"Prophets are uncomfortable to be around. They may influence people but they certainly do not make friends by telling us hard truths we would rather not hear, especially when they claim to speak for God. Much is made of their ability to foretell the future, but, in reality, prophets simply warn us with provocative and threatening words of the possible consequences of actions we know in our hearts to be wrong. They are far more courageous than the rest of us in “speaking truth to power,” a phrase coined in the 1940s by Bayard Rustin, an African-American Quaker and civil rights activist, which best expresses the modern prophet’s job description." If you would like to read more of my Essay, "Prophets Old and New: Speaking the Truth to Power," accompanied by illustrations from artists in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection, visit the Themes of Faith gallery in my sacredartmeditations website (John Kohan)