Eternal Optimism amidst Despair - an existential choice...

I must assume the stance of the eternal optimist, despite the daily discouragement which tells me that all my hopes and efforts are merely cast into the wind to be scattered like ashes, soon to be forgotten. But if that is the appointed task of a prophet, then who am I to question the Almighty who has recruited me to speak to the heathen masses? The great prophet Isaiah was called to the same task. Isaiah worried that his message would not be received, crying out to God, "How long, O Lord?" He must have teetered on the verge of despair when he heard the answer, "until the land becomes desolate and barren, and the people are scattered into foreign lands...", but he knew that his vocation still demanded this service of him, that he must give the warning even though it would go unheeded.

And yet in another time, the message of impending doom was also given to Jonah, who knew within his heart that there was a chance that the Ninevites might hear his words and repent. Jonah, however, felt the anger which stirred in God's heart, and desired that the judgement foretold to fall upon the unrighteous would actually come to pass. He did not agree with the offer of mercy, which the divine warning implied. But I do.

I do not know which is the scenario that must be played out in this age. The whole world stands in the position of the city of Ninevah, rife with ungodliness and faced with the choice of reform or destruction. There are those who do not have ears to hear, nor eyes to see. They say that the message is too hard, that it is beyond the understanding of simple people, that the prophet must speak in a language that can be grasped by the common man, or else he must not be a prophet after all. I cannot help the style of the words I must use. They are the way of understanding which I was given. I can only hope that God (Baruch haShem) has not decreed that He will stop up the ears, and darken the eyes of this generation, that they should not hear, nor see the judgement that is to come.

I do not claim to be a prophet of the stature of the great Isaiah, nor do I have the certainty of Jonah, that the words of God will inevitably urge those who live in darkness to repent. I am but a small voice, whispering to the winds that blow in the desert, because I must. I have answered the awesome question, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" with a trembling voice, "Here I am. Send me." I too have my faults, to fear that I am unworthy of the encounter with His Holiness, but I can do no less than give whatever service is asked of me. I can only hope that some shall hear, that there will be responses enough to turn away the catastrophes that would come with judgement and wrath. I must assume the stance of the eternal optimist.