Also note that Emily refers to Jesus as Sovereign, the very same unique title that the Urantia Book uses.
E.D. #356 The
Day that I was crowned
1862 Was like the
other Days –
Until the
Coronation came –
And then –
’t'was Otherwise –
As Carbon in the
Coal
And Carbon in
the Gem
Are One – and
yet the former
Were dull for
Diadem –
I rose, and all
was plain –
But when the Day
declined
Myself and It,
in Majesty
Were equally –
adorned –
The Grace that I
– was chose –
To Me –
surpassed the Crown
That was the
Witness for the Grace –
’ Twas even that
’t'was Mine –
Before going any further, lets examine the use of the word "crown" within scripture.
Genesis 49:26 The blessing of thy father have prevailed
above the blessings of my
progenitors unto
the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: shall be on the
head of Joseph,
and on the crown of the head of him
that was separate
from his
brethren. (Joseph separates and goes to Egypt ahead of the rest of
his family the
tribe of Jacob; see Genesis) (KJV)
Leviticus 8:9
And he (Moses) put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even
upon did he put
the golden plate, the holy crown; as
the LORD
commanded Moses.
Isaiah 28:5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be
for a crown of glory, and for a
diadem of
beauty, unto the residue of his people...(the remnants)
Mark.15:17 And
they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown
of thorns, and put
it about his (Jesus’) head, (KJV)
1Peter 5:4 And
when the chief Shepherd shall appear,
ye shall receive a crown of
glory that
fadeth not away. (The chief Shepherd Melchizedek crowns
those who elect to do God’s will.) (KJV)
Revelation 3:11
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take
thy crown. (KJV)
Revelation 6:2 And
I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow;
and a crown was given unto him: and he went
forth conquering, and to
conquer. (Melchizedek wears a crown and is called the Elect
One on
Enoch as well.)
Revelation 14:14
having on his head a golden crown,
and in his hand a sharp sickle. (Again,
Melchizedek the
reaper of the harvest) (KJV)
Wisdom 5:16
Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown
from the
Lord’s hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and
with his arm
shall he protect them. (KJV)
The crown symbolizes those whom elect and
choose God’s Way as their own. Royalty in the Kingdom of heaven translates
into suffering and persecution in the upside down world, the kingdom of men.
All who elect God’s will must be servants of all. Lets now return to the discussion
of Emily’s Errand again.
In #356, Emily receives her crown. She has been chosen for a task of
great importance to the development of the kingdom of heaven; on earth and in
the heart. Her poetry teaches about, and reveals in beauty, the kingdom of
heaven within. In addition, she carries some explicit information regarding
events of the latter days, but more about her Errand first:
E.D. #528 Mine
– by the Right of the White Election!
1862 Mine – by the Royal
Seal!
Mine – by the Sign in the Scarlet prison –
Bars – Cannot
conceal!
Mine – here – in
vision – and in Veto!
Mine – by the
Grave’s Repeal –
Titled
–Confirmed –
Delirious
Charter!
Mine – long as
Ages steal!
Here, Emily exults about her "White Election" to perform God’s service. Emily was a "contact personality," as defined in the Urantia Book, as would all the major prophets and servants. A contact personality is a selected human being who has more or less direct contact with the divine kingdom of heaven and who is given a special task to complete.
E.D. #535
She’s happy, with a new Content –
1862 That feels to her –
like Sacrament –
She’s busy –
with an altered Care –
As just
apprenticed to the Air –
She’s tearful –
if she weep at all –
For blissful Causes – Most of all
That Heaven
permit so meek as her –
To such a Fate –
to Minister.
Emily is blissful because "Heaven" has permitted her to minister to the "Fate" of all mankind.
E.D. #635 Then
I – my timid service done –
1862 Tho’ service ’twas,
of Love –
Take up my
little Violin –
And further
North – remove.
The last stanza of #635 (above) refers to her "service" which was "timid" because of the lack of danger to herself, as contrasted with others before her, most notably the Son of Man, the apostles, and the Prophets many of whom gave up their lives in service to God. "Further North" is heaven of course.
E.D. #842 Good
to hide, and hear ’em hunt!
1864 Better, to be found,
If one care to,
that is,
The Fox fits the
Hound –
Good to know,
and not tell,
Best, to know and tell,
Can one find the
rare Ear
–Not too dull
In #842, Emily again brings up the subject of her secrets that wait for the "rare Ear, Not too dull" to unravel. Lets now look at some Urantia Book concepts found in Emily Dickinson’s poems.
