What Does the Prophetic Mean to me.

When it was proposed to our to class answer the question “What does the Prophetic mean to you?” Ezekiel chapter 37:3-6 instantly rang out in my ears:
“He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel in the valley holds a special meaning in my own understanding of the Christian faith. The first time I heard this particular narrative I found myself awestruck. There was so much apparent power in the words of the Lord. The prophetic is that which is diametrically opposed to the status quo. The prophetic falls outside the all too narrow confines of natural science; it cannot be bound by nature. It is like fresh water, that one breath you finally take after surviving something tragic; it is the first cries of a newborn child; G-d commands the prophet to stand before what appears to be a valley of death and suffering and orders the prophet to bring forth new life solely on the words of the Lord. When the people of G-d have been stripped of the very fiber of their being; that raw and naked nature has become the norm, G-d sends the prophet to circumvent that way of thinking.
What an insurmountable task, given to a more then average person, yet still the prophet did speak. With the spirit of Lord breathing down their neck telling them to do better, they spoke of new life and ushered in a metaphorical act of re-creation and resurrection into the valley. The breath of new life cries death to what once was and restoration and beauty to what is new. The status quo has stripped humanity of its ability to see each other as worthy of divine Love. Within the USA context it has become status quo to disregard the lives of those of black and brown skin. Recent events have taught us the say truth that you can kill a black person in the USA and almost certainty get away with it as long as you are perceived as white. #BlackLivesMatter movement is a direct response to the open season on people of color. Any prophetic movement is bound and determined to be in constant opposition to the oppressive forces of that given age. The prophetic does adhere to the bipartisan narrative of pleasing people or pleasing G-d. The prophet will always chose G-d, even if that means they are perceived as being cold and unloving. The prophetic voice I hear gives me the courage to say I’m more than willing to burn this country to the ground if that means the restoration of human dignity. To borrow words form William T. Sherman when he wrote to Prof. David F. Boyd at Louisiana State Seminary
“They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it… You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth — right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war.”
While W.T.Sherman was referencing the rising conflict between the Northern of the United States and the Southern half, I can not help but to call his words this day. The Civil War was not a war of northern aggression nor was it only fought to free the negro from slavery. It was a war of restoration. The restoration of the negro dignity, restoration of the Union, and above all else, the restoration of our countrymen humanity. Jesus proclaimed freedom to captives, be he did not say it was going to be easy.
One can argue that the prophetic has no place in the age of modernity, that the prophetic is strictly a construct of the Jewish tradition and that the status quo of today is nothing like the valley of sun-bleached bones. In some respects it is true that the prophetic we find in the Old Testament has no place in the modern age. But what we are forgetting is that the prophetic we have today is a hybrid of what we find in the Bible. No longer is G-d calling one person to bear the burden of the prophetic but rather the prophetic transforms into a fueling station of people’s movements. Our eyes have been opened to the common strife of humanity. Vox populi, vox Dei, the voice of the people is the voice of G-d. The people are tired of crying out “How Long?” Today the chant has become “There Will Be Hell to Pay” and G-d in the form of the Prophetic is the endorser of the check.