Wednesday, 16 July, 2003

The opening text will come from a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel (God in Search of Man - A Philosophy of Judaism). As you are able to see by the title, the language may be a bit dated and therefore, I will, when able, make the language inclusive.



In thinking about the world, we cannot proceed without guidance, supplied by logic and scientific method. In thinking about the living God we must look to the prophets for guidance.

Those who share in the heritage of Israel believe that God is not always evasive. (God) confided (God’s) self at rare moments to those who were chosen to be guides. We cannot express God, yet God expresses (God’s) will to us. It is through (God’s) word that we know that God is not beyond good and evil. Our own thinking would leave us in a state of bewilderment if it were not for the guidance we receive.



The words of the prophets have always been those clarifying images of the Reign of God. Even as the people of God were sure of whom they were and imagined that they were always within God’s righteous pathway, it has been the prophet who had to stand up and issue a way into new life. As is well known in the scriptures, the prophets didn’t always fare well when they lifted up the word of the Lord, God. Sometimes we want to listen to our own voices…our own bits of inspiration. Unfortunately, our personal insights are not always on target with the ways God calls God’s people to live in every place and time. This is one of the reasons I find that it is so important to be a part of a community of faith. It is within the voices of others that we will hear that word of God that is not our own word. It is in the dialogue, the listening, and the bold speaking that we are guided along the way of God’s Reign that is so evasive to us when we seek to be on our own.



Connection: Pundits of the day lead us here and there. The prophets take us into the vision of God’s Reign with a word that cuts through our individual wants and leads us before the way God sets the day before us.



Let you Word shower down upon us, O Lord, so that we will hear in many ways the promises of the life you bring among us. Lift up prophets who will walk with us in these days and bring the wonder of your Word into the conversations and insights of this day. Amen.