Urantia Book Concepts found in Emily Dickinson
Prayer and Worship
E.D. #564 My
period had come for Prayer –
1862 No other Art – would
do –
My tactics
missed a rudiment –
Creator – Was it
you?
God grows above
– so those who pray
Horizons – must
ascend –
And so I stepped
upon the North
To see this Curious Friend –
His House was
not – no sign had He –
By Chimney – nor
by Door
Could I infer
his Residence –
Vast Prairies of
Air
Unbroken by a Settler –
Were all that I
could see –
Infinitude –
Had’st Thou no Face
That I might
look on Thee?
The Silence
condescended –
Creation stopped – for Me –
But awed beyond
my errand –
I worshipped – did not "pray’ –
In #564, Emily
"ascends" into God’s "vast prairies" of
"infinitude" to pray, but "awed beyond her errand" she
leaves her personal concerns behind and instead worships God in silent inner
communion. The distinction between prayer and worship is very clear here. Prayer asks for something conceived of
in the mind. Worship transcends mind,
has no requests, and opens into the infinitude of God’s Joy. This distinction
between prayer and worship is an Urantia
Book concept that I have not seen elsewhere, other than Emily.
Despite her status, as symbolized
by her crown, Emily constantly worries if she’s good enough to do her task and
live up to God’s trust in her.
E.D. #751 My
Worthiness is all my Doubt –
1863 His Merit – all my
fear –
Contrasting
which, my quality
Do lowlier –
appear –
Lest I should
insufficient prove
For His beloved
Need –
The Chiefest
Apprehension
Upon my
thronging Mind –
Emily questions
her worthiness throughout her poetry. Poverty to Emily is living without the
experience of God, the kingdom of heaven within, and not lack of material
wealth. She tells us that without this unsurpassable
experience, "being is beggary." (Poem #119)
Emily had some unusual encounters
during her life, which she discloses in her poetry, knowing that her real
experiences would be taken figuratively, rather than literally, as they truly
are.
Consider her poems related to
angels:
Angels
E.D. #17
Baffled for just a day or two –
1858 Embarrassed – not
afraid –
Encounter in my
garden
An unexpected Maid.
She beckons,
and the woods start –
She nods, and
all begin –
Surely,
such a country
I was never in!
Emily "encounters" an "unexpected Maid," perhaps an angel, in her garden. Baffled and embarrassed at first, she tells us that this is a very unusual "country that she was never in before."
E.D.#248 Why
– do they shut Me out of Heaven?
1861 Did I sing – too
loud?
But – I can say
a little "Minor"
Timid as a Bird!
Wouldn’t the Angels try me –
Just – once –
more –
Just – see – if
I troubled them –
But don’t – shut
the door!
Oh, if I – were
the Gentleman
In the
"White Robe" –
And they – were
the little Hand – that knocked –
Could – I –
forbid?
Emily’s glimpse of "Heaven" is all too short. The "angels" and the "Gentleman in the white robe" (? Ancient of Days) leave her behind to complete her mission and live out her life. Emily remembers this real event with real bitterness and feels as if she has been shut out of the place she most wants to be.
E.D. #256 If
I’m lost – now
1861 That I was found –
Shall still my transport be –
That once – on
me – those Jasper Gates
Blazed open –
suddenly –
That in my
awkward – gazing – face –
The Angels
– softly peered –
And touched me
with their fleeces,
Almost as if
they cared –
I’m banished –
now – you know it –
How foreign that
can be –
You’ll know – Sir – when the Savior’s face
Turns so – away
from you –
Emily again bitterly speaks about being left behind from heaven where "angels peered" into her "gazing face." Notice the word "transport" used in conjunction with angels again. This association occurs repeatedly throughout her poetry and brings to mind the "transport seraphim" of the Urantia Book who are angels used for the transport of non-physical beings such as an immortal soul following death.
E.D. #298
Alone, I cannot be –
1861 For Hosts – do visit me –
Recordless
Company –
Who baffle Key –
They have no
Robes, nor Names –
No Almanacs – nor climes –
But general
Homes
Like Gnomes –
Their Coming,
may be known
By Couriers within –
Their going
– is not –
For they’re
never gone –
Emily is aware of "Hosts," which are angels, that visit her, and which are known by "courier’s within." The Urantia Book tells us that the angels lead us by "inner urges" and that the thought adjuster (indwelling spirit) guides us through the inner, intuitive mode opened up by faith and the wholehearted desire to follow God’s will. Emily knows she is never alone despite outward appearances.
E.D. #374 I
went to Heaven –
1862 ’Twas a small Town –
Lit – with a
Ruby –
Lathed – with
Down –
Stiller – than
the fields
At the full Dew
–
Beautiful – as
Pictures –
No Man drew.
