Screaming

Jane Denniston October 21, 2026 0 0

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Habakkuk 1: 1–4 (NIVUK)

1 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.

2 How long, Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’
    but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralysed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice is perverted.

Where are the prophets today, those who oppose the establishment? We might think of those who warn us about climate change. Is Greta Thunberg a prophet? Or those who shout about the injustice, or indeed danger, of extreme wealth and extreme poverty living side by side. Is Gary Stevenson a prophet? After all, a prophet in the Bible doesn’t foresee the future: a prophet speaks truth to power or warns the people of the consequences of their actions if they don’t turn aside from their path.

I am reminded of the Paul Simon song, ‘Sound of Silence’, which is in itself a prophetic utterance: ‘The words of the prophet are written on the subway walls!’ Much graffiti is meaningless. Some is just vandalism, some is genuine art, but sometimes graffiti is a way for ordinary people to make a mark, to shout out to others, to comment visibly on all that is wrong in our society today. For example:

‘Be nice, hate will kill you inside’

‘Some people are so poor, all they have is money’

‘Listen to the voiceless’

‘You are valid’

Have you ever seen a piece of graffiti that stopped you in your tracks? If you were to write on a subway wall, what would you write? Or are there other ways we can make our voices heard in this noisy and overstimulated world? You too can be a prophet!

Prayer:

Lord, you must be angry

when you see children die for want of food or water.

When you see communities destroyed by the effects of human created climate change.

When you see your warring children driven by greed and lust for power, leaving behind devastation for which others pay the price.

Do you scream at us to

Wake up!

Wise up!

Welly up!

Awaken in us the desire to be prophets

and the knowledge of how to do it.

Give us your words to combat the worst this world has to offer

and show us the platform to achieve it.

Bless the actions we take

and multiply their effects throughout this planet

to counteract harm with good.

Help us, loving God, to spread your love, Amen