And the sign said “The words of the prophets Are written on subway walls And tenement halls" - Paul Simon / The Sounds of Silence
Rev. Ed Trevors Reflects On Modern Day Prophets
The President vs The Boss And The Prophetic Voice
[lightly edited for clarity and length]
Bruce Springsteen, the boss, right? …In a concert, he paused things and he gave an epic speech and it was thoughtful, quite sincere. I thought it was quite emotional, honest. He shared his concerns. He shared his concerns for his country. He shared his concerns for his his neighbors. He shared his concerns for ultimately the world.
He talked about all the things that are going on in the US right now. He talked about people getting picked up off the streets. He talked about the courts being attacked. He talked about the lack of due process. He he he talked a he shared his concerns and he shared his observations.
Trump truthed a statement in response, something about “no talent Bruce Springsteen” or the “loser Bruce Springsteen” or something just ridiculous. Something absolutely ridiculous, but obviously coming from a very very hurt place.
It wasn’t a policy debate. It was “no talent Bruce Springsteen says da da da”. His feelings were hurt by what Bruce Springsteen had to say about the current administration and the current direction that Bruce is observing America going.
So I got thinking about prophets, especially of the Old Testament, who spoke to power. The prophets, they spoke to the world, right? God would send them with a message and they would take that message to the king and they would take that message to the people. And if the king, if the governing authorities weren’t doing their job, the prophet spoke to them. You see it – John the Baptist. John the Baptist was beheaded. He he was originally arrested because he was speaking to power. Letting power know what he saw. Letting power know that you can’t get away with it. Letting power know that you can’t hide from it.
I think it’s interesting where our prophetic voices are coming from.
Sometimes we’re hearing them from the church. Like we could say, well, Bishop Buddy in Washington, right?
I think you’re hearing prophetic messages from from journalists who are offering their observations. I think you’re hearing prophetic messages from from economists. I think you’re hearing prophetic messages even from from musicians. I’m not saying we should become devotees to them.
But many prophets are going to rise up. Many, many prophetic words are going to be shared. And they’re not all going to be shared by by ministers and by priests, though some will.
They’re not all going to be offered by people who consider themselves to be religious or spiritual or people of faith. They’re not all going to be offered by people who consider themselves to be prophets.
These prophets will be calling you and I. They’ll be rallying you and I. They’ll be reminding you and I of our duty. That in the face of tyranny, we must stand up. In the when when tyranny appears, we must speak up. We must stand against. They will be they will be calling us forward.
They will be informing us of of what they see and they will be calling us to justice. They might not call us there in the name of God. It’s entirely possible these people will not call us to fight authoritarianism in the name of God, but they will call us to stand up for justice and equality and equity. They will call us to stand up for freedom and liberty. They will call us to stand up for the governing authority in this in in our world.
You know, we we’ve spoken about that before in the United States, the governing authority is the Constitution. These prophetic voices will be calling us. Maybe not in God’s name, but they will be calling us to those things that God loves: justice, mercy, humility, love of neighbor. They won’t all look like The Boss. They won’t all look like some pop star or some actor. They won’t all be experts in religion, theology, but they will each in the way they call us. They will each, in their way, remind us of of what God values.
I pray that all of us will be able to hear those prophetic words when they’re offered to us and that we will be willing, courageous, and strong enough to share to share the prophetic when we’re fortunate enough to hear it and see it. Amen.
No one believes it is happening now. Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
A Song on the End of the World On the day the world ends A bee circles a clover, A fisherman mends a glimmering net. Happy porpoises jump in the sea, By the rainspout young sparrows are playing And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be. On the day the world ends Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas, A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn, Vegetable peddlers shout in the street And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island, The voice of a violin lasts in the air And leads into a starry night. And those who expected lightning and thunder Are disappointed. And those who expected signs and archangels’ trumps Do not believe it is happening now. As long as the sun and the moon are above, As long as the bumblebee visits a rose, As long as rosy infants are born No one believes it is happening now. Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet Yet is not a prophet, for he’s much too busy, Repeats while he binds his tomatoes: There will be no other end of the world, There will be no other end of the world.
- Czeslaw Milosz / Warsaw, 1944 / (translated by Anthony Milosz)
References
Czesław Miłosz (30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He primarily wrote his poetry in Polish. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation, the Swedish Academy called Miłosz a writer who “voices man’s exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts”.
Miłosz survived the German occupation of Warsaw during World War II and became a cultural attaché for the Polish government during the postwar period. When communist authorities threatened his safety, he defected to France and ultimately chose exile in the United States, where he became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His poetry—particularly about his wartime experience—and his appraisal of Stalinism in a prose book, The Captive Mind, brought him renown as a leading émigré artist and intellectual.
Throughout his life and work, Miłosz tackled questions of morality, politics, history, and faith. As a translator, he introduced Western works to a Polish audience, and as a scholar and editor, he championed a greater awareness of Slavic literature in the West. Faith played a role in his work as he explored his Catholicism and personal experience. He wrote in Polish and English.
Miłosz died in Kraków, Poland, in 2004. He is interred in Skałka, a church known in Poland as a place of honor for distinguished Poles.
Miłosz’s riskiest underground wartime activity was aiding Jews in Warsaw, which he did through an underground socialist organization called Freedom. His brother, Andrzej, was also active in helping Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland;
This may seem like an odd way to close out the blott, but Puddles has a rich baritone, maintains a respectful gravitas to his performances, and most importantly, takes his art seriously. He was a favorite of my late brother Ken.
Michael Geier, better known as his Pagliacci-inspired clown alter ego Puddles Pity Party, is an American singer and entertainer based in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Geier now performs almost exclusively as Puddles, and he also refers to Puddles in third person when speaking about the character.
Early life Geier was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, the fifth of seven children of “Big Oz” and Peg Geier. He says that he “grew up in a houseful of giants”, with his two brothers and four sisters all growing to at least 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) in height.
In September 2024, it was announced that Puddles would be touring as a special guest with “Weird Al” Yankovic on his “Bigger & Weirder 2025 Tour”.