People – like
the Moth –
Of Mechlin –
frames –
Duties – of
Gossamer –
And Eider –
names –
Almost – contented
–
I – could be –
’Mong such
unique
Society –
Again, one can take this "going to heaven" literally or figuratively. Too many prophets have described this same experience in the same way as Emily not to give pause, especially in light of Emily’s successful prophecy of her own death and her deeply insightful poetry about the inner workings of the kingdom of heaven; not to mention her accurate prophecies of nuclear weapons still to be examined.
E.D. #1096 These
Strangers, in a foreign World,
1866 Protection asked of
me –
Befriend them,
lest yourself in Heaven
Be found a
Refugee –
Emily protects the "strangers" by keeping their existence secret, although none would believe her anyway.
E.D. #1360 I
sued the News – yet feared – the News
1876 That such a Realm
could be –
"The House
not made with Hands" it was –
Thrown open wide to me –
That such a "realm could be" will upset and overthrow the mind set of many people on this backward and darkened world. Light too strong blinds us, whereas lower intensities illuminate the darkness.
E.D. #2 There is another sky,
1850 Ever serene and
fair,
And there is
another sunshine,
Though it be
darkness there;
Never mind faded
forests, Austin, (her brother)
Never mind silent fields –
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a
frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the
bright bee hum;
Prithee, my
brother,
Into my garden
come!
The "other
sky," "other sunshine," and "other forest," where
flowers never fade is the eternal and
very real Kingdom of heaven of course.
Let’s now look at a few more
"transport" poems before moving ahead to Emily’s specific prophesied
events. First some information from the Urantia
Book about a certain type of angel called:
UB 430 The Transporters. All groups of
ministering spirits have their transport
corps, angelic orders dedicated to the ministry of
transporting those
personalities
(non-physical) who are unable, of themselves, to journey
from one sphere
to another.
UB 438
there are a large number of such seraphim stationed on Urantia (Earth)
(not
visible to human
eyes of course)
Now, for the "transport" poems:
Angelic Transport
E.D. # 984 ’Tis
Anguish grander than Delight
1865 ’Tis Resurrection
Pain –
The meeting
Bands of smitten Face
We questioned
to, again.
“Tis Transport wild
as thrills the Graves
When Cerements
let go
And Creatures clad in Miracle
Go up by Two
and Two.
This poem #984,
explicitly speaks about "resurrection" when "Transport"
from graves (cerements) by "Creatures clad in Miracle, Go up by Two and
Two." This poem is describing angelic transport upon mortal death. "Creatures clad in Miracle" are
angels.
E.D. #1483 The Robin is a Gabriel
1879 In humble circumstances –
His Dress
denotes him socially,
Of Transport’s Working Classes –
He has the
punctuality
Of the New
England Farmer –
The same oblique integrity,
A Vista vastly
warmer –
Translating,
Emily tells us that the word Robin is used to denote an angel, like Gabriel,
except that Gabriel is a high-level archangel unlike Emily’s Robin, which is a
plain, lowly, working class angel of a lower order that are known as
"transport seraphim" (see UB quote above) in the Urantia Book and are used to transport non-physical beings from one
planet or system to another. Birds are
used by Emily as code words to describe different types of non-material beings.
The Urantia Book and Emily Dickinson
mutually reinforce each other’s validity. Emily wrote a hundred years prior to
the publication of The Urantia Book in
1955. These parallel concepts require explanation.
Other concepts found in the Urantia Book such as the thought
adjuster, the indwelling spirit within (discussed previously), the Apostles’
error, transport seraphim, spiritual growth, individual will and many others
are generously scattered among her work. This is because the source of both the
Urantia Book and Emily’s experiences are the same; namely the divine world of
the Kingdom of heaven. Revealed religion is unified because it comes from a
common source – the divine world. Here are a few more Urantia Book related poems about the Thought Adjuster which is the
name given to the indwelling spirit of man that is given us by God. The Thought
Adjuster is a fragment of infinity bestowed
by God upon all men and women. Since God puts a spiritual piece of himself inside each human being, He is our spiritual Father and we are his spiritual sons and daughters. This is
exactly analogous to the biologic father and mother who give a biologic-genetic piece of themselves to
their biologic children. This spirit
fragment is the foundation for the living spiritual connection between God and
man. God is in us and we are in Him. By nature of this living spiritual connection, God "becomes what we are, to make
us what He is." Each of us are a potentially part of the divine circuit of
energy which pours forth from God, out through his sons and daughters, and into
the lives they lead and the people they touch. And what goes out from the
Source of love, returns in the end through praise, transforming our hearts and
our minds in the process. This new heart and new mind lies dormant within every
man and every woman, awaiting the day they wholeheartedly choose and desire to
be led by God from within. When the self yields sovereignty to the spirit, the
process of new inner growth begins. Most importantly, it is our will that
decides and chooses between: self or other, anger or forgiveness, hate or love.
