Earlier today a group of people of faith and culture that I frequently attend to had a cultural exchange where several shared poetry
Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —
Emily Dickinson is one of those poets that sometimes crosses over into the realm of theological reflection from time-to-time. Her poem, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant” for me is a lesson about one’s approach, one’s receptivity one has with the gift of divine revelation. It may turn dogmatic theologians on-end because they teach that revelation is full and complete and immediate. While I believe this formulation to be true on a high level, I do also think that the human experience takes more time to integrate.
The person who proposed Dickinson’s poem also recognized that the Church admits to a personal integration of God’s glory into our life when she says in the troparion for the feast of the Transfiguration: “… you [Christ] showed your friends as much of your glory as they could bear.” Slow and deliberate seems to be reasonable. I can only take so much glory at once. This seems to be recognized by the Lord Himself. The Liturgy is a superb teacher; the Liturgy knows her pupils.
Indeed, revelation is still unfolding.