St. Matthew 23.34-end
BEHOLD, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord.
...consider who are prophets of our age... think climate, think ecology, think sociology... Anyone who would ask of us that we make deep changes within ourselves in order to better not just ourselves but those of the people around us and nature is often seen as a threat, a scourge - a weirdo and eccentric. How easy it is to turn upon those who seek to save us from ourselves...
a prophet passes on a message from God, each religion has their own God and prophets. I don't think people that tell us about climate change or how to live our lives are prophets, the people who forewarn us things that are coming if we don't stop what we are doing. I can't find a word I like, but not prophet. harbinger is one but not to my satisfaction. Advise, forewarn, counsel. on and on. the problem with those who do this is who to believe
ReplyDeleteHari OM
DeleteAn interesting response and semantically valid... if one takes 'God' to be an old fella on a chair up in the sky somewhere sending messages via a person down here. If, though, as many do now, accept that God is the word we use for all that is imperceptible in our world but ever-present, such as nature and climate, then anyone who warns of the damage to those things, which result in damage to humankind, can surely be called a prophet? Particularly those fully qualified to do so. Perhaps 'seer' or 'sage' would sit better with you? Although harbinger is definitely a word that would apply, as none of the news is good... Yxx
To phrophesize is to fortell. We don't usually recognize them as prophecies until they come true and the 'prophet' inevitably long dead.... In the meantime the observations in your last paragraph so often apply - weirdos and kooks. Sage? I don't know why but I think of a sage as someone who has gathered and made sense of what has led us to here... sort of wisdom born of experience. Prophesy can come from anywhere and like Sandra says for some the question is sho to believe. Any prophesies for 2022?
ReplyDeleteHari OM
DeleteYour understanding of 'sage' I agree with - but would add that most prophets are sages who, from their wisdom, can extrapolate and project likely outcomes. Some would term this 'educated guessing' and in scientific circles, there would be discussion around 'theoretical analysis...' The "can come from anywhere" type of projection might be otherwise termed as 'fortune telling' and that is a whole other connotation!... and these days, prophecies are more likely to be referred to as 'predictions.' Yxx
Wishing you nothing but happiness this holiday season! And best wishes for the New Year from all of us.
ReplyDeleteAmen. namaste, janice xx
ReplyDelete