The will is the ultimate determining factor in all of man’s existence. Next
Urantia Book concept:
The human will
E.D. #803 The Distance was between Us
That is not of
Mile or Main –
The Will it is
that situates –
Equator – never
can –
Absolute love requires absolute freedom. God must wait at the door of the Kingdom of heaven within until we knock and truly desire to enter. When we seek Him with our whole heart and our whole mind and our whole soul there is nothing that can stop the circuit closing between man and God. His divine energy (love) pours over, around, and through us, filling our cup; hollowed out with suffering; but now hallowed with overflowing joy.
Spiritual Joy
E.D. #383
Exhilaration – is within –
1st of 3 There can No
Outer Wine
stanzas So royally intoxicate
As that diviner
Brand.
E.D. #756 A
perfect – paralyzing Bliss – …
lines 7,9,10, I knew no more of Want
– or Cold –
11,12 Phantasms both
become
For this new
Value in the Soul –
Supremest Earthly Sum –
E.D. #1640 Take
all away from me, but leave Ecstasy,
And I am
richer then than all my Fellow Men –
Will it become
me to dwell so wealthily
When at my very Door are those possessing more,
In abject
poverty –
E.D. #362 It
struck me – every Day –
The lightning was as new
As if The
Cloud that instant slit
And let the Fire through –
It burned Me – in the Night –
It Blistered to My Dream –
It sickened
fresh upon my sight –
With every Morn
that came –
I thought that 5
turns – was brief –
The Maddest –
quickest by –
But Nature lost
the Date of This –
And left it in
the Sky.
Emily speaks above about the pinnacle of all human experience – the experience of divine ecstasy upon the ‘anointment with the spirit’ by God. God ‘puts His spirit upon’ His servants and prophets in order to ‘put understanding in their hearts and minds.’ (see Isaiah 42:1, Behold my servant...) This annointment empowers His servants to carry out their appointed tasks. Emily calls this anointment of the spirit her coronation during which she receives her crown. This ties in with the crown worn by those who elect God’s will discussed elsewhere.
Our magazines decry physical ecstasy, but that is a poor beggar compared to spiritual joy. The Urantia Book tells us further about personal spiritual experience:
UB 1621 Worship is salvation for the pleasure – seeking generation
UB 1641 Worship is a transforming experience whereby the finite gradually
approaches and
ultimately attains the presence of the Infinite
UB 1616 Worship is the act of the son’s personal communion with the divine Father
Without the indwelling spirit/Thought Adjuster there would be no spiritual connection between man and God because:
UB 2094 only the spirit – indwelt mind can
realize the divine presence and seek to
attain a fuller
experience in and with this foretaste divinity.
And unless we think that communion
and worship gives joy to man only:
UB 305 What
a Fruition of the external plan and purpose of God that the
intelligent love
of the creature child should give full satisfaction to the
infinite love of
the Creator Father
.
(To understand this, we need only remember the joy that we receive from
the love of our
physical children. God is first and
foremost a loving
Parent.)
And finally we have:
UB 303
Worship is the highest privilege and
first duty of all
created
intelligences.
UB 998 When
the worship urge is admonished and direct by wisdom…it
begins to
develop into the phenomenon of real religion.
First hand
spiritual experience is what we lack and what we need most of all. It is only as far away as was Kansas in the
Wizard of Oz; just as far as our hearts desire. "Ask and you shall
receive." "Search and you
shall find." "Behold, all
things are becoming new."
The spirit fragment or Thought
Adjuster acts as a guide showing us "the way" if we only so
desire. The mind which chooses becomes
progressively attuned to God’s will or way, which is the way of truth, the way of beauty, and the way of goodness:
each in all and all in each – fused in the triune experience of living
joy. Our minds are adjusted, by right of our desire, to connect the dots between what
we are and what God would have us to become.
And our Father encourages our spiritual striving; saying, "Become
perfect, even as I Am perfect." Perfect not in mind, thought, or deed but
perfect in love; our lives a fount of blessings to all those we meet. St.
Francis said it best, "Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace."
