High like a telephone pole

I was raised in the church, but the Christianity was of nothing deeper than felt boards, Father Abraham, and a picture Bible. When I got a little older, my faith was not influenced by a church but by the stronger Christians in my family, who happened to be charismatic. While my feelings on the matter have changed some since then, at the time I was surrounded by speaking in tongues, laying on of hands, anointing in oil, and once... prophesy.

Now, I am not too sure about prophesy of the sort that speaks to the individual. It is a bit too reminiscent of fortune telling, I think. And our ways, flawed creatures that we are, move so erratically that to truly predict them in a meaningful way will make the telling so specific that it will make it easier to force its fulfillment. Furthermore, it is far less difficult for a single person to complete - or thwart - a prophesy than it is for a whole nation, or even all of creation.

I do not know much about the theological ideas on prophesy (but I would like to learn more from you Bible college students who are better versed in the specifics); yet I do know that there is always a feeling of mystery to the prophet's words up to and maybe even after their fulfillment. They should not be something simple to decipher long before the relevant events. Of course, prophesies aren't always just promises of doom and destruction, or of hope and salvation. But they aren't generic, either.

When I was fourteen I met a man at a meeting who was a prophet. He was speaking over some of the people there, and at one point called me into the middle where he spoke words about me. Now, honestly, the things he said could be interpreted to apply to anyone. There was nothing in his words that appealed to me and my nature and life. And so I wonder... was he really speaking something God wanted me to hear? Or were these generalities he might have uttered to any young person?

[In case you wanted to know, while I do not remember everything he said, here is some of it:

"You have a high calling, high like a telephone pole."
"God's will for you will unfold as a rose."
"You will meet a sheep in wolf's clothing." Yes, that's what he said.]

I am amazed at how innocent minds, unused to questioning and cynicism, will absorb and accept all things. I took all he said, all I had heard until that point, as something factual and not to be doubted. But looking back, I wonder at the foundations for my faith, and whether they may not be a bit skewed. This is not to say there is anything specifically wrong with all the things that charismatics typically do - they just do them in excess.