Light Unto My Path

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he writes, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made…” The Psalmists tell us that even the rocks cry out the glory of the Lord. If there is one thing impressed on my heart and soul through my time spent in Colorado, it is that God has chosen to reveal His character to me through His creation. In the hustle and bustle of what we trekkers like to refer to as the “Concrete Jungle,” I am so easily distracted and often fail to seek His character in my surroundings. But in the wilderness, God is easily seen. Each week, through my physical experience climbing a mountain, there is a new spiritual revelation to parallel it. I am consistently moved by how God uses this world to teach us of His character and Truth in the world beyond. It is this metaphor of our relationship to God through Nature that I love to lead youth to seek and find. A few years back, the roles were reversed, and a youth group led me to one particular truth that I have referred to for solace and peace for my soul in my times of greatest questioning.

College, for me, was a time of seeking and searching, trying to set my feet on a path that would lead me to Jesus the rest of my life. I felt a strong sense of gravity attached to these years and the significance my present actions and choices would have on the entirety of my life. I would often ask God “Why won’t You just tell me how things are going to work out? Why does my life so often feel like a mystery to even me?” And, as God has promised us, God heard when I called to Him and answered me from His holy hill—just not perhaps not how I had intended Him to answer.

For those of you that may have never been on a TEAM Ascend trekking experience, on Wednesday mornings, we attempt the summit, God willing, of whichever mountain we have been climbing over the course of the week. We wake up well before sunrise, ranging from 12:00 AM to 4:00 AM to take advantage of the best weather patterns and the window of opportunity to climb. This particular week, we woke up at 2:30 AM.

The still dark night is shaken by the staffs’ renown ringing cries of “Wakie! Wakie!,” our most beloved alarm clock. The startling racket is accompanied by the gentle hum of the stoves heating up water beneath our crew flies. Slowly, the tents begin to rustle and flashlights bounce around inside the tents like fireflies in a Mason jar. The first campers groggily emerge from their abbreviated slumber and prepare for the day’s journey.
Thirty minutes after wake-up, we gather in a circle, turn off all our flashlights and gaze into the sky, blanketed with a multitude of speckling stars—a sight unrivaled by any city sky. We turn our lights back on and begin our ascent.

The night is cold, and as we approach sunrise and gain altitude the night only gets colder. But time passes quickly. We take regular breaks, which we try to keep as short as possible to keep from getting too cold, yet before we realize it, the sky begins to lighten in the East. You can see the distant ridges of other mountains scraping the horizon. Within thirty minutes, the sun peaks its head above the mountains and an immediate sense of revitalization fills the air. It is daybreak. Within the next four hours, we will have hopefully finished our ascent and be headed back into Camp. This week, just this happened. We had a beautiful summit with clear skies, and we sang our songs along with the angels in praise of the Glory of God. How Great Thou Art is never so beautiful as it is in a circle with a group of 14-year olds on top of a mountain. We spend some time on the summit in prayer, rest and praise. It is about now that the realization strikes most of the group that we now have to make it back down. We have only really completed half of our journey. The group scuttles down the mountain, moving a lot quicker than going up. We make it back to where we watched the sun rise and point in the direction of camp to show them what they had accomplished. Campers kept commenting, “Did we even go up this way?” and “Wow. This is a lot farther than I thought. I don’t remember this!” It struck me as odd that they hadn’t remembered the three hours we were hiking in the dark.

Each night, when we get back to camp, we build a fire, sing worship songs, and debrief the happenings of the day, giving the campers a chance to discuss what God is revealing to them. It was this night, and this devotional, that God gave me His answer. After we had talked for a bit about the summit climb and gone through their experience, a staff member asked the group about the difference between hiking in the dark and in the light.

Their answers surprised me. I had always liked hiking in the sun because it increased visibility and the warmth always revived me. However, the kids unanimously stated that they thought it was more difficult hiking in the light. They said that when they could see the entire ridge before them that they knew they had to climb, they were discouraged. When it was dark, they could only see the path directly before them. All they had to worry about was following the person in front of them and taking the next step that was before them.

This struck me. It is just like life. So often, I had asked God to show me the entire mountain I had to climb, yet He was the light for my path, revealing to me what I needed to know exactly when I needed to know it. In His wisdom, He still has not yet given me the overview of my journey or illuminated my entire path, perhaps because I am not yet prepared for it. I have His map, His Holy Word, and with this and His provision, I can focus on the steps just before me.

This lesson was an “ah-ha” moment for me, and in that moment I thought I would never question God’s providence again, yet amazingly enough in my humanity, I am still sometimes discouraged by the “darkness of the night.” But God has given me this story, and each time I forget and ask for the sun instead of his provision, I am reminded of this precious picture—me on my mountain and God as my headlamp—and I can pray, “Lord be the lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path.”