In Emily’s poems she makes
analogies between the outer and inner states to talk about the inner, spiritual
world – "the Kingdom of heaven within." And so, darkness is absence
of light for our physical eyes, as well as the absence of understanding from
our minds, and the absence of joy for our souls. She speaks from three levels
of reality all at once, creating confusion unless we separate her meanings out
on the levels of physical, mental, and spiritual as we are so well taught by
the Urantia Book. .Now we will
examine Emily’s poems about the indwelling spirit given to man by God and
referred to as the thought adjuster in the Urantia
Book.
Thought Adjuster
E.D. #45
There’s something quieter than sleep
1858 Within this inner room!
It wears a sprig
upon its breast –
And will not
tell its name.
E.D. #419 We
grow accustomed to the Dark –
1862 When Light is put
away –
As when the
Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her
Goodbye –
A Moment – We
uncertain step
For newness of
the night –
Then – fit our
Vision to the Dark –
And meet the
Road – erect –
And so of Larger
– Darknesses –
Those Evenings of the Brain –
When not a Moon disclose a sign –
Or Star – come
out – within –
The Bravest –
grope a little –
And sometimes
hit a Tree
Directly in the
Forehead –
But as they
learn to see –
Either the
Darkness alters –
Or something in the sight
Adjusts itself
to Midnight –
And Life steps
almost straight.
Poem #45
describes something that is "quieter than sleep" within the inner
room of consciousness that "will not tell its name" because the
thought adjuster is that silent, "little
voice within." We have all had
the repeated experience of listening or not listening to that "little
voice within" which is always accurate. It is always accurate because it
is the spirit fragment from God Himself. The real goal of human existence is
learning to hear and follow that voice as much as we are possibly able. We stop
listening when we don’t want to comply with the guidance, therefore we assert
our will over His and lose the connection. Other times we are afraid of
repercussions (which there will surely be) that we don’t want to face. Faith or
trust in God is always the answer. Soon
we see, if we give it a chance, that all
things do work to the good for those who love and follow God. This way is
the true way and is the entire sum of
God’s religion; the message of Jesus, the Kingdom of heaven within. Man’s
religions are best evaluated by the extent that they connect the real person to
the real God: the God of truth, the God of beauty, the God of goodness, and the
God of love. This God has been progressively revealed to the minds and hearts
of man through Melchizedek, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the Prophets, and
most recently Jesus of Nazareth. This
is a progressive, evolutionary process that
does not stop and sit still. Progressive revelation has been, is, and will
forever be an ongoing process; as the
Infinite becomes progressively grasped by the finite. We are not meant to put the truths given us into a hole in the
ground to keep it safe and untouched. Like the wise servant of the parable, we
are expected to make gain from what we are given. If we are not growing on the vine, then we are dying on the vine.
There is no standing still in the Kingdom of heaven – if we do not bear the fruits of the spirit, then we are not of
the spirit. We can not praise God with our lips but leave Him out of our lives
if we do not act on what we know. Some fruits of the spirit are love, wisdom,
forbearance, faithfulness, loyalty, perseverance, and humility.
Poem #419 contrasts the outer world
of vision adjusting to darkness to the inner spiritual world of darkness where
consciousness "gropes" to find the inner leading of the indwelling
thought adjuster, which makes "life step almost straight" when we
allow ourselves to be guided by it. The word adjust and adjusted is used in
this same context several other times in Emily’s poetry and suggests a
knowledge of the thought adjuster’s function that is consistent with the
teachings of the Urantia Book once
again.
UB 76 The
indwelling Father fragment adjusts the human mind to
progressively
divine attitudes.
E.D. #532 From
the belief that Somewhere –
1862 Within the Clutch of Thought –
There dwells one
other Creature
Of Heavenly Love
– forgot –
Above, only the
third stanza of five is given. What "creature" of "Heavenly
Love" is within our "Clutch of Thought?" The thought adjuster of course. The "creature" is forgotten
because spiritual truths have been lost and covered up on our world.
E.D. #670 One need not be a
Chamber – to be Haunted –
1863 One need not be a
House –
The Brain has
Corridors – surpassing
Material Place –
Far safer, of a
Midnight Meeting
External Ghost
Than its interior Confronting –
That Cooler Host.
Far safer,
through an Abbey gallop,
The Stones
a’chase –
Than unarmed,
one’s other-self encounter –
In lonesome
Place –
Ourself behind
ourself, concealed –
Should startle
most –
Assassin hid in our Apartment
Be Horror’s least.
