TELLING THE TRUTH
Susannah Heschel is the daughter of Abraham J. Heschel, an esteemed Jewish scholar, professor, and author. She wrote the introduction to her father’s 1962 tome, The Prophets, and begins with these words:
“What manner of man is the prophet?” asks my father in the opening pages…A person of agony, whose “life and soul are at stake in what he says,” yet who is also able to perceive “the silent sigh” of human anguish…For my father, the importance of prophecy lies not only in the message, but in the role of the prophet as a witness, someone who is able to make God audible…The prophet hears God’s voice and looks at the world from God’s perspective.
To make God, the Divine, the Sacred audible.
A message. A witness. Speaking, weeping, wailing, and often raging. All are part and parcel with the prophet’s call to utter words on behalf of the Divine, the Sacred – to reveal the Sacred to to others.
Heschel continues by saying, “[the prophet] said No to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency, waywardness, and syncretism. He was often compelled to proclaim the very opposite of what his heart expected.”
Not surprisingly, Heschel uses the masculine pronoun. Still, the words ring true. The Biblical prophets were people who communicated a different message than the world around them and most often one the world did not want to hear. Their speaking involved personal cost, high risk and often great harm. It also involved
an unquenchable, unstoppable inner fire that compelled them to speak.
Here’s the reality: most of those we’ve heard about were men.
Here’s the real reality: these words could describe many if not almost all of the women I know!
I know women in positions of leadership who are constantly pushing boundaries in order to honestly, and with integrity, speak what must be heard. I know women who have treaded into deep and painful waters in their marriage because they could no longer keep their heart hidden inside, remaining silent to their deepest desires. I know women who have willingly entered realms of darkness and harm to advocate on behalf of those sold into sexual slavery, those experiencing the untold horrors of sexual or physical abuse, those hidden in a violent world of domestic violence. Every day I am surrounded by women who are, indeed prophets.
Here’s what I believe: whether by conscious choice or circumstantial demand, women inherently and instinctively are prophets. We inherently and instinctively see and know truth – deep in our bones. We don’t want to incur the risk of speaking truth and we must. We don’t want to bear the cost or harm of saying what others don’t want to hear and we can’t not. We’re caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. Clearly, we are prophets. And we are in good company. Listen to the prophet Jeremiah:
“O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout…If I say, ‘I will not mention [God], or speak any more in [God’s] name,’ then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot”
(Jeremiah 20:7-8a, 9).
Again, I’m struck by how familiar this feels. If I choose not to speak, not to act, I can hardly bear it! Though I’m tired of having to speak and then live in the midst of often-painful truth, not speaking it creates an inner turmoil that I cannot bear (at least for long).
I wonder what would happen if we intentionally began to see and understand ourselves as prophets; as prophetesses. I wonder what would happen if we acknowledged how incredibly difficult it is to say what others don’t want to hear and chose to speak the truth anyway. I wonder what would happen if we began to be honest even with ourselves – acknowledging the ways in which we’ve been silenced, remained hidden, and have been afraid of living out loud; of being all of whom we have the capacity to be: passionate, life-giving, brilliant, radiant—the embodiment of the Sacred Feminine.
We are surrounded by a whole legion of prophets every day – of whom we are one. The Sacred Feminine inhabits, strengthens, and encourages us to articulate a voice and presence that are aching to be heard and seen in our relationships, our culture, our world.
Will you tell the truth? Will you risk? I bet you already have. May you stand boldly and confidently in the reality that, as articulated by Heschel,
[you] “can perceive the silent sigh of human anguish (even your own) and then make God/the Sacred Feminine audible.”
You are a prophetess.
Speak. Tell the truth. We’re waiting for you.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I took the plunge and spoke part of my truth yesterday. And when I say, “took the plunge”, it felt like jumping into the deep end. I weighed my words and attempted to soften them a bit.
And then I said them and waited.
The sky didn’t fall, as I feared it might. It made my load lighter. And dare I say, it may have shined the light on what the other may have to say.
I feel there is a lot more where those words came from.
Mmmm, Jesse. So brave of you: diving into the deep end. And I’m so grateful that you did not drown. Truth always wins out – no matter the results. In fact, the results themselves reveal even more truth which, often, scares the h*** out of us, but ultimately is what me most need, most desire, most deserve. I’m SO proud of you! And of course, there’s always more truth yet to be revealed. A journey. ‘Glad you’re on it…and here!
A book discovered me this week. It’s by Barbara Brown Taylor. It has hit me with such force and healing and it resonates with what you are saying here about prophets.
“They saw things they were not supposed to see or said things they were not supposed to say. They wondered about things they were not supposed to wonder about, and when Mother Church told them to stop they did not obey her…. Some of them died for their disobedience while others were locked in their rooms. Still others were sent out of the house and told to never come back. Many of them are spiritual heroes now. At least one of them is revered as the Son of God, but none of them got where they were going without passing through the wilderness first. “
Your words: “We inherently and instinctively see and know truth – deep in our bones. We don’t want to incur the risk of speaking truth and we must. We don’t want to bear the cost or harm of saying what others don’t want to hear and we can’t not. We’re caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. Clearly, we are prophets.”
For every wound we experience speaking truth, there is miraculous healing and confirmation of that truth waiting just around the corner.
This book is, as you might imagine, already in my library – as are three or four others of hers. A brilliant writer, preacher, feminist, woman – of great faith. Yes: truth always leads to confirmation of the truth…and ultimately healing, though sometimes the journey between the two is long. SO glad to share it with you, Angie.
