Listen to the Prophets

Jimmy Carter lights the Christmas tree in Plains,
GA, Nov. 2003. I was only a few feet away from one of my
great heros.

I have no idea WHY I want to help make the world better. I mean, who cares if we multiply by the trillions and colonize the Universe or if we merely become extinct in 100 years. Why do I want humans to succeed? I have no freaking idea. I look around and I see tons of good, but I also see lots of bad. Like, WHY do people have to throw their gum in the parking lot? My flip flops are bubble-gum magnets and as soon as I step in a warm mound of gum, well, my foot keeps going but that flip flop just stays there — it's like flubber.

So, it's necessary for me to put existence into a spiritual perspective. Why did God create us? Well, some have told me that "God was lonely" while others say we are here to "glorify God." So what does "glorify" mean? To make God happy.

But how do we know what makes God happy? Since God doesn't make public address announcements or give us sermons from mountains, we have to depend on prophets. For thousands of years, we have relied on prophets to let us know what God likes and dislikes, and to provide behavior parameters. More often than not, we humans don't like to hear what prophets say, so in the old days we sometimes executed them or just ignored them. In fact, so many prophets were either being killed or ignored, that God finally sent his own son Jesus to serve as a prophet. But, basically, people just killed him and ignored his words, just like the others. Of course, a few people DIDN'T ignore him, and they went on to start Christianity. Other religions, of course, have prophets too.

Through the centuries, more prophets have popped up. There is always a debate as to whether a prophet is "true" or "false." Often, a prophet is considered "true" if he or she does not conflict with what the older prophets said in the Holy Scriptures. Church leaders often fulfill the role of prophets because they are defining improved models of behavior that fit within scripture. Of course, people can pull scripture out of context to justify nearly anything they want to, but when scripture is used to provide backing for a new moral standard, then that provides authority and credibility for the masses. One example of this is slavery. In the old days, scripture was once used to justify this abhorrent practice, and then during the Civil Rights Movement, scripture was used to condemn it. The same is now going on in the Gay Rights struggle. One side lists scripture that says that homosexuality is bad, while another group pulls out different versus about tolerance, or tries to redefine the context of the scripture used by the opposition.

It is all so confusing. But the beautiful thing is that as we humans evolve socially, we are learning more about justice, equality, and tolerance for others. The prophets of today are the preachers who promote these values. The greatest prophets of our modern times have been Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohandas K. Gandhi, and President Jimmy Carter, and these are my greatest heros. Dr. King was incredibly astute when he said:

"Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress,
Gandhi is inescapable.
He lived, thought and acted,
inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward
a world of peace and harmony.
We may ignore Gandhi at our own risk."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Of course, as is the standard fate for prophets, Dr. King and Gandhi were promptly killed by individuals who didn't like what they had to say.

How do you glorify God and fulfill your mission on Earth? I think we follow God best when we override our natural instincts of greed and selfishness and practice higher ideals like compassion, empathy, and unconditional love. Back in the early days the Vikings and Saxons didn't have a problem with invading villages, taking all the plunder, and murdering all the inhabitants. Hey, the stuff was there for the taking and the villages were lightly defended, so it must have been okay. So, did this glorify God? Sure, they could be excused because it was the early days of civilization and they probably didn't know better, but it probably DIDN'T make God happy.

I think it is now time that we START LISTENING to the prophets and STOP KILLING them. I assure you that you won't like what they have to say, but listen anyway.