The words of the prophets...

... are written on the subway walls, according to Simon and Garfunkel. Now while I agree with the sentiment, I am not sure how "Paul loves Donna" can be translated into a meaningful word for me today. Maybe they had better quality graffitti artists.

In fact, I think the words of the prophets are more likely to be written by the songwriters and musicians today. Not all of them - oddly "I'm a Cheeky Girl" is not quite up there with the writings of Isaiah, but songwriters like Simon and Garfunkel, R.E.M., U2, Pink Floyd often produce poetic genius, meaningful song lyrics, accompanied by appropriate music - remember, the medium is the message, so the musical presentation is part of the prophetic words.

What really strikes me is that these messages are not very much like the "prophecies" we so often hear in church circles. The messages that these artists - and others, like Radiohead, The Verve - give is normally one of challenge, questioning, upsetting, not "God loves you really". A song like No Surprises, by Radiohead is intended to shock and kick - "A job that slowly kills you, bruises that won't heal ... A handshake of carbon monoxide" is a vivid portrait of the comfortable, middle class culture that the church is so often part of.

I suppose it all depends on what you understand a prophet to be. Because the Old Testament prophets were not people who told the future. They were people who told of the reality of the current. They gave a God's-eye view of what was going on. They refused to say "everything is OK" when it wasn't. They refused to say "everything is wrong" when it wasn't. All they did was say things as they were, give a wider perspective on how the world was.

Of course, not all songwriters are prophetic. Not all songs of a particular artist are prophetic. But for some, they are worth listening to, not for their good music, but because they are saying things that we need to hear. They are not the only prophets today - the world of entertainment provides others too, where "entertainers" can prod us and make us really consider issues that we need to think about. Comedy can do this particularly well. But drama is also a way into out conscience.

We need to retune our ears to hear the prophets. They were alsays very disturbing people in their community. They are today disturbing the church as they always have done.