The words of the prophets

Sometimes you are confronted with something that you consider obvious, but is put back into the spotlight through a different perspective. I had that feeling very strongly recently with the words that prophets speak to us. To a Mormon that all sounds obvious. We believe that our church is led by Christ, but He does so through His prophet. After all, Mormons regard the president of their church as a prophet.

Why am I bringing this up now? A song made me think about this. An old song that I had known for a long time, but now it was covered in a way that gave me goosebumps. It was my dear wife who gave me the version of Disturbed  The Sound of Silence was played, and at first I thought “no, what a rape of one of my favorite songs”, but after a few times I had to admit that the new version actually has much more power and made me listen (again) to the words:

The words that stick with me are right at the end:

And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence

Without thinking about the meaning of the song - if it even has one because Paul Simon, its writer, has never given a clear answer to that question - I am wondering: "Would people really still listen to the words of the prophets if they saw them written on the walls of the subway stations?".

Where are the words of the prophets?

I personally don't think so. Few people from our Western culture still draw inspiration and hope from biblical texts and the words of the prophets of old. Why exactly? Why are those words only spoken in a limited circle and perhaps only whispered outside?

I can only imagine that it has become too far-fetched for many people. In the past, faith was not a choice and was the only way to have an answer to many questions, even if that answer was “that is too difficult for you to understand.” After all, for a long time the words of the prophets were only spoken to people, and then only the interpretation of the words.

I still hear my dear 84-year-old grandmother tell me that in her youth it was considered sinful to read the Bible. That was only for Mr. Pastor and other learned people. Whether the Catholic Church really had the goal of keeping people stupid is a judgment I leave to historians. I'm just stating that people alive today have never had much experience with the words of prophets.

Because the next generation is already a “liberated” generation. Because of the understandable reaction, people no longer had to or wanted to listen to the words of the prophets. From then on, science had the answers and within a few decades the words of the prophets only resembled ancient relics, proof of how wrong things used to be.

The world was moving forward and the biblical texts had become fossilized, for many even cold and barren echoes from the past. The group of people who still build their lives on words from times long past became increasingly smaller. Why? Why then should such words only be used as works of art on the walls of subways and rental halls, with as little use beyond decorative as that of a medieval gargoyle on an old belfry?

Living prophets

I think that's because most people no longer find them applicable. After all, they are warnings given in circumstances that are no longer ours. You indeed have to interpret them and place them in historical time frames in order to understand them and certainly in order to look for a meaning that can still be useful today.

It's one of the things that comes with religion. It is old, ossified, withered, outdated. In one fell swoop, this applies not only to the words of those prophets, but also to the institutions that still build their existence on them, as well as to all those who still follow the words of the prophets. What's more, those who still do are considered abnormal, and if they continue to appear in larger numbers, they even seem to pose a threat in the same way the Huns once threatened ancient Rome.

As a Mormon, I sometimes look at this with a bit of pity and shake my head in pitiful contemplation, mumbling under my breath. Because one of our beliefs on which we are sometimes treated harshly by those who believe differently, first and foremost, unfortunately, other fellow Christians, is the explanation why for us the words of the prophets are not cold memories of an old past that will no longer return.

Mormons believe that God has always spoken to His children, just as any loving parent does. With advice, reminders and expressions of love. Sometimes hard, sometimes very soft. Why would an all-loving Father suddenly remain silent and have kept his mouth shut for two thousand years? The answers others have to this question are, to me, merely explanations as to why the words of prophets seem so rigid to others.

One of the many reasons why I consciously chose to be baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints years ago is precisely the fact that we believe that the president of our Church is a living prophet. That he, together with the apostles, still bring prophetic messages and help us to place the words of their predecessors in the right light.

Religion is not for God but for man

Only in this way is faith a living matter for me. As humanity, we now know so much more than before. God is unchangeable, but we are not. Have religions made mistakes? Sure, if only because we couldn't understand a lot of things. But does the fact that God is unchangeable mean that religion itself is unchangeable? Certainly not. Religion is not for God, but for man.

Within our church, where there has been a tradition of living and speaking prophets since its inception, this is sometimes very difficult for our members to grasp. Many members who leave the church do so because something changes at some point. They are actually people who rigidify religion and have difficulty with changes. 

People often ignore the fact that there is unchangeable doctrine and changeable customs. Changing the temple rituals because we now have many more members and the work is accelerating (as foretold by prophets) never changes the doctrine that we must make covenants to obtain eternal life. They are then only methods and symbols that change to make religion easier and better for us.

That is precisely why I think Mormonism is a modern religion. Things dare to change. Good thing, too. This way we can be sure that if errors have already crept in somewhere, they can be corrected. Anyone who later takes an honest look at such changes will be able to conclude that the changes came about because we as humans had changed. 

However, a modern religion does not mean that it is man who chooses everything. Then it is a religion in which God becomes a mere object and is molded like a golden calf statue into the shape that the worshipers expect. Customs may change, but doctrine cannot.

To make that distinction, we need more than ever the words of the prophets, of living prophets. Of people who are close to God, but are still human. Who make mistakes themselves, because that's how they understand us. Even God could never have been the God He is for us if He had not sent His son to us to become human and understand what it is to be human.

That's why He knows we need help. That is why there is religion; not for Him but for us. That is why there are the words of the prophets. Whether they are written on subway walls, in beautifully printed magazines or gold-rimmed books or distributed via social media; none of that matters. As long as they break the silence and we want to listen for a moment.

And all because of a song by a heavy metal band... Inspiration sometimes comes in a strange corner.