The Body –
borrows a Revolver –
He bolts the
Door –
O’erlooking a superior spectre –
Or More –
Here the spirit
within is compared with the notion of an outside spirit or ghost. The "brain" or mind houses a
"superior spectre" or "Cooler Host," the divine spirit
within, which the unsuspecting material self startles at, upon its discovery
within consciousness. This divine "Host" within is an
"assassin" because the material self must die to itself to obtain
values of the divine self. The material self willingly subordinates its previously central position, in essence
laying down its life to allow for a new life in the spirit of God’s
transforming grace. We "let go" to "let Him in." But by losing the dominance of the material
self we gain our life in the spirit and the choosing mind has finally found its Way to eternity. This
paradox has been perfectly expressed, long ago, by the Son of man, Master of
men: "He that loveth his life
shall lose it; and he that would give his life for this gospel shall gain
it." "Except as a grain of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it bringeth forth no fruit."
Comically in #670, the
"Body" or material self tries to lock out the spiritual self within
by "bolting a door" while being overwatched, unobserved by the
spiritual self, the "superior spectre" that dwells within and not on
the outside. I’m afraid there is no
locking this ghost out.
E.D. #911 Too
little way the House must lie
1864 From every Human
Heart
That holds in
undisputed Lease
A white inhabitant –
E.D. #1286 I
thought that nature was enough
1873 Till Human nature came
But that the
other did absorb
As Parallax a
Flame –
Of Human nature
just aware
There added the
Divine
Brief struggle for capacity
The power to
contain
In #911, the
"white inhabitant" is the thought adjuster who has been bestowed,
with an undisputed lease from the Maker.
In #2386, human and divine (Thought
Adjuster) nature struggle for sovereignty of the self.
Unquestionably, Emily has a clear
understanding of the function, origin, and destiny of the "divine Host
within," "the white inhabitant," the "Creature of Heavenly
Love," "within the clutch of thought," of "Heavenly Love –
forgot." Next we turn to:
The apostles’ error
E.D. #1681
Speech is one symptom of Affection
And Silence one –
The perfectest communication
Is heard of none
–
Exists and its indorsement
Is had within –
Behold, said the
Apostle,
Yet had not
seen!
The above poem fits in nicely with:
John 10:1 I
Assure you, most solemnly I tell you, he who does not enter by
the door into
the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way is a
thief and a
robber.
John 10:2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
John 10:6
Jesus used these parable with them, but they did not understand
what He was
talking about.
Emily starts this poem #1681 discussing the kingdom of heaven within, with reference to "the perfectest communication" within between the thought adjuster and the human self. This communication "exists and is had within" our being. The Apostle says "Behold" although he had not grasped the reality of "the kingdom of heaven" within. Therefore he inaugurates a new message about the risen Christ. How could Emily have grasped this in the nineteenth century? And now, the Urantia Book tells us that the errors of the Apostles must be corrected. Who is prepared to do this? Who is capable of doing this? Who has personally experienced the meaning of the kingdom of heaven, as well as understood the nature of the Apostle’s error?
Apostle’s Error
UB 2059 These
men (the apostles) had been trained and instructed that the
gospel which
they should preach was the fatherhood of God and the
sonship of man, but
at just this moment of spiritual ecstasy and
personal
triumph, the best tidings, the greatest news, these men
could think of
was the fact of the risen Master. And so they went
forth, endowed
with power from on high, preaching glad tidings to
the people --
even salvation through Jesus -- but they
unintentionally
stumbled into the error of substituting some of the
facts associated
with the gospel for the gospel message itself.
The gospel of
the kingdom is: the fact of the fatherhood of
God, coupled
with the resultant truth of the sonship-
brotherhood of
men.
Next, The Urantia Book states:
The Refinement of Man
UB 100 The
universe of your origin is being forged out
between the
anvil of justice and the hammer of suffering; but those who
wield the hammer
are the children of mercy, the spirit offspring
of the Infinite
Spirit.
Emily Dickinson writes:
E.D. #365 Dare
you see a Soul at the White Heat?
1862 Then crouch within
the door –
Red – is the
Fire’s common tint –
But when the
vivid Ore
Has vanquished
Flame’s conditions,|
It quivers from
the Forge
Without a
color, but the light
Of unannointed
Blaze.
