Merton on the prophet

{I recently received an email from a friend which included the following. It was interesting enough I pass it along to you.}

So before we can become prophetic, we have to be authentic human beings, people who can exist outside a structure, who can create their own existence, who have within themselves the resources for affirming their identity and their freedom in any situation in which they find themselves. This means people capable of creating a life for themselves who are not identified with a structure.

To live prophetically, you’ve got to be questioning and looking at factors behind the facts. You’ve got to be aware that there are contradictions.

Thomas Merton. The Springs of Contemplation: A Retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani. (Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 1972). p. 109.

The prophet has been on my mind for sometime. I have been studying Isaiah since last summer. I have been wrestling with this issue of speaking truth, where you know the truth is hard to swallow & won’t be received well or at all but nonetheless needs to be spoken. With a Western Church in disarray & decline, the prophet will be the possibility of something different.