It is difficult for us to visualise Israel in the 8th
century BC -- as remote from the time of Jesus as the High Middle Ages is from
us. It was the late Iron Age. There were two kingdoms, Judah in the south
and Samaria in the north. Amos the
prophet emerges in Judah, in a time of endemic violence and official
corruption. He is, he says, a sheep
herder and a grower of figs. He
addresses the north, Samaria, misruled by Jereboam II, and he condemns …you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring
righteousness to the ground…! It
seems eerily familiar in recent times. And
he goes on:
They hate the one who
reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. Therefore
because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have
built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted
pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are
your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the
righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. Therefore
the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. (Amos
5:7-13)
Keep silent comes
as a surprise… but Amos thinks so. We
know that he wrote his prophecies, rather than proclaim them in public. It is as though there is a pitch of determined
evil and greed, with law and truth becoming negotiable, when speaking up for
God and righteousness is simply not going to be heard except with public derision. It is not merely that evil things are
happening – it is that powerful people are determined on their own way irrespective
of its effects on others. At such a time,
says Amos, the prudent will keep silent.
Persistence in prayer, passive resistance, peaceful persuasion,
patience… will be the ways to bear witness.
We now know moreover that there was a major earthquake in
that region at that time – it is referred to by Amos himself, it is mentioned in
other writings, and it is traced in the geological and archaeological records. The earthquake occasioned fear and disruption. Again, how familiar is all this?
There are two things to bring together for our
discernment. One is all that is going
wrong. Power is getting priority over
justice, truth and equity, godlessness is becoming the norm among many decent
people, religion is in confusion and increasingly despised, violence reigns in
many places with all its terrible consequences… we seem more and more
susceptible both to climate change and to seismic catastrophe. The
other is the question, how we are to be, to live, to respond. We can take a hint from Amos… and from the
wisdom of Ecclesiastes: There is a time
to speak, and there is a time to keep silent[1].
Both times matter. In contemplative life and prayer we create a
rhythm between the two – including in daily life, among friends and family. We know that both are essential – speaking,
and silence. We are learning discernment
in speaking, what Benedict calls restraint of speech. We are learning the fruits of silence,
openness to the Spirit of Wisdom and Truth, gentle resistance… Either way, it is a matter of truth and
simplicity, in life and in prayer.
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