Least Village
has its Blacksmith
Whose Anvil’s even ring
Stands symbol
for the finer Forge
That
soundless tugs – within –
Refining
these impatient Ores
With Hammer, and with Blaze
Until the
Designated Light
Repudiate the Forge
–
There could be
no more beautiful expression about the process of inner molding and refining
that we undergo during our lives. Our Father, numbers the hairs on our head –
and searches through ceaseless night for the first light of new consciousness –
a son for his Father. Next, consider the following poem:
The Zones of Paradise
E.D. # 871 The
Sun and Moon must make their haste –
1864 The Stars express
around
For in the Zones of Paradise
The Lord
alone is burned –
His Eye, it is
the East and West –
The North and
South when He
Do concentrate
His Countenance
Like Glow Worms, flee away –
Oh Poor and Far
–
Oh Hindered Eye
That hunted for
the Day –
The Lord a
Candle entertains
Entirely for Thee
–
Those familiar
with the Urantia Book will
immediately note the expression "Zones
of Paradise." This is the exact terminology used in The Urantia Book and
found nowhere else as far as I am aware. Is this just a coincidence or perhaps
something more? The quotes below about
Paradise tell us that:
UB 120 The
Holy Area, the outlying or residential region is divided into seven
concentric
zones…these seven zones are often designated "the Father’s
Paradise mansions."
UB 122 …in
the central portion of nether Paradise, is the unknown and unrevealed
Zone of Infinity.
These are but a
few references, among many more, regarding the zones of Paradise in the Urantia
Book. Again, Emily and The Urantia Book match
up because they both have the same source of revelation, the Kingdom of heaven
itself.
Next, we move on to a more
disturbing subject. A subject which was unknown to anyone in the nineteenth
century because it had not yet been discovered. But, by now that should not
really surprise us. We have already seen in our recent discussion of poem #443,
that Emily is upset that she has to "do life’s labor," with
scrupulous exactness, just to hold her "senses on" because otherwise:
The Nuclear Bomb
E.D. #443
’T'would start them –
1862 We – could tremble –
2 stanzas But since we got a Bomb –
only And held it in
our Bosom –
Nay – Hold it –
it is calm –
Therefore – we
do life’s labor –
Though life’s
Reward – be done –
With scrupulous exactness –
To hold our
Senses – on –
This "Bomb" is The Bomb, first used about ten years before the Urantia Book was published, at the end of the Second World War, close to the time the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Further in evidence we have:
E.D. #591 To
interrupt His Yellow Plan
1862 The Sun does not
allow
Caprices of the
Atmosphere –
And even when
the Snow
Heaves Balls of
Specks, like a Vicious Boy
Directly in His
Eye –
Does not so much
as turn His Head
Busy with
Majesty –
’Tis His to
stimulate the Earth –
And magnetize
the Sea –
And bind
Astronomy, in place,
Yet Any passing by
Would deem
ourselves – the busier
As the Minutest
Bee
That rides – emits a Thunder –
A Bomb – to
justify –
Here Emily starts out by discussing the majestic power of the sun compared to the mundane, relatively powerless events that occur on the earth. She then takes the position of an outside observer (of both the Sun and the earth) whose eye is caught by our (earth) on which people are "busy Bees" making something that rides, emits a Thunder, and has a Bomb. The bomb unfortunately is the "justification" or reason for being of this clearly described missile with its payload. The Sun is used to suggest the nuclear forces that are at work in both the sun and the Bomb. The sun and the Bomb are both powered by nuclear fusion reactions. The Bomb passage is unexpected and sudden in appearance within the poem, just as the Bomb itself is sudden and unexpected when it is detonated over people. The capitalization of Bomb suggests that this is no ordinary explosive device.
E.D. #600 It
troubled me as once I was –
1862 For I was once a
Child –
Concluding how
an Atom – fell –
And yet the
Heavens – held –
Emily is troubled when she is first shown how an "Atom" (bomb) falls and explodes. She finds it difficult to understand how the "Heavens held" in the face of its awesome power.
E.D. #1128 These
are the Nights that Beetles love-
1868 From Eminence remote
Drives ponderous perpendicular
His figure
intimate
The terror of the Children
The merriment of men
Depositing his Thunder
He hoists
abroad again –
A Bomb upon the Ceiling
Is an improving
thing –
It keeps the
nerves progressive
Conjecture
flourishing –
Too dear the
Summer evening
Without discreet
alarm
Supplied by
Entomology
With its remaining charm –
Emily, in #1128, paints a visual picture of "merry men" depositing "Bombs" which explode with "Thunder." The pilot "hoists abroad again" his airplane after "depositing his thunder" to return home and to avoid the effects of the blast. Again, such a possibility "keeps the nerves progressive" wondering (Conjecture flourishing) when it will happen, knowing that there will be no "discrete alarm" to warn us during the Summer evening which is otherwise placid and "dear." In the first part, the event takes place during a summer night "that beetles love" when a bomb is dropped "from Eminence remote" high in the sky. The bomb proceeds directly down to its target, falling "perpendicular" to the horizontal flight of the plane. Also note that only a small portion of nature’s (entomology) charms remains, verifying the catastrophic nature of this event.
