22 February 2005

More words on Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann.

I propose this hypothesis: The royal (dominant) consciousness leads people to despair about the power to new life. Then Brueggemann writes:
As a beginning point it may be affirmed that the royal consciousness militates against hope. For those who are denied entry into prosperity there is a kind of hopelessness because there is little or no prospect for change. In Israel there was no doubt that since the Solomonic achievement the royal prosperity was increasingly closed to large numbers of citizens. That indeed is a key point in the polemics of Amos. And so in that time as in our own, the royal arrangement surely and properly evokes despair among those who are shut out.

First, it is important to note that good old Solomon was a master at the oppression of his own people in order to achieve his goals of security and empire building. Whenever those with the least are sacrificed or used for the benefit and security of the few who sit in the positions of power and prestige, there will be death, poverty, and a hierarchy of worth in a society. As much as people will be told that the welfare of the elite and the rich is necessary before the welfare of the poor and needy can happen, we have the whole collection of biblical stories that tell us that is just not so. Amos and other prophets were quite direct at saying that. Jesus took the argument against it right to the cross. If there is to be real hope among us we cannot pin that on the operations of those who claim to hold the "royal" power of the day. I think it is interesting to note that even today in our country there is talk of a dynasty. To my recollection, that has never been good news to those who long for a word of hope. It is usually just a bunch of words that always fall short except for those who buy the right to write the history books.

Connection: Stop, Look, Listen. That is what I was taught to do before I crossed the street. Looking both ways with a critical eye keeps all of us a bit safer because it protects not only me but those with me and even...the drivers.

Most Loving and Merciful God, how we long for the Spirit of your blessed Reign to inspire our lives so that we will gather together and witness to the brightness of how your love can rule and how it can establish a new vision for how we walk into the future you have promised. Amen.