In Lent, we should strive to hear them, be kind and open. Try to understand that beneath their sometime outer hardness and obstinacy is an acute sensitivity and tenderness, a genuine openness to God's spirit.

For Douglass, there was an intimate link between individual conversion and social reform. The path of reform flowed outward from self to society. Before eradicating social evil, you first had to purify the self.

Every spiritual group in which I have participated over the last 30 years has expressed a similar sentiment: that we are in the midst of a planetary shift in consciousness.

The White Buffalo Prophecy, handed down for 19 generations within the Lakota Tradition, has continued to unfold in magical ways that paint a positive future for humanity.

Forget about the puny Mayans, the Great and Powerful Oz ... err ... WBC has spoken. Abandon hope, sell your possessions. Better yet, leave your possessions (in my name please), run to the mountains and hide in the caves.

Religious leadership isn't easy. Just ask any of the rabbis who attempt to address controversial issues within their institutions, take on the challenge of moral leadership and manage relationships with members. Or ask the prophet Balaam, the unexpected hero of this week's Torah portion.

The would-be prophet cowers before the throne and whimpers, "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips." No posturing. No preachiness. No self-righteousness.

Pastors should indeed celebrate the beauty, joy and miraculous mystery of life, but to focus on this while not tempering this with an acknowledgment of struggle, doubt and, yes, suffering, is to offer false prophecy.

So what of the Abrahamic emphasis on prophetic history? Is it possible to accept the teachings of a prophet (or set of prophets) without focusing on prophetic history?

You know how sometimes a respected elder begins to sound, well, a little cranky? God kicked off the new year by growling in the ears of several people with media platforms. And I gotta tell you, going by what they say, I'm concerned.

Let's do a little comparison. Let's look at a few of Moses' predictions to see if we believe that they actually came to pass and then contrast them with the perennially popular 16th century French prophet Nostradamus.

Today, faith is more of a choice than ever before, and atheism is becoming a more socially acceptable alternative to belief. Judaism, especially as an action-based religion, need not feel challenged.

By Peggy Fletcher Stack Salt Lake Tribune (RNS) A teenager says God and Jesus appeared to him in a grove and told him to start a new Christian church...

Marge Piercy's novel He, She and It appeared almost 20 years ago. My review appeared in Tikkun magazine in 1992. Now many aspects of her novel loom even more prophetic than they did before.