The Soul Selects Her Own Society

The Soul Selects Her Own Society [Emily Dickinson, c. 1862]: 


The Soul selects her own Society—

Then—shuts the Door—

To her divine Majority—

Present no more—


Unmoved—she notes the Chariots—pausing—
At her low Gate—

Unmoved—an Emperor be kneeling

Upon her Mat—


I've known her—from an ample nation—
Choose One—

Then—close the Valves of her attention—
Like Stone—



Language is both beautiful and beguiling. Developed systems of ideological transference offer the ability to communicate ideas, emotion, and experience through both the written and spoken word. This same liberty is paradoxically confining, in that, no one word or phrase can carry the same significance for any two beneficiaries of its freedom. Authors utilize this paradox through the written word by embracing the variety and complexity of language, using its multiple layers of connotations and symbolism. Cherished authors of prose are exonerated for their ability to paint a clear picture with their words through explicative and lengthy descriptions; however, this sovereignty over language employed by prose is not a tool available through poetry. Poets are bound by structure, rather open or closed, thus restricting and confining a poet’s choices. It is this economy and creativity of expression that merits the art form’s nomenclature; the word poetry is appropriately rooted in the Greek verb poieo: “to create.” Poetry is a succinct and abstracted creation. Every word is a specific choice and the colors and variations in the connotations of words are embedded assets. Conversely, the abstracted structure that defines the poet’s portrayal of an experience or emotion offers the reader an enhanced, mystical freedom in his interpretation. Due to the creative subtleties found in poetry and prose, there are often many layers of understanding one can glean from any one text. Emily Dickenson is a master of this treasured efficiency of language, although a rebel in the face of standard poetic conventions and metaphoric symbolism. Exposing one interpretation of Dickenson’s poem, The Soul Selects Her Own Society, Dickenson offers her readers a raw and unique metaphorical presentation of the intellectual process of refinement against Society through her innovative style, use of symbolism, rhythm and grammatical structure.
Many of Dickenson’s poems are untitled pieces and she is notorious for not following typical poetic conventions; therefore, titles and grammatical disregard are noteworthy clues to the deeper meanings in her poetry. Upon initial analysis of the title and opening line to The Soul Selects Her own Society, the reader is immediately alerted to the opposition and supremacy of the soul over its society. As the vast majority of Dickenson’s poems do, these allusions refer to much more than the obvious spiritual sentiments they invoke. Dickenson’s accessible society was Newfoundland America during the mid to late1800s and a heated battle brewed between academic and social intellectualism met by its counterpart, American Transcendent Thought. Transcendentalism maintains that the Self is divine and intuition informs the physical and empirical states in order to reach a “transcendent” spiritual euphoria. This philosophy was developed in direct rebellion to the doctrine of the Unitarian Church. The most influential propagates of this theory were contemporaries such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and George Ripley. Due to Emerson’s central involvement in this movement and his alleged influence in the works of Dickenson, Dickenson herself is said to be a follower of this philosophy. In the title and opening line of her poem, Dickenson alludes to the Self, or Soul, and its dominion over its Society. This is largely reminiscent of the ideals and terminology of the Transcendentalist Movement. The unmistakably intentional repetition of the initial consonant sound /s/ in the title also emphasizes these qualities’ thematic importance. On one level, Dickenson’s poem narrates an intellectual transformation, embracing the proprietary rights and absolute individualism embedded in the ideals of transcendentalism. As introduced in her title, every aspect of her poem and every foot in each meter can be interpreted as informants in the revolution of her thoughts towards the supremacy and superiority of the individual Soul.
Throughout Dickenson’s poem, there is a strong tendency towards common religious and spiritual symbolism accompanied by fervent convictions and contradictions in regard to their significance. In the first stanza, Dickenson depicts the Soul, or “individual,” as it embraces its autonomous sovereignty and rejects the Divine Majority, perhaps a reference to the Trinity or strict Doctrine of the Unitarian Church. With the introduction of more than ephemeral, temporal decisions within a society, these spiritual references merit Dickenson’s ideals and offer permanence and divine significance. As the Soul “shuts the door—” and the Divine Majority is “Present no more,” Dickenson’s dissention of societal norms offers an additional intransient quality to her divine selection. The obtrusive gesture of shutting a door lends a sense that this “door,” often a symbol for opportunity or a an entryway to a particular ideology, is not being left open a crack to allow for re-entry, but it is eternally closed upon rejection. This stanza could serve as a realization of and protest against the prominent social and academic “Harvard intellectualism” of her time. Similarly, in the third and final stanza of her work, Dickenson writes, “Then—closed the Valves of her Attention/Like Stone.” The narrator is closing herself off from other possibilities as an act of protection and preservation. The combination of symbolic valves and stone are complex and unconventional. The imagery of Valves conjures connections to the heart, and the heart to the soul. The mention of stone is a common symbol of things interminable or unalterable which are brittle and difficult to move or alter, which could signify permanence and solidarity. Another suggestion may be that the stone is referring to a precious stone, such as a treasured pearl that would require special protection during its harvesting. This interpretation would unify the connection between the delicate valves of a heart and the precious stone. Her soul, the stone is the ultimate realization of spirituality, so she must guard it. Perhaps by closing other valves, the Soul is preserving her very essence and divinity like a treasured pearl in an oyster shell. At the time this poem was written, c. 1862, Dickenson had given herself to strict seclusion and solitude. The majority of her social interaction was through poems and letters and she immersed herself whole-heartedly in her academic evolution and development, perhaps an act of preservation of her soul. Throughout Dickenson’s poem, she employs the use of eternal and spiritual terminology to validate her transcendental ideas and support her reclusive lifestyle as a means of preservation in the face of a society ruled by rigid and “unfounded” doctrine.
