In his daily reflections, Richard Rohr has been focusing on prophets this week. He has been reminding us all week that the role of the prophet is to point out what's wrong with society, with all the idols we worship, including priests and the temple itself. But it's so much more than that. It's about sharing the ecstatic vision of God, about the vision that God has for creation.
The reflections have been speaking to me. I feel we need prophets for our own time. Most people assume we need prophets to speak truth to power, and we do. But we also need prophets to proclaim God's vision for creation, to remind us all, again and again, that a better way is possible. We need prophets to paint a picture of the possible, so that more people catch that fire and work towards that vision.
It's important to remember that any of us can do that work. Prophets through the ages have come from all sorts of places and backgrounds. This morning's reflection quotes Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister:
"These prophetic people, people just like us, simple and sincere, eager and inspired—these sheep herders like Amos and small-business people like Hosea, these simple country farmers or priests like Jeremiah, these thinkers and writers and dreamers like Isaiah and Ezekiel, these struggling lovers and suffering witnesses like Micah, these brave and independent judges and leaders, like Deborah and Miriam, made no small choices. They chose courage. They chose the expansion of the soul. They chose to stake their lives on what must be rather than stake their comfort, their security, the direction of their lives, on what was."
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