If I Had One Prophecy ~

If I had one prophecy ~

I might prophesy that abortion will remain legal for another 47 years AND I would add to my prophecy that only Love is greater than laws, only Love is significant enough to offer solutions, and only Love would create bipartisan ideas to offer women the answers they so richly deserve when faced with the complexities that will always transcend partisan rancor. 

I'd prophesy Love.

Love would create Pro-life and Pro Choice wisdom for the greater good of a society at the brink of self destruction. I’d prophesy what Jesus said, “You’ve heard it said of old, ‘thou shalt not kill’, but I say if you are angry and call people fools, you should be brought before the ‘supreme court’”. It seems to me Jesus is pressing us to realize we have much greater heart issues to win! And, as such, by Love we could insure that babies will no longer be born into a world of this murderous hatred we’ve created. 

I’d prophesy Love.

I could possibly prophesy that the church of the USA HAS come just together to vote for the best solutions our nation faces today. I’d add to my prophecy that voting as a single block of partisan robots has only succeeded to further divide us thus preventing any honest political ideals from becoming solutions. 

Through the eyes of Love I might prophesy that multiplied millions of Americans of faith in Christ came together and voted across all party lines; for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents who must now learn to work together as family or perish together as fools. 

And through those same eyes of Love I’d prophesy that Catholic Christians, Orthodox Christians, and Christians of multiple notions awakened to elect all different kinds of human beings with a wide diversity of beliefs and lifestyles to represent EVERYONE in the USA and not just a select few…in order that we’d all have to learn to live beyond hate. And while I'm on the subject of faith, I'd prophesy Love for Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and beyond...

I’d prophesy Love.

I’d be so bold (if I did prophesy in such a manner) as to suggest that the one billion Catholic Christians on earth could be proud to say they have the unique and extraordinary opportunity of having one their own as the President of the USA (only the second time in American history). I’d prophesy that their liturgy would unify with him at weekly mass and the possibility of one billion people praying together would have planetary implications.

I’d prophesy Love. 

My bold prophecy (if I were to prophesy so boldly) would extend to proclaim a new day for Protestants whose exhaustion with the vain repetition of demanding monolithic singular political solutions has finally pressed us to accept the art of healthy compromise. I’d prophesy a day of Love for and among politicians to remember that their best work is done in the art of compromise (the real work of political science) in order that all will have some answers rather than half getting everything while leaving the other half to boil in bitterness. 

I’d prophesy Love. 

My prophecy would rest on the Shoulders of Jesus’ prayer, “Father, that they all may be one as we are one…that the world might believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). And my prophecy would reach for an end to “us versus them”; an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth world promising only a blind and toothless existence. 

My proposed prophecy would stand in the middle of the dreamy notions of Prophets like Isaiah and Micah who imagined the day when all weapons of war would be converted into agricultural marvels to feed everyone on earth equally…why? Because of Love, that’s why.

I’d prophesy Love.

Yes…I’d prophesy Love and never (never have, never will) a politician.

Only Love deserves that kind of endorsement. 

Only Love will do the heavy lifting of the challenges before us. 

Only Love will demand more of us than all our previous ideas and debates.

Only Love will point us upward and away from the mess we’ve created. 

“Love alone is credible.” ~Hans Urs von Balthasar~ 

"Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away..." ~St. Paul~

Herod Will Never Be "Great Again"

An intriguing parallel to the current political machinations of the USA is found in the familiar Christmastide story of the Magi in Matthew 2:1-15. 

The legendary crew of the Wisemen (and the necessary entourage likely surrounding them) arrives in Jerusalem in their eager pursuit of seeing the baby born as “King of the Jews”.  All they have to go on is a mysterious star in the night sky and that mystic ideal in and of itself describes their sweet naivety.

So in that naive mindset, they accept an invitation to King Herod for further directions and information about that King of the Jews, who we know is Jesus. Herod was so troubled by the rumors of why these far east visitors had arrived in Jerusalem that he tapped into the wisdom of local religious scholars for where a new King of the Jews would be born. 

“Bethlehem, Land of Judah…” they announced, and thus Herod passed along this borrowed spiritual revelation, no doubt hoping to sound like a fellow pilgrim…especially when he feigned, “…when you have found him, report to me, that I too may come and worship him.” 

We all know the rest of the story; the Magi find the Baby, they worship Him, and they are warned by God in a dream (once again underscoring their delightful naivety) to flee the fraud, King Herod ~ “The Great”. Herod (the Great!) is so embarrassingly insecure about these goings on, that he orders baby boys under the age of 2 from Bethlehem killed in order to cling to his power. 

Fast forward to America 2021; our own version of Herod (The Great) is currently clinging to power by any and all means. Feigning spiritual connection, our modern Herod has rubbed some shoulders of religious groups enough to be able to parrot a few Bible verses…and not coincidently, we are seeing generation affected by this fiasco who are being alienated by the deadly marriage of politics and religious faith.  

A certain picture of failing authority is the scratching and clawing to maintain it at the mere mention of something better on the horizon. On the other side of this magnificent tale, a sure sign of royal greatness is in the vision of a relaxed baby protected by transcendent majesties…without a care in the world. 

A dream similar to that which came to the Magi warning them “not to return to Herod” is coming soon to spiritual theaters of the mind all across our nation. Eager, mystical, and even naive spiritual pilgrims will become the stuff of legendary stories because they saw through the fakery of an emotionally weak King and listened rather to dreams of a better way… 

Herod and all his line of Herod successors have fallen. Herod will never be “Great Again”. When Jesus was offered all the geopolitical power He could ever dream of, He waved off the Satan with the simplicity of a naive commitment to worship God alone (Luke 4:6,7) 

It’s time for the rise of another troop of simple, star-gazing worshippers wise enough to flee the trappings of scheming politicians.