Even Dickenson’s conventions advocate social antagonism; her signature divergence from the rigid iambic pentameter and the grammatical confines of her time parallel this transcendent rebellion toward strict religious doctrine. Throughout the poem, she rebelliously employs the use of the hyphen to give breadth and dramatics to the rhythm of her work. This stylistic decision was highly unconventional while she was writing and it allowed for her to break from the standard structure of the Shakespearian confines of iambic pentameter. Her stanzas are structured into two functioning units, where the first line is significantly longer than the second. The meter and rhythm of the poem is repeated in the first and second stanzas; however, in her final stanza, the second and fourth lines are two-word phrases, “Choose One.” and “Like Stone.” Both of these phrases are emphatic and definite. Their concise presentation even more dramatically illuminates their significance in the poem as appropriately final. Also, words are unconventionally capitalized throughout the verses, which draw attention to them within the phrase. Words such as: Soul, Chariots, Valves and Stone, all had common interpretations in poetry and Dickenson used these standard images in new ways to strike a contrast with previous understandings. Dickenson was well read in both classic and modern literature and would have been keenly aware of the effect this tool would have on her reader. She could draw attention and speculation to an idea by simply presenting it differently than it would typically be shown. However, these innovative attempts were not respected in her time, and were even rejected posthumously, as most of her poems were edited upon publication to match the conventional rhythm and grammatical patterns. This eccentric innovation in her work provides a perfect framework for the conversation she desired with her society.
The antonymic aspect of this poem is equally alluring as Dickenson’s subversive doctrinal and structural rebellion. Throughout the poem, paradoxical pairs are introduced to highlight the dichotomy of the freedom in embracing transcendental thought. Action partners from the first stanza such as, “Selects/Shuts,” and the final stanza, “Choose/Close,” personify the delicate balance between two inversely related Emersonian principles of selection and exclusion. Outlined in Spiritual Laws, the selection of one marks the exclusion of others. Through the implied acceptance of solidarity and rejection of “society,” one is not limiting animating influences, but expanding the possibilities found within the soul. Conversely, in the second stanza, Dickenson refers to the Soul as “Unmoved” in response to an Emperor or suitor’s presentation. “Unmoved” is repeated in the stanza to emphasize the inaction and steadfast focus of the soul. The solicitation of the emperor could further symbolize regality and statis, and her rejection of his advances could be a metaphor for her sovereign status as queen of her own soul. The interesting aspect of this repetition is the resolute inaction characterized in stark contract to the indomitable action of the first and final stanzas’ duos.
The story told in this poem could easily be and often is interpreted as a love poem, or a poem embracing the ideals of reclusiveness, but I think the much more alluring layer as an audience is defined by the emergence of a dignified intellectual. The poem offers action in the face of motionless and the choice of one in the midst of many options. The contradictory aspects presented console me, in that I can relate to the academic path, which often resembles the exclusion and denunciation of all other ideologies upon of the selection of one. In stride with Dickenson’s poem, I also can tend to resent popular socio-cultural norms because they often resembles a rigid set of unfounded and superficial standards, much like the arbitrary doctrine that the transcendentalists fought against the Unitarians. I sometimes sense the desire within me to reject the “royal suitors” of alluring materialism “kneeling upon [my] mat” and choose from among the “ample nation” of discordant doctrine and philosophy One valve to my heart. It would be this conviction that I would fully embrace and close around me as a protective barrier surrounding my soul. I recognize the divinity within every soul, as a special calling or desire God placed within us. Dickenson embraced solitude and written correspondence as a means of protecting her most precious soul, but I feel that through emphatically selecting one philosophy, which leads to thee rejection of all others, one can find some sense of euphoric spiritualism.
For a woman rarely-seen and known for her simple white dress, Dickenson has left a profound impact on the innovations of modern poetry and thought. She was a contemporary of her time, not afraid to stand against social, religious, or literary norms in order to accomplish her goals. Her understanding of language and its employment during her lifetime is remarkable. Although just at a dozen of her over eighteen-hundred poems were published during her lifetime, in a society that did not respect women as academic equals, Dickenson was regarded privately as a gifted poet and fearsome intellectual and her ingenious approach to poetry merits her as one of America’s most treasured poets.