The Kingdom Breaks Up: Enter the Prophets

A Warrior of the Light accepts his Personal legend completely.

His companions say: “He has remarkable faith!”

For a moment, the Warrior feels proud, then immediately feels ashamed of what he has heard because he does not have as much faith as he appears to have.

At that moment, his angel whispers: “You are only an instrument of the Light. There is no reason to feel proud or to feel guilty. There are only reasons to feel happy.”

And the Warrior of the Light, aware now that he is but an instrument, feels calmer and more secure.

Weekly Fun Sheet for 1.07.08-1.11.08
The Second Book of Samuel (cross reference text, pp. 146-158)

· Monday: in-class review (Crossword, Ch. 5 & 6); 1 Kings 12: 1-20, 25-33; 13: 1-34
· Tuesday: 1 Kings 16:23-33; 1 Kings 17: 1-16; 1 Kings 18: 17-40
· Wednesday: 1 Kings 19: 1-18; 1 Kings 21: 1-29; 1 Kings 22: 29-38
· Thursday: in-class review Due “For Review” pp. 152, 158 (10 pts.); 2 Kings 2: 1-17
· Friday: 2 Kings 2: 19-22; 2 Kings 4: 1-44; 2 Kings 5: 1-19

Some things to consider:

Brothers,

This week we are introduced more formally to the life and sayings of the prophets, most especially: Elijah and Elisha. Their words of wisdom provided the Israelites with guidance and warning in a time of great division, a time after the reign of Solomon when the kingdom of Israel was split in two: Israel in the North and Judah in the South (cf. map on page 150).

As you read about the “nonwriting prophets,” keep in mind that they are not a bunch of sooth-saying fortune tellers with top-secret access to divine knowledge. Rather, they are disciples of God, united to His spirit by way of contemplation—that is, prayer—and action. Their entire faith, and the faith of the Jews in general, is thus exemplified by their lifestyle of prayer and service. The agenda of the prophets is only to love and remind the Israelites that they, too, are capable of fulfilling God’s will through love.

In the words of Mary Reed Newland, author of your textbook, “…the prophets’ ringing accusations and pleas for fidelity and goodness have become a literature ranked among the noblest writings of the ancient world and among the most useful for the modern” (149). And so their message is just as fitting for us today, as we strive to do God’s will—that is, live out our Personal Legend’s—of love in a society continually afflicted by distraction, division, war, violence, and materialistic greed.

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