If you’re of a certain age, you probably remember the song Woodstock. Though it was written and recorded by Joni Mitchell, the electric version by Crosby, Stills and Nash may be better known. Anyway, there’s a lyric in that song that has always stuck with me:
…and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.
Today that line resonates more than ever. We seem to be far, far away from the garden, don’t we? You might say we’re headed in the wrong direction. A few weeks ago, I wrote “the world is on fire,” and author and mystic Mirabai Starr recently used the same expression. She eloquently expanded on its meaning, stating some of the issues that are top-of-mind for many of us:
Support for the most vulnerable among us is being slashed while the most privileged among us are granted unimaginable entitlements. The genocide in Gaza goes on and on, a fragile ceasefire in Iran threatens to collapse, and despotic leaders swell with unchecked power. In the name of corporate profit, the climate catastrophe continues to intensify, despite ongoing dire warnings. Our collective grief pours across the horizon like blood.
Who Will Lead Us Out of the Wilderness?
How do we bring justice to an unjust world? How can we behave compassionately in a time of violence and increasing economic despair? How do we right the wrongs happening daily in front of our eyes? In his new book The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for An Age of Outrage, Richard Rohr says that there are people who can show us a way forward: The Old Testament prophets.
Rohr writes that there are similarities in the stories of the prophets, people who believed that “taking responsibility for the common good is the more important moral mandate.” This is contrary to what is happening in many parts of society today, where we too often find ourselves “happily on the side of the successful, of ego and ill-gotten comfort, rather than the side of truth and justice.” He explains:
The prophets, far ahead of their time, learned that it is social sin that destroys civilization and humanity: global warming, war, idealization of immense wealth, celebrity worship, the pursuit of fame and fortune, immense and growing income inequality, a denial of common truth, and on and on.
“Prophets appear first as an early warning system within any culture at risk.” ~Steven Charleston
Rohr writes about the similar storylines of several prophets, including a more obscure one named Amos. The story of Amos, which dates back 2,800 years, is one we might relate to today. Unlike many other prophets, Amos was not a member of a prophetic school or a priest. He was a simple shepherd and fig-tree farmer.
In the 8th century BCE, during a time of prosperity and social inequality in Israel, Amos was called on by God to travel many miles from his home and deliver a message of judgment. The message was directed at the people of Israel, who were living in luxury while the poor were being oppressed.
Amos criticized “those who squeezed lives of luxury out of an unjust system,” people who are “oppressing the needy, crushing the poor.” Although the Israelites regarded themselves as religious, Amos stated that their actions held no significance to God because they were not accompanied by justice or righteousness in their own lives.
While Amos boldly expressed his outrage, it was a message that those in power did not want to hear. And while his message seemed to fall on deaf ears, it ends on a positive note. You see, Amos offers a glimmer of hope, foreseeing a future kingdom of peace and prosperity. A final verse tells of an abundant harvest to come:
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.”
Back to the garden, indeed. Though it does get you wondering: Who are the prophets of today? Rohr mentions none by name, but says they are “truth tellers” who confront the moral failures of society. They focus not just on individual sin, but on ending war and reforming corrupt systems of money and power. And just like the prophets of the Old Testament, they move from anger and outrage to deep grief, followed ultimately by love and compassion.
Can we really move beyond outrage to love?
This is difficult medicine to take. Love those who trample on the rights and well-being of the weak and vulnerable? Love those who care more about lining their own well-filled pockets than spending pennies on the poor and less fortunate? Rohr says yes, asking us to move beyond anger and sadness to a place of profound love. He wants us to act with compassion and moral authority without being consumed by outrage. He explains:
If it is love at all, it has to be love for everybody. As soon as you begin to parcel it out, you are not in the great field of love.
When your love becomes selective or restricted, it no longer reflects the inclusive nature exemplified by Christ, nor does it align with the unconditional love that God extends to all. It’s an idea that mirrors something Rob Bell wrote many years ago in the book Love Wins:
Which is stronger and more powerful, the hardness of the human heart or God’s unrelenting, infinite, expansive love? God’s love, of course.
In that book, Bell urged us to not ignore “the quiet grace that grabs us in the middle of the night and assures us that we’re going to be fine.” Our only job is to stay alert and aware of the love that can both inspire us and guide us. Bell closes Love Wins with this verse:
May you experience this vast,
expansive, infinite, indestructible love
that has been yours all along.
May you discover that this love is as wide
as the sky and as small as the cracks in
your heart no one else knows about,
and may you know,
deep in your bones,
that love wins.
With the world on fire, will love really win? I don’t know and can’t say I’m feeling it “deep in my bones” as Bell suggests. But if Richard Rohr, one of the great spiritual sages of our time believes that love will ultimately rule the day, who am I to disagree?
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