A
Legacy of Prophecy
September
28, 2003
The Rev.
Gretchen Woods
READING
“The Social Prerequisites of Intermediation” from
Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel by Robert R. Wilson (pp. 28-31.)
discussing prophets as intermediaries
In order for intermediaries to exist within a society,
certain general conditions and attitudes must be present... Intermediaries will
not automatically appear in all societies having required characteristics, but
when the proper social environment is lacking, intermediation cannot take
place. When these crucial social features disappear after having once been
present, existing intermediaries must also disappear or be relegated to
subgroups where the necessary conditions are still present.
The first social prerequisite for the existence of
intermediaries is a belief in the reality of a supernatural power or powers…
Second, if intermediaries are to exist in a society
believing in supernatural powers, then the society must also believe that those
powers can influence earthly affairs and can in turn be directly influenced by
human agents…
Third, intermediaries can exist only where they are viewed
positively and where their specific actions are encouraged or at least
tolerated…There can be no socially isolated intermediaries.
Finally, intermediaries will exist only in those societies
where social conditions require the services of an intermediary. Therefore,
intermediaries are often found in societies undergoing stress and rapid social
change. Sudden economic reversals, wars, natural disasters, and cross-cultural
contact can all lead to social instability. Under such conditions a society may
seek to restore its equilibrium by renewing its contacts with the supernatural
world. Intermediaries may have a role in this process, and if so, their numbers
will increase as social conditions deteriorate. The converse is also true. As
social conditions become more stable, the need for intermediaries lessens, and
their numbers are likely to decline.
Thinking about that relatively esoteric reading on prophets
as intermediaries, we can agree that our society is experiencing the social dislocations that encourage prophets.
Therefore, I should like to offer a concrete vision of prophets in our times:
those who speak to the “sudden economic changes, wars, natural disasters, and
cross-cultural contact” that we experience in the here and now. To begin, I
offer the prophets of Ancient Israel as models for contemporary prophets, then
refine that vision with my own perceptions, and, finally, reinforce the
necessity of religious community for prophecy to be meaningful.
Let me begin with a story from my first ministry. In
Bremerton, Washington during the Vietnam War, there was a controversial and
irritating prophet, who also happened to be a Unitarian at the time. His name
was Edison Fisk. He was called “Pinky” from the time he was a little boy,
ostensibly because he had bright red hair, but the name stuck long after his
hair was quite white. He worked as an electrician in the Puget Sound Navy
Shipyard. He attended the Kitsap Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, when he
could stand it. During most of the Vietnam War, Pinky would go to the shipyard
for an hour before work began and carry a picket sign, “Bullets, Bombs, and
Bullshit!” which was quite inflammatory as you can imagine, as his co-workers
arrived and entered the gates of the shipyard. Then, when he needed to be at
work, he would go into the shipyard and do his job. When his work was over, he
returned to the gate and took up his picket sign again for at least another
hour.
Needless to say, this did not go over well with the
shipyard, nor with the Kitsap Fellowship, many of whom depended upon the
shipyard for their living as well. One could write Pinky off as a crackpot, but
one could not fault him for his passion for peace and justice. He continued to
work for peace and for the environment, which he saw being degraded badly. When
he wasn’t engaged in political activism, he tended a large organic garden and
played flute. His anger made it impossible for most people to hear the
righteousness of his cause, but he had some worthwhile things to say, if one
could listen past the rage. I grew to love “Pinky,” even though I despaired of
him ever being heard as the caring man that he is. And my tendency toward
moderation drove him to distraction. Ours was a delicate dance of respect and
frustration. He still affects my thought about the issues this troubled world
faces – and I am grateful to him for that.
“Pinky” was for me a prophet, though a far cry from the
prophets of Ancient Israel. As Robert R. Wilson asserts, the prophets of
Ancient Israel are most often seen as intermediaries for God. They believed in
God as a supernatural power that could influence human affairs and could be
influenced by human beings. These prophets were part of a society in which
enough people encouraged, or at the very least, tolerated their pronouncements,
and the societies in which they lived were in upheaval and needed their
services, even if the “powers that be” might not have wanted to listen to them.
This was true whether we think of the “Big Three,” Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
Ezekiel, or the twelve minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah,
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
These voices for justice were concerned that their people
remember their covenantal relationship with God, follow God’s laws, and take
care of the poor, widows, and children. At Rosh Hashanah, Jews are abjured to take stock of their
lives, the promises broken, and gifts to the poor, widows, and children that
should be given. The ancient prophets were persons who recalled the Jews to the
obligations of their religion. Theirs was a religion of “deeds, not creeds,”
much like Unitarian Universalism. Our consistent calls to action for peace and
justice, and to care for our environment flow naturally from Jewish Prophets.
