“The hero experiences the extraordinary as ordinary;
the prophet experiences the extraordinary within the ordinary.”
— Søren Kierkegaard
A hero
experiences the extraordinary
as ordinary.
Like Samson—
what astonished others
was simply his daily strength.
The crowd admires such power.
It praises it.
It consumes it.
But a hero
cannot survive without applause.
He feeds on favor.
Without it, he starves.
His existence rests
on admiration.
And admiration is fragile.
A prophet is different.
A prophet
experiences the extraordinary
within the ordinary.
Where others see routine,
he senses fracture.
Where others feel comfort,
he feels disturbance.
That sensitivity isolates him.
It invites resistance.
It often costs him everything.
Yet the prophet
does not stand on applause.
He stands
on something inward.
And so,
when the noise fades,
the hero disappears
with the crowd,
but the prophet remains
in silence.
To collapse—
or to stand.