A blessing or a curse?

“What manner of human being is a prophet?”

A person of agony, 

whose “life and soul are at stake in what (s)he says,” 

one who is able to perceive “the silent sigh” of human anguish… 

the importance of prophecy lies not only in the message, 

but in the role of the prophet as a witness, 

someone who is able to make God audible…

The prophet hears God’s voice 

and looks at the world 

from God’s perspective.

I don't know about you,

but I have several prophets as Facebook friends.

And, I don't mean that facetiously.

I have half a dozen people feeding my news stream 

constantly

with editorials, news articles and opinions

on a regular basis 

concerning the latest crisis du jour.

These are people of deep and sincere faith;

ordained clergy (primarily) who are intelligent, insightful, well reasoned -

and total buzz kills.

Their exhortations never cease;

their ability to witness each injustice 

and point it out to all their 'friends' is inexhaustible:

the Pipeline,

fracking, 

refugees on a mountaintop,

victims of natural disasters,

sports teams with offensive and politically incorrect names,

prisoners unjustly accused,

broken financial systems that are weighted in favor of the rich,
global warming,
non-accompanied immigrant children being detained,

inequities of every size and manner,

on and on and on ...

I'll leave it to you to imagine their distress at the whole Ferguson issue!

I swear when not on their knees praying,

their asses must be glued to a chair 

with eyes on their computers, 

reading - and commenting on - 

every article ever written about every issue.

Not only are they more well read than many of the people they try to persuade

(myself included)

and therefore intimidating to try to engage in a dialogue,

rather than their diatribes,

but any attempt to slow down the train -

to gather facts,

to reason,

to discern for ones self what sources to believe and

what weight to ascribe to the information -

is seen as inaction -

which translates to them as not caring 

which must be railed against further.

I don't know what the reasons were for why the people of Israel ignored their prophets,

but I can tell you what I would say to mine ...

My dear prophets,

if everything is a crisis 
than nothing is.

For most of us mere mortals,

your level of intensity, pain and awareness is unsustainable.

We're not bad people, 

we're just trying to live our lives.

I can't imagine having to live with the gifts 

which God has bestowed on you;

frankly, it seems like a special kind of hell.

For all our sakes,

take a deep breath

and please post a picture soon of you holding a puppy 
or having a BBQ 
so I know you haven't forgotten 
how to wrestle as much joy from this life as you can!

It's not all pain;
its not all suffering and injustice...
even God rested on the 7th day.
For His sake, and ours, you need to take a break!