The path of a prophet is not an easy one. Being the voice ringing in the wilderness, confronting the entrenched power structure, shining a light into the darkest of places and then “having to live in the midst of the oft-painful truth” costs much. Most days I’m not sure if I have the courage to pay the price. Or if I have the strength to sit with the wounds until the healing and confirmation come… because sometimes that takes a really really long time.
This post really hit home for me, because I’ve been mulling over the question of identity – with this exact thought in the mix. Am I a prophet? (I am afraid of the answer that I felt deep in my bones reading these words). Can I be a prophet and anything else at the same time? How much will it cost (me — and others that I love)? Am I willing to do it anyway?
Is it possible to shift the old paradigm and have a true community of prophets, a support system that somehow makes the call less painful to follow? Maybe. Just reading these words gives me some hope in knowing I’m not out there on the edge all by myself.
.-= Renae C´s last blog ..Say it out loud? =-.
You’re so not alone…but you’re definitely on the edge, Renae. Whenever I think deeply about the prophet metaphor I get an electric sort-of chill. I know it is a true description of me. My identity. And, simultaneously, I know what it costs. Still, as with all prophets, the choice to remain silent is not a choice.
So YES! A community of prophets – who join together for support and beauty – and who are then strengthened and empowered to speak, to name, to tell the truth in realms that so need them, need us, need you!
This truth-telling is so tough! I’ve been on the fence many times. Sometimes I have spoken the truth in recent months, sometimes, I have not. Does it make me afraid? Very. That’s why I’m here with my fellow prophetesses – it is each of you who gives me the strength to step that much closer to the truth. Everyday.
“…being all of whom we have the capacity to be: passionate, life-giving, brilliant, radiant—the embodiment of the Sacred Feminine.” – We want this. We need this!
Thanks Ronna!
.-= Shawna Cevraini´s last blog ..Songs of My Heart =-.
The experience of community offers such beauty and strength, doesn’t it? Stunning. I’m deeply grateful.
I like how much you make me think, as well as feel. This feeling of having a message, of needing to speak a truth, I feel it too. Lately, I’ve explored things that I’ve ignored for a long time. The sensation of my aura, psychic messages, the indigo child label, feeling spirits and residual energy….all things I’ve often ignored, and have recently started thinking more about. Something about me wants to understand all of that better – to find a way for it to fit into my processes in a particular way.
And something about me wants all of that to just be. Whether it is background, context, sub-text, is of no concern.
My primary voice, that I am drawn to again and again and again is one of healing with beauty. My camera draws me to beauty in sometimes unexpected places and unexpected ways. I let her have her way as often as “real life” lets me.
And I stand to my commitment of sharing her beautiful truths daily. Lately I include my own words, words that, like my pictures, seem to come from someplace other than but also deep inside me. Words that are sometimes jumbled, always stumbling, but are quietly opening my heart to the world. Cracking open the layers and layers of all the societal requirements and cutting deep into soul food.
This is my way. It doesn’t cry out against injustice. But I hope the beauty is food for those who do.
Our truths are always our own. Unique. And at the same time, they are all one. A contradiction worth living, exploring, feeling.
We are all prophets. Let this be.
Hugs and butterflies,
~T~
.-= PicsieChick´s last blog ..Meant to be =-.
Wow! PicsieChick, have you been camping out in my head? “The sensation of my aura, psychic messages, the indigo child label, feeling spirits and residual energy….all things I’ve often ignored, and have recently started thinking more about. Something about me wants to understand all of that better – to find a way for it to fit into my processes in a particular way.”
Yep, I think you’ve been hanging out in my head.
Hello, sister! So nice to find you in this fabulous space! Sounds like we “should” talk.
(yes, I just opened your latest blog post and plan to read and respond after my run this morning.)
Hugs and butterflies,
~T~
.-= PicsieChick´s last blog ..Meant to be =-.
As you might imagine, I love – love – love that this conversation is taking place! Bring it!
Your voice – both articulated and embodied in art – does, indeed, offer beautiful truths. And I love that these come from somewhere deep inside. I love even more that you are not editing them, censoring them, or keeping them hidden. And I would go further: I think your voice does cry out against injustice. Because every time you speak – in these unedited, uncensored, beautiful ways – the injustice of years and years of womens’ silence is brought to the fore. Because you can – and do – speak, create, question, and open your heart is the very thing that ushers justice right into our midst. You are, indeed, a prophet. A beautiful one.
I am so heartened by this aliveness, this edge — both your original post, Ronna, and the powerful “resonancing” that’s going on in the comments. Yes, me too, me too, we ALL are saying.
I think the world desperately needs this. Now. This truth-telling, this prophesying. We’re all prophets, we’re all feeling the truth pressing forth, we’re all rising up at this time, because it is so so needed. So yearned for. The world itself needs it.
The world itself is pressing forth from our throats.
And I hear the world itself saying Jeremiah’s words, I must cry out, I must shout…If I say, ‘I will not mention [God], or speak any more in [God’s] name,’ …and it’s that the world itself is struggling with bearing witness to God, the divine presence itself is pressing forth through the beingness of the world itself… then within [the world] there is something like a burning fir shut up in [the bones of the world]; [the world itself is] weary with holding it in, and…cannot.
It’s so important, gang. It’s so important that we be doing all of this. The world needs it.
Thanks, Karen. A beautiful articulation of the combined power of voices, of hearts, of prophetic messages…of women. LOVE it! And am humbled, grateful, and thrilled to be in the mix!
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