The message of this book is essential most of all for progressive Christians. It’s a primer of wisdom and best practices for the reforming-minded. This includes what it means to act like a prophet; as Rohr makes clear: It is about much more than simply telling the truth in opposition to power.
“A divine message can be given more effectively by an actively loving person,” Richard Rohr writes, perhaps stating the obvious. But later in the book, “Christianity is not a purity cult that we use to prove we are superior beings, although it has certainly seemed like that during its long history.” This work seems to come straight from the heart of what led Rohr to found his Center for Action and Contemplation almost 40 years ago: a conviction that the two are inseparable — certainly, in anyone who fancies themselves a prophet.
It is a timely, clearly-written book. Rohr’s aim is to build up prophets who with zeal, honesty, and truth become instruments of God’s salvation — without adding to what’s become a culture of the angrily righteous. He says that only lovers of people can speak with moral authority.
There are many explorations in the teachings of the prophets of Ancient Israel (from what Christians call the Old Testament) as well as references to recent prophets such as Dorothy Day and Dr. Martin Luther King.
Rohr is reaching out to both political poles, with understanding of what divides people. He writes: “Can a pious pro-lifer ever admit that war, capital punishment, and social justice are also pro-life issues? Can the political left ever recognize its therapeutic bias, its individualism, its rejection of transcendence, its lack of support for the common good? Our small, myopic agendas have nullified the triumphant work of grace for too long.”
As always, he offers much to ponder. For instance in chapter 4 (“Welcoming Holy Disorder”), in the midst of offering “ten developed qualities in would-be prophets,” he begins by saying that in the early history of Christianity “no one was sought, or tolerated, as a prophet after Jesus himself ascended from this world.” The implication is, do this thoughtfully, prayerfully. And after the ten spot-on qualities are enumerated, Rohr writes: “Without these qualities, we see many who are supposedly truth-tellers, yet what they manifest is not the fruits of the Spirit. Many reformers, after all, have been known less for the quality of their love than for the intensity of their zeal.”
A summary at book’s end of “The Way of the Prophet” includes 20 statements of what’s been discussed in the previous 160 pages. These include “They look for where the suffering is and go there, just as Jesus did” and “They call forth tears more than anger. The tears of everything.” (Hence, the title.)
It’s a powerful, important work.
Go Deeper:
The Cry of the Prophet: An e-course by Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister that explores the prophets' call to a visionary fullness of life.
