Perhaps Emily Bronte is correct in her poem "I'm Happiest When Most Away." Perhaps true contentment for a woman lies beyond her existence to her family or to her husband, but I would go a step further and say that true contentment for all human beings lies beyond their mortal lives.
I'm happiest when most away
I can bear my soul from its home of clay
On a windy night when the moon is bright
And the eye can wander through worlds of light
When I am not and none beside
Nor earth nor sea nor cloudless sky
But only spirit wandering wide
Through infinite immensity.
Whether or not this poem is talking about day dreaming or watching a night sky, it simply talks about the mind wandering to new places, seemingly unreachable places. Let me think about my life and "bear my soul." Instead of looking at my life here on earth, let me look at the sky so my "eye can wander through worlds of light." If this is the only way to experience something new then let my "spirit [wander] wide through infinite immensity."
Everyone knows that littler girls are supposed to dream about their wedding day - what color bridesmaids dresses will be, who will be their bridesmaids, and of course which of the princes from all of the Disney movies will be their groom. Being a female has made it seem that I'm almost given the "right" to dream, to day dream, to open up my soul and think of things beyond. I thought by the time I went into junior high my day dreaming of my life to come would stop, but it didn't. It didn't stop in high school and it hasn't even begun to stop in college. In fact, I think it's gotten worse (probably) as the time draws closer. In fact, The Master's College community is very encouraging in the hopes to find a husband who plays the guitar and wants to be a youth pastor. So is that the daydream or the "wandering wide" spirit in Emily Bronte's poem? I don't think so. That hope, seemingly, is like every other girl's dream here at TMC. This poem is not about the people that want what everybody else assumes they will eventually get or is in the process of getting or already does have. There is something beyond that simplistic life. Let me "bear my soul from its home of clay." I don't want to be like everybody else. I want to be different. Perhaps, I won't go to the extreme that I don't want to ever get married or anything horrendous like that, however I don't want to marry a pastor and I don't want to get married right out of college and I don't want to be a house wife and raise four children. I believe I'm looking from the outside, hoping that I will never have to bear my soul elsewhere, dreaming about a different kind of life.
Just as we sometimes hear that if humans were all the same then the world would be boring, if our lives were all the same we would all want to get out of here. Most of the Victorian women led the same casual lifestyles. How boring is that? I would take it a step further though, and say that men feel exactly the same way. Don't most men work and provide income for their family household? Don't they ever want to "bear their soul" and let their "spirit [wander] wide through infinite immensity"? Yes, I'm sure they do. Of course, from a Christian perspective, the only life someone could live and be content would be a life indwelled by the Holy Spirit of the Living God. And yet, at the same time still, I think you still need times to "bear your soul", but in life with Him, He is exactly who you would bear your soul to.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment