“Every one of us must undertake an apprenticeship with sorrow. We must learn the art and craft of grief, discover the profound ways it ripens and deepens us… Facing grief is hard work.. It takes outrageous courage to face outrageous loss. This is precisely what we are being called to do.” Francis Weller
Prophets, poets, healers, and performance artists share some strange qualities - embodying and literally living through their visions to transmit messages, transformations and helpful images to people in need of inspiration, tough truth, solace and hope. In some ways we are all disciples and apprentices in the art of grief and some of these masters - like Ezekiel, like Weller - help us get there.
Ezekiel is living among refugees, traumatized Judeans who were uprooted from their homes, suffered losses and indignities, somehow trying to rebuild their lives on foreign soil. Like so many leaders past and present, he is called upon to give his people consolation, tools and teachings for survival, and sweet visions that will boost their hopes. He spends seven days among the refugees of Tel Abib - the refuge city on the banks of the canals where his people live, and he spends those seven days in isolation - watching them. He then is instructed to walk out of town into a deep valley where the wind howls secrets to him - words that he deciphers - instructed by God how to address the people -- letting them know that atonement is always possible for those who will choose the better path.
His first major prophetic feat recorded in his book is to receive a written scroll from the divine hand - to open wide - and swallow it.
Is this some code word for substance use? Perhaps.
What’s instructive here is that the scroll is written on both sides with lamentations and litanies. It is a scroll of sorrow -- and he needs to consume it in order to redeliver its contents to the people as a way to wake them up. But somehow this bitter pill already transforms to become a different flavor in his mouth and mind:
So I opened my mouth, and I was given this scroll to eat, as I was told, “Mortal, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I give you.” I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey to me.
Mystical teachings that read this verse mention that one needs to face one’s suffering with equanimity and acceptance as a way to sweeten even the worst sorrows that may come our way.
There’s a popular Israeli song that was composed in the early 80’s by Naomi Shemer, called Al Kol Elah - All of This. The song is a prayer for acceptance of all that happens, both the honey and the sting. In recent weeks, as Israelis everywhere try to make sense of their reality, this song is once again heard in healing circles and prayer vigils, on the radio and quoted on people’s messages of hope:
“Every bee that brings the honey
Needs a sting to be complete
And we all must learn to taste the bitter with the sweet.
Keep, my God, the fire burning
Through the night and through the day
For the one who is returning
from so far away.”
Ezekiel will try to tell the people the content of the scroll, both sorrow and sweetness, in order to give them what they need to deal and heal. But neither he nor his sender are convinced that it will work. Since when do the stubborn Judeans listen to their prophets? After he consumes the scroll, the Divine says to him:
As we wrap our first week with Ezekiel, in the middle of this cruel and challenging chapter for so many people, with so much grief and sorrow - let there also be some honey, sweetness, ways with which to face what’s coming, balance the bitter and to offer us supprt and optimism in whatever way we can.
Image: The Sinsila Honey Shop in East Jerusalem, a Israeli-Palestinian visionary project that transforms empty spaces into vibrant gardens and beehives on Jerusalem’s rooftops, empowering women to be beekeepers and produce bio-organic honey. Visit the site to learn more and support this way to keep planting hope.
@FrancisWeller
Below the Bible Belt: 929 chapters, 42 months, daily reflections.Become a free or paid subscriber and join Rabbi Amichai’s 3+ years interactive online quest to question, queer + re-read between the lines of the entire Hebrew Bible. Enjoy daily posts, weekly videos and monthly learning sessions. 2022-2025.
The imagery of Ezekiel consuming the scroll is so evocative, and resonates powerfully with that of Isaiah purifying his lips with a burning coal. This idea that to be a prophet for the divine requires a kind of break with day-to-day sense and logic is powerful--standing in one's truth can look irrational and insane to those not partaking in the vision. Standing up and declaring that something is wrong when people are trying to shout you down. This is, as you say, the work of prophets, poets, healers, and performance artists--and the incredibly brave rabbi who stood up to the President and demanded a ceasefire while the people around her shouted at and heckled her. This is a time for prophets to call us back to our spiritual values--to Life.
The imagery of Ezekiel consuming the scroll is so evocative, and resonates powerfully with that of Isaiah purifying his lips with a burning coal. This idea that to be a prophet for the divine requires a kind of break with day-to-day sense and logic is powerful--standing in one's truth can look irrational and insane to those not partaking in the vision. Standing up and declaring that something is wrong when people are trying to shout you down. This is, as you say, the work of prophets, poets, healers, and performance artists--and the incredibly brave rabbi who stood up to the President and demanded a ceasefire while the people around her shouted at and heckled her. This is a time for prophets to call us back to our spiritual values--to Life.