E.D. #1172 The Clouds their Backs together laid
1870 The North begun
to push
The Forests
galloped till they fell
The Lightning
played like mice
The Thunder
crumbled like a stuff
How good to be
in Tombs
Where Nature’s Temper cannot reach
Nor missile ever comes
Here in #1172,
is in evidence signs of both "Nature’s
Temper" (storms and other natural events) and man’s temper (missiles). Remember the biblical references to
"dense clouds" at the time of Messiah/Melchizedek’s arrival. These
dense clouds in #1172 appropriately have "their Backs together" and
could be the result of tectonic activity, volcanism, or nuclear
"missiles" exploding. "Thunder" could be produced from
natural events such as volcanism, tectonic activity, and storms as well as by
man’s "missiles," nuclear we assume. Emily is happy "to be in a
Tomb" by the time of these future events because "Nature’s
Temper" and man’s "missiles" cannot "reach" her there.
Perhaps the recent spat of severe weather events are examples of Nature’s
Temper, stirred up by the global irritant-mankind run amok. Perhaps nature can
act like an immune system for the earth, ridding itself of destructive and
invasive life forms. If so, we should look for an increase in such events as
the age heads for it’s ending, where iniquity reaches full fruition at the very
time that it is to be "cut off" and vanquished forever.
We’ve looked at Emily’s
contribution to the nuclear prophecy. Now lets examine the scriptural evidence
regarding this topic.
Mark 13:25 And
the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall
be shaken. (KJV)
Revelation 6:13 And
the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs,
when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Revelation 8:10 And
the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven,
burning as it
were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers,
and upon the
fountains of waters;
Revelation 8:11 And the name of the star is called
Wormwood: and the third part of the
waters became
wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because
they were made
bitter.
Chernobyl translates to Wormwood according to many.
4Ezra 9:19 But
now those who have been created in this world…have become corrupt
in their ways.
4Ezra 9:20 So I
(the Lord) considered the world, and, behold, there was peril because
of the devices that were come into it.
Since the invention of the atomic bomb our world has been in great peril due to these devices, eventhough we have become gradually immune to the threat of their existence.
4Ezra 15:35 They
shall smite one upon another, and they
shall smite down a great
multitude of
stars upon the earth, even their own star; and blood shall be
from the sword
unto the belly.
4Ezra 15:40 The great and mighty clouds shall be puffed
up full of wrath, and the star,
that they may
make all the earth afraid, and them that dwell therein; and
they shall pour
out over every high and eminent place
an horrible star.
4Ezra 15:43 And they shall go steadfastly unto Babylon, and make her afraid.
4Ezra 15:44 They
shall come to her (Babylon), and besiege her, the star and all wrath
shall they pour
out upon her: then shall the dust and smoke go up unto the
heaven, and all
they that be about her shall bewail her.
These scripture
quotes are uncannily accurate descriptions. A star is used here to symbolize a
nuclear bomb because both use nuclear energy for their function. Emily uses
this same analogy, except she uses our specific star the Sun as her symbol for
nuclear power. Notice the exact and accurate description of an exploding
nuclear weapons: "They are poured out over every high and eminent place, dust and smoke go up into
heaven, great and mighty clouds shall
be puffed up in wrath, powers in heaven are shaken, they make the earth
afraid." The word eminence is also used by Emily just above in her nuclear
bomb poem. Also, again note the prominent
clouds noted as a result of these nuclear events. Are all these similar
descriptions from various sources just a coincidence?
Man has never made a weapon that he did not subsequently use. Our world is being run by power mad,
spiritually bereft human beings of the lowest caliber. Nuclear warheads are
proliferating everywhere, especially China and Russia. There are thousands of
bombs, enough to destroy the earth many times over. We go to bed every night
with half of these weapons in the hand of an alcoholic and the other half in
the hands of his counterpart of different description, across the sea. And so, we must put our faith in God not man.
It’s very easy to see why God will have to step in, with Melchizedek on the
white horse leading the way, to prevent the destruction of the planet and its
people. Mt. 24:22 reads: ‘For the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened,
otherwise there should be no flesh saved.’
Next,consider the following poem:
E.D. #243 I’ve
known a Heaven, like a Tent –
1861 To wrap its shining
Yards –
Pluck up its stakes, and disappear –
Without the
sound of Boards
Or Rip of Nail –
Or Carpenter –
But just the
miles of Stare –
That signalize a
Show’s Retreat –
In North America
–