Tag Archives: Prophets
Change Is Never Comfortable
How can we envision a new world when we have never fallen away from the old? Continue Reading Change Is Never Comfortable
Prophetic Imagination: Weekly Summary
Prophetic Imagination Saturday, March 27, 2021 Week Twelve Summary and Practice March 21—March 26, 2021 Sunday Moses had the prescience and courage to move the place of hearing God outside and at a distance from the court of common religious and civic opinion—this was the original genius that inspired the entire Jewish prophetic tradition. Monday… Continue Reading Prophetic Imagination: Weekly Summary
Joining the Prophetic Chorus
Prophetic Imagination Joining the Prophetic Chorus Friday, March 26, 2021 While the most well-known Hebrew prophets are presumably male, such as Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, the Bible also contains little-known women prophets such as Deborah (Judges 4:4–5), Huldah (2 Kings 22) and Anna (mentioned in Luke 2:36). Rabbi Tikva Frymer-Kensky shares one example of this… Continue Reading Joining the Prophetic Chorus
Envisioning a New World
Prophetic Imagination Envisioning a New World Thursday, March 25, 2021 One of the most prominent prophets in recent American history is Martin Luther King Jr. Like the prophets of Israel, he saw not just what was wrong with his nation, but how it might be restored to the promise upon which it was founded. The… Continue Reading Envisioning a New World
Prophets as Poets
Prophetic Imagination Prophets as Poets Wednesday, March 24, 2021 One of the great scholars of the Jewish scriptures was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972). In his in-depth study of the Hebrew prophets, he included this description of the prophets which is really rather surprising. We often think of prophets as scolds, rather judgmental and cranky,… Continue Reading Prophets as Poets
A Positive Vision
Prophetic Imagination A Positive Vision Tuesday, March 23, 2021 The starting point for the prophets’ imagination is an amazing, positive experience of God. Their divine encounter fills their heart not with cynicism, not with sarcasm, not with negativity, not with opposition, but with an ecstasy that has to be shared. That one experience of the… Continue Reading A Positive Vision
The Path of the Fall
Prophetic Imagination The Path of the Fall Monday, March 22, 2021 In spirituality, there are basically two paths, what I’ve called the path of the fall and the path of the return. The path of return has been the message of the priestly class. True priests talk of religion, communion, love, transcendence, connecting this world… Continue Reading The Path of the Fall
On the Edge of the Inside
Prophetic Imagination On the Edge of the Inside Sunday, March 21, 2021 In the fall of 2020, I began sending out occasional letters that I called “Letters from Outside the Camp,” a reference to the many usages of “outside the camp” in the Hebrew Bible. It is a prophetic position “on the edge of the… Continue Reading On the Edge of the Inside
A Balm in Gilead
African American Spirituality and Song A Balm in Gilead Thursday, February 11, 2021 The Hebrew prophets deeply loved their tradition and profoundly criticized it at the same time. Such truthful love is a very rare art form and a hallmark of prophetic identity. The prophet Jeremiah lived in a time of deep grief and loss.… Continue Reading A Balm in Gilead
Obedience to God’s Will of Love
Public Virtue Obedience to God’s Will of Love Monday, November 2, 2020 Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister is a theologian, author, and speaker, whose wisdom and approach to social justice I take very seriously. I offer you these encouraging words from her about what it means to work for the common good. Joan writes: In all… Continue Reading Obedience to God’s Will of Love