Daily Prophets
Day 13
Today we commemorate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and I want to take a quote from his speech on Vietnam. “Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. But we must move on.
Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak.” Maybe the reason that Rabbi Heschel called Rev. King a prophet is because these words to me describe the life of a prophet. As I am reading Chapter 5 of Amos, I realize how much Rabbi Heschel’s description of the prophet from his interview with Carl Stern in Dec. of 1972: “a man who is able to hold God and man in one thought, at one time, at all times”Amos is a shepherd who is overwhelmed with the Spirit of God and the Call of God to a point that he cannot stay a shepherd and has to follow the demands of his inner truth as Dr. King describes above. Amos not only opposed the government’s policy, he was calling them back to Adonai as a parent calls a child, a lover calls to their partner, a teacher to their student. Apathy was not a choice for Amos or any prophet. “Hear this word which I intone”(Amos 5:1), the I in Hebrew is Anochi, the first word of the 10 Commandments. The identification is complete in this verse. Amos and God have melded. I hear the call of Pirke Avot 2:4, “Nullify my will before Your Will so Your Will becomes my will”. Amos has taken up God’s call, he is shouting it out across the land of Israel and he prays people listen. This is what Rev. King did, this is what Rabbi Heschel did. Now, we get to do it also. Amos was privileged to be a prophet, as were Rev. King and Rabbi Heschel. We are privileged also! We get to use our voice to speak out against racism and hatred, against sedition and power, against unnecessary pain and terror. We have to speak out, loud and proud through our agony and push through our apathy and uncertainty. Amos did all of this as did Rev. King and Rabbi Heschel. No one is 100% certain of anything 100% of the time in my opinion and experience. In fact, if we wait for that certainty, Rome, Washington DC, Jerusalem will all burn. I know the role that fear has in speaking out. I know the role that fear of losing has in taking action that is ‘against the grain’. I know that Amos had to be overwhelmed by God and his will nullified so God’s Will became his. I believe this is true for all of the prophets, especially the ones we have had and do have in our midst. We are descendants of the prophets, we can hear the words of prophets like Father Greg Boyle who teaches us kinship and to erase the margins. We are descendants of the prophets so we can march and write and allow God to overwhelm us into action.
What action you may ask? “Seek Me and you will live”(Amos 5:4,6). Who is Amos railing against and for? “You enemies of the righteous, you takers of bribes, you who subvert in the gates the cause of the needy”(Amos 5:12). Oh how arrogant are we? We advanced Western Society types, who are so full of ourselves that we can’t see how the prophet Amos was and is speaking to us. I realize how subtle it is to be a taker of bribes. I have taken the bribe that my Yetzer HaRa has offered to feel good and not always had the interests of others in my actions, rather I took the bribe of feeling good for myself. I did what Rev. King was speaking about, giving into uncertainty, apathy and fear. Scarcity ruled me for most of my addiction. There was never enough and I had to get more, consume more and, no matter what, there was never enough. In my recovery, I still get overwhelmed by this experience and I go to seek God so I can live. When I have ‘taken a bribe’, moved someone who was a referral from a donor up on the waiting list, when I have let someone stay in jail longer because someone who was a full-pay wanted/needed that bed, I realize that I made those decisions knowingly and admittedly. I don’t need to defend or be defended, I just need to see the subtle ways I took bribes and I ask that you all see the subtle ways we are guilty of Amos’ charges as well.
“Seek me and you will live” is reverberating through me. As every person in recovery, as every person of faith will attest to the truth of these words. While some people talk about the hiddenness of God, the prophet Amos is debunking this myth. If I keep believing that God is hiding, doesn’t care, etc. it gives me free reign to make policies that are good for me and a small number of people, these policies just are not God’s Will. Knowing that every time I seek God, I live better, I find God and connect to Adonai gives me the strength to carry on through the uncertainty that Rev. King was speaking about. I know that with all the errors I have made over these part 32+ years, I have constantly and consistently sought and seek God so I can see myself clearly and truthfully, do T’Shuvah, move on and live. How are you see seeking God so that you can truly live and live a full life? I believe this is the secret to the success of Rev. King and Rabbi Heschel.
“Seek good and not evil that you may live” Amos says in verse 14. He goes on to say in verse 15 “hate evil and love good”. This is the way to God and to establish justice and receive God’s Grace according to Amos and I would agree. We have become so blind and confused that we cannot differentiate between good and evil. We see this in the polls that say 43% of Americans approve of Donald Trump! We see this in the way that people are denying the need for the Covid-19 vaccines. We see this in the way many of us do business, the ways that many of us defend ourselves when we do wrong. These words are ringing in my ears and shaking my body. I have to look again at the ways/times I have confused good and evil. Loving good and seeking good are not intellectual endeavors, they are actions that must be taken daily, hourly by us and for us and everyone else. On this day commemorating Rev. King, I pray we all allow our prophetic voice to overwhelm us as Amos did, hear the call of the prophets past and present, and join with the 46th President of the United States to find a middle path to reviving and recovering the soul of our country. In doing this, we will recover our own souls and paths. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark