What does it mean to be a "prophetic voice"?
In the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC there is a remarkable statue named "The Prophet." It is shaped of metal openwork, so that one can see into and through every facet of the figure.
From one angle, it is clear that the Prophet is intently listening to a Voice dancing on the edge of awareness.
From another angle, it is equally clear that the Prophet is speaking. Giving voice to the Voice that has been dancing its way into truth.
When many of us think of "prophecy," we think of passages in a book called the Bible.
But originally, these voices now recorded in writing spoke aloud, shrieking or chanting, whispering or wailing.
And despite the efforts of all establishments to say those voices have been stilled, prophetic truth keeps spilling over the edges of the boxes we have fastened tight.
We at The Shalom Center have year after year celebrated the Prophetic Voices that speak sometimes through print upon a page, sometimes through bodies under arrest; this year, through what we call "the arts." Theater. Film. Dance. Song. Public murals. Drumming.
We honor Tony Kushner, who in the play Angels in America reawakened us to the sacred in pariahs we had scorned, to the transgressive whose sharp edges we had blunted; who in the film Munich forced us to face the question of whether a State can in fact be Jewish in its values beyond its proclamations. And who like many of the Prophets long ago and in our own day, has been slandered and threatened.
We honor Ilana Trachtman for her work to shape the documentary film Praying With Lior, about a young boy with Down Syndrome who has drunk the milk of Paradise and shared it with his community as he became bar mitzvah -- a film that opened doors to "disability" in Jewish and other religious congregations
And we took delight in having Ilana interview Tony. She began by asking him: "What is a prophetic voice?"
He, laughing: When I told my life-partner that I was being honored for being a "prophetic voice" in the world, my partner cocked an eyebrow: "Pathetic voice? What kind of honor is that?"
So the interview begins. It winds its profound, funny, provocative, and never pathetic way into where you can find it now -- on videotape.
There and in many American alleyways are still alive the flinty and the flowing that bring prophetic Vision to the Arts.
Find them, risk your self by diving into them. All you can lose is your comfort; you have many worlds to win.
See the video here
Lily Blau: The Temple and Tony Kushner: Worshiping Art and the Art of Worship
Erica Abeel: Culture Wars: The Nation Hosts A Salon
Frank Schaeffer: Remember What Civility Was? A Book to Remind Us
Tony Kushner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Today's prayer:
Dear god, please send me more toys and make me rich. And, make me thiner and healthier. And, send all my en*mies to hello. And, don't let my neighbor's dog poop on my lawn. And, take care of this hang-nail. And, help me get to work on time tomorrow. And... Hello, god? Hello? Are you listening?
Gotta get a new god. This one is useless.
yes... but with a few rough edges
brilliant
"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."
Score for the prophets!
I assume a difference between prophecy and prediction; prediction being based upon a certain degree of evidence. The quantity and quality of supporting evidence, the more valuable the prediction.
Don't overthink. Thinking is just one facet of your brain/mind.
"Don't overthink." ???
As an ex-delusional, I understand precisely what you mean by this. It's preposterous! What OTHER reality-based faculties exist for humans to process information? ("reality-based" excludes NOTIONS of spirit, soul, and other apparitions of deluded minds.)
I have met a few-some of deep faith as well as secular atheists.
Rev. Naim Ateek is A Palestinian Christian who Cries for Reconciliation:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1199&Itemid=215
American Israeli Professor Jeff Halper -who laughs at me when I tell him I am a spiritual progressive as he considers that an oxymoron:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1425&Itemid=224
Mordechai Vanunu, who was born into an Orthodox Jewish family, became an atheist in his teens, baptized a Christian just days before being kidnapped by the Mossad in 1986 and spent 18 years in jail for exposing Israel's WMD program.
Vanunu suffered another crisis of faith in Nov. 2009 and regressed back into atheism. Israel sent Vanunu back to solitary confinement for 3 months beginning 23 May 2010 because he spoke to foreign media in 2004!
The Vanunu Saga 2005-2010 @
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=660&Itemid=175
Kushner is a gay playwright and screenwriter whose positions on politics have been "grossly misrepresented" by rightwing media. And that is all.