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This book is about the prophet in you.
The prophet is the person who says no to everything that is not of God.
As Daniel Berrigan, one of the prophets of our time who decried the Vietnam War and turned that into a life-long path to peace for many, said: “The prophet is one who speaks the truth to a culture of lies.”
while saying no, the prophet also says yes.
prophets try to deter the ruthless, relentless, systemic violence practiced in the name of patriotism, calling itself “the Will of God.”
To opt for sacramental spirituality devoid of prophetic spirituality is to ignore half the Jesus message,
Christianity requires, as well, that we each be so much a prophetic presence that our corner of the world becomes a better place because we have been there.
Those who risk nothing risk much more, the Talmud teaches.
We must not fear the darkness; we must simply resolve to carry light into wherever we are.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T. S. ELIOT
Prophets can be so irritating. Dostoyevsky is clear about the way the world absorbs them. He wrote, “People reject their prophets and slay them but they love their martyrs.” Once the troublemaker is silenced, the public can afford to revere their now tamed selves.
Intellectual concern is no substitute for the food a family cannot afford despite the fact that they work two jobs. The truth is that charity is laudable and seldom considered dangerous. It is the sign of the nice person, the one who unloads the trucks or sets up the temporary housing units.
Prophecy, on the other hand, has ragged edges. It sets out to deconstruct the present situation.
Where the hallmark of charity is its uncommon generosity, the ring of real prophecy lies in its uncommon courage.
As the poet Charles Péguy warns us, “We must always tell what we see. Above all, and this is more difficult, we must always see what we see.”
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” CARL ROGERS
an old heresy remains. The struggle to escape the world—to
To be spiritually mature, we must each be about something greater than ourselves.
Prophetic spirituality requires us to think and study about causes as well as consequences.
Prophetic spirituality leads us to understand our own role as “herald in the camp,”
The prophetic Christian identifies with the issue.
Most important, the Christian who recognizes the fullness of prophetic spirituality enlarges his own life, at least in small ways.
Prophetic spirituality requires us to stop hiding behind a life of prayer as an excuse to do nothing about anything.
Mary Oliver may have written the best definition of what it means to be a prophet in contemporary spirituality. She writes, “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another and all involved in one another.” THOMAS MERTON
violence in the name of justice is a sham.
Better yet, prophetic spirituality asks, Who will require that we raise to the level of public discussion the most revealing questions of them all: For whom are things really good? And why? And how did it get that way? And who is being most advantaged by it? Most of all, what is to be done about those for whom the present state of well-being is slipping closer and closer to the murky bottom of life?
“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” —WILLIAM FAULKNER
Catherine of Siena said centuries ago, “Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear.”
Dorothy Day said in our own time, “Don’t worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful.”
as the poet e. e. cummings put it, “The first act of creation is destruction.”
Bold witnesses do not set out to create the public peace when the peace is bogus. They simply challenge the establishment with the bare truth.
It is finding the courage to utter the first word of truth in public that takes all the strength we can muster.
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” —JOHN A. SHEDD
prayer and prophecy must be soul mates.
Prophecy is nothing more than Christianity at its best.
Institutions live to preserve themselves. Prophets speak to reform the institution. It is a collision course of the heart.
to allow evil to flourish is the greatest evil of them all.
What prophetic spirituality most demands is the strength to go against the very crowds that have formed you.
community support—the support of a community of prophetic truth-tellers—is the only answer to a heart darkened by the cost of telling the truth.
Only a strong spiritual life, good friends, distance from the issue, and laughter really bring balm to the heart and renewed strength to the soul.
the prophetic act always brings the world to breakthrough. Nothing ever stays the same after the prophetic soul rises up and says her truth.
“When you come together with your other half, you immediately experience a sense of wholeness and completeness.” ANDREW COHEN
The prophet always seeks the greater good, the Will of God, and the protection of the people.
the spiritual life is about the following of Jesus the Prophet,
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” HARRIET TUBMAN
The proponents of visionary policies are routinely dismissed, in fact. The reason is clear: what the seekers seek is some kind of change.
Edgar Allan Poe wrote, “To vilify the great man is the readiest way little people can themselves attain greatness.”
There is no such thing as failure in the journey to the Reign of God.
The role of the prophetic community is to enable a group to study the issues, to become proficient in them, to take a specific, a particular stand, for justice.