Still, I feel impelled to add a refinement to the Jewish
perspective: I do not believe one needs to believe in a supernatural God who
intervenes in human and/or earthly affairs to “speak truth to power”
prophetically. Pinky was a committed atheist. On the other hand, one does need
a moral code or set of values that impel one to action on behalf of justice.
Our Unitarian Universalist Purposes and Principles serve well to this good end.
This set of values offers the power to speak prophetically, whether one
believes in a god or not.
A caveat: prophets do not often fare well with people who
have power and don’t want to lose it. One’s mental stability will be
questioned. In referring to the three major prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
Ezekial, Jack Miles categorizes them as “... respectively, the manic, the
depressive, and the psychotic…” (Miles, God: A Biography. p. 197.) He
asserts, “As for calm, sane, moderate versions of prophecy, in effect there are
none.” (Ibid.) Then, he adds, “Sanity and calmness make their home not in
Israel’s prophetic tradition but in its wisdom literature. Wisdom accepts;
prophecy rejects; and it requires a kind of madness to reject the basic givens
of an entire society, all the more to suggest that history should begin again
with a new creation of the world.” (Ibid. pp. 197-198.)
The passion with which prophets attack the wrongs of a
society certainly qualifies them as mad. But then, R.D. Laing suggests that
adapting to an insane society may also be a form of insanity.
Most of all, prophets need a religious community to provide
a constituency that will respond to their message. “Pinky” never got much
satisfaction from the shipyard workers, but gradually he gained respect from
many of the people who realized that the war to which he objected did, in fact,
present serious problems for society.
I think of some of the prophets we have lost from this
community of late: Ed McClain and Jack Dymond. Ed’s peace work lives on after
him in the folks who promise to take up his peace sign at the daily vigils at
the County Courthouse, until the end of the violence in Iraq and other parts of
the world in the name of anti-terrorism. Jack’s concern for the environment and
sustainability brings together people who continue his work as well.
In addition, I think of those still among us: Bill Ferrell,
who speaks out for the environment and, most recently, is helping raise funds for
Leah Heilman-Pollack’s bone marrow transplant. I was dismayed that the
fellowship is legally barred from serving as a treasury for tax deductible
donations to this family’s needs, except for our own members and through the
“Minister’s Discretionary Fund,” where no guarantee may be made that the funds
go exclusively to Leah. So, if you want your donation to be tax deductible, you
need to make out the check to “UUFC,” with “Minister’s Discretionary Fund,” in
the memo line, NOT Leah’s name. And then, you must trust the minister’s
discretion. Sigh... Thus our government
invades our desire to aid children! Don’t miss the benefit concert for Leah
that Portland Unitarian Jazz pianist, Darrell Grant, is giving on Sunday, October
26 at 8:00 p.m.
I also think of Louise Ferrell, who came up with the idea
for the “Corvallis Adopt-a-Minefield” project, or CAMP. This is such a good
idea that most of the liberal protestant churches in town are on board, along
with the Physicians of Good Samaritan Hospital and the Veterans of Foreign
Wars, to name just a few of the sponsoring organizations. But it started here
folks, and I hope you will join us this month of October and contribute to this
effort in any way you can. Oyaya, with George Beekman and Julie Williams will
be presenting the benefit for “C.A.M.P.” on October 31 at 8PM. It is obvious
that Louise’s idea hit a fine chord with many people because it helps all the
people and livestock of Afghanistan. This is a win, win, win!
The legacy of these contemporary prophets inspires us to act
prophetically to manifest our own most dearly held values. Clearly this is a
time of cross-cultural impact, of war, and of economic distress. This is a time
that calls for each of us to prophesy on issues that trouble us most and to act
on them, not just talk. Let us support and honor those who speak out, and stand
behind them as well. This is responding to the call of prophecy in the best way
possible.
I close with these energizing words from Clinton Lee Scott,
a great Universalist prophet of the 20th century:
Always it
is easier to pay homage to prophets than to heed the direction of their vision.
It is easier blindly to venerate the saints than to learn the human quality of
their sainthood. It is easier to glorify the heroes of the race than to give
weight to their examples. To worship the wise is much easier than to profit by
their wisdom.
Great
leaders are honored, not by adulation, but by sharing their insights and
values. Grandchildren of those who stoned the prophet sometimes gather up the
stones to build the prophet’s monument. Always it is easier to pay homage to
prophets than to heed the direction of their vision.
May we be
a people who not only pay homage, but take up the vision and goals of those who
show us the way to co-create a better world for the greater good of all – with
respect, responsibility, and relish for the process.
So Be it!
Blessed Be!