Ghosting God, Ghosting Self
Day 109
“And the sign said, “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls and whispered in the sound of silence.” This is the last phrase of the song, Sound of Silence and I have only 2 more blogs left on this song for this month of Elul this year. I want to begin with the first phrase: “the words of the prophets are written”. These words have been written for over 2500 years, these words have been read, spoken, chanted, spoken about by religious leaders, paraphrased by Jesus. Jeremiah tells us, the modern day descendants of the prophets, to: “Have no fear of them for I am with you to deliver you, declares Adonai”. Yet, We the People seem to have ignored this command, we the people seem blind to “the words of the prophets are written”, deaf to: “declares Adonai”, and unwilling to take the action these words have called us to for the past 2500+ years.
This is the theme for me today, what is that stops we the people from reading what is “written” in the name of the prophets? What is that prevents we the people from taking in what our ears hear each week in Synagogue, in Church? What is it that gives us permission to ignore “the words of the prophets”? This is the conundrum that has faced humanity from the time of the prophets, since the destruction of the Northern Kingdom and the Israelites from there scattered across the Assyrian holdings, since the destruction of the 1st Temple and the exile to Babylon, since the destruction of the 2nd Temple (we Jews were not smart enough to heed them even after the experience of exile and destruction!), even since the 1878 year exile from the land of Israel! It is the conundrum that Christians and Catholics face as well, when they proclaim that Jesus is their savior AND live antithetically to his teachings of love, of caring for the stranger, the poor, the needy, of justice for all, of freedom for all, of throwing the money-changers out of the Temple while the loudest of today’s so-called christian clergy, like Joel Osteen, Franklin Graham, et al are all about the Benjamins, spending money of homes, cars, private Jets, etc, and preaching a prosperity gospel that Christ never did!
This is the time to GET RIGHT, people. We the People are called in this month of Elul, in this period leading to Yom Kippur to open up our eyes, to lift up our eyes, to SEE what truly is, not some ridiculous societal norm that has been put in place precisely to ignore the “words of the prophets”! The gift of this moment, of this month, of this period of time is the Divine Compassion, the Divine Pathos that fills the air, that is in the water we drink, the food we eat, because everything is being called to Judgement Day and everything is afforded the Divine Compassion and Pathos, the Divine Mercy and Forgiveness that the Rabbis have spoken about and written about. This is NOT, however, granted without work on the part of We the People, this is not given because we want it. The Grace we receive in this moment, this time of the year is based on our willingness to READ “the words of the prophets written on the Subway walls” and ingest them, allow them to nourish our spirits, our souls, our inner life, using them to make our rational mind the servant it is intended to be rather than the Pharaoh it has become for some so they can put into servitude the rest of us.
The prophets kept trying to tell the people WAKE UP! Their words and actions are trying to do the same for we the people and we are no more willing to hear, to listen, to understand, and to take action of their words than our ancestors were and we call ourselves smart! That we the people continue to refuse to heed “the words of the prophets”, that we the people continue to follow the false prophets/autocrats who say what we want to hear and then do the opposite once they are in power, is UNBELIEVABLE, yet true:(!
It took me 36 years to truly imbue “the words of the prophets written” in the Bible, on the walls of a prison cell, in the innermost chamber of my heart. In these past 38+ years of imbibing in their words, in hearing their call, in following their direction, my life keeps being immeasurably better. I keep seeing the world through their eyes, aka the “eyes of God” more and more each year, I keep realizing the errors of my past in new light and see the goodness I have sown and the reciprocity of generosity I receive and the awe, wonder, radical amazement of people I have counseled, helped in their recovery, provide services to so many people in need, give their wisdom and knowledge, their “Torah” to another(s) so more people can bask in “the words of the prophets written”. What a joy and honor, a privilege and a responsibility to be a descendant of the prophets and spread their message! How Blessed are We the People to do this!!
ACTION STEP
Read “the words of the prophets written” in the Bible and make a plan to carry out their call to action
Call down the forces of compassion and grace by doing a little more of your inventory today
God Bless, Stop Ghosting God, Ghosting Self, Rabbi Mark