 Léon Bonnat, La Lutte de Jacob (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel), 1876 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:L%C3%A9on_Bonnat,_La_Lutte_de_Jacob_%28Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel%29,_1876,_NGA_86066.jpg This question was posed to me by a friend. I never imagined an angel would want anything from humans. Why? Were they not assigned by God to be our protectors, benefactors and guides? What duty, if ;any , do we have to them?
As usual, I turned to the good book to see what I could discover. Of course I knew about the first angel to visit humans in the Garden -- Lucifer, angel of light and a fallen angel, tempts humans with the apple from the tree of knowledge. A story of pride and prejudice against the authority of God. But what did Lucifer want? Genesis tells us to separate them from God and usurp their dominion over the earth. They were fooled and they were cast out. Later in Genesis Jacob wrestles with an angel desperate to receive a blessing before seeing his brother Esau. The angel injures him leaving him with a permanent limp as a reminder of his faith in God. What did this angel want? To true up Jacob to his faith? True him up to himself? There are many other instances of angelic encounters (about a dozen or so) but the one that really speaks to me is Lucifer tempting Christ when he was in the desert for 40 days. Tempting him with food, and power and asking him to test God. We know that Christ is not tempted. What did Lucifer want this time? He wanted Christ to abandon his mission of salvation and worship Lucifer instead. So what do the angels want? The fallen angels want power for sure, but if we pull back the lens even farther we could say that the angels are asking humans to discern for themselves what is good and right and just by having them check in with themselves.
Could the Angels be asking this of us? Why not? We are down here on earth really making a mess of things. A little discernment would go a long way. ~ Joseph Olejak
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 GRAPHIC CREDIT from the US Dept of Defense The logo was presented by Jack Shanahan of project maven and was worked on by senior level officials When I consider the ways my country has deeply offended my spiritual values I think back to the firebombing of Dresden, the dropping of the atomic weapon on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, getting in a "war" in Vietnam under false pretenses (Gulf of Tonkin lie), attacking Iraq under false pretenses (the Colin Powell yellow cake uranium lie) and the idiotic notion that we could defeat Afghanistan (a country nicknamed the graveyard of empires -- Britain, Russia and now the US are on that list). And then there is the war with Iran (or is it an excursion, a skirmish, or a love tap).
However, while these acts violated international law and the rules of war, and basic human dignity, the place we are heading is far darker. A few years back Leigh Strimbeck shared a one woman play at the Meeting house about the emotional toll it took on drone pilots (operating from cubicles in the Nevada desert) to kill from afar. At the time many Quakers felt this was a kind of killing that was far too easy. More like a video game than actual warfare. Where we are going is the elimination of the messy work of killing. is the world of AI directed autonomous weapons. And yes, you guessed it, Uncle Sam is at the forefront of it. It's called Project Maven. AKA Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional Team and abbreviated AWCFT Project Maven is a United States Department of Defense initiative launched in 2017 to accelerate the adoption of machine learning and data integration across U.S. military intelligence workflows, specifically in intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance as well as in geospatial intelligence. (now you know why we have a 5th branch of the military aka Space Force) It initially focused on applying computer vision for processing images and videos for intelligence purposes. Currently, the program operates under the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and encompasses multiple applications across the Department of Defense spanning military operation targeting support, data integration and visualization for analysts, and training machine learning models on labeled datasets of military assets and infrastructure. It integrates data from drones, satellites, and other sensors to flag potential targets, present findings to human analysts, and relay their decisions to operational systems. The program originated under Deputy Secretary Robert O. Work after he raised concerns about China's advances in defense applications of artificial intelligence. Project leaders, Colonel Drew Cukor, USMC, and Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, framed the program as human-in-the-loop decision support inside the Department of Defense rather than as an autonomous weapons platform. The notion of a "human in the loop" is a lie. Sec of Defense Hegseth as recently designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk" because the company would not agree to allow their AI, Claude, to be used for so called "unrestricted use" which is another way of saying the technology specifically targets the removal of corporate guardrails that prevent AI from being used in fully autonomous lethal operations—essentially systems that can "kill without a human in the loop". And what, do you ask, is all this AI going to cost? Estimates range from 1 billion to 1.3 billion. And who is getting that money? Amazon web services, Google, Open AI, Palentir, Microsoft, SpaceX, and Anduril plus a bunch of others you've never heard of (on purpose). There are many who seem to think that AI will be a benevolent force for good in the world. To that I say we have a Nobel Peace Prize that is funded on the backs of millions of souls killed by dynamite. One person is chosen for a peace prize at the same time many thousands are killed. There is an argument to be made for human control over this stuff, but realistically it won't happen. The US is now in a digital arms race with other countries. And while Iran's autonomous drones are slow and can be shot down by US fighter pilots, that will not be the case for long. WE NEED AN INTERNATIONAL MORATORIUM ON AUTONOMOUS LETHAL DRONES YESTERDAY STEPS YOU CAN TAKE NOW:
The other consideration we have to think about is that these weapons will eventually make their way into US policing. Consider S.W.A.T teams and the use of military hardware in their operations. We already have Flock Surveillance Cameras in Troy, Valatie, Philmont and Hudson. That State Trooper behind you is using a plate reader and knows everything about the car and the driver before the lights go on. But even given all the intrusive, invasive and wholly unconstitutional work of Project Maven (and out local towns) ... at least the robots are cute ): ~Joseph Olejak  Photo credit Solene Grace In Romans 13:8-10, Paul teaches that loving one's neighbor is the fulfillment of the law, as true love acts in the best interest of others and does no harm. By loving others, a person naturally fulfills the core requirements of God’s law, such as the Sermon on the Mount, which can be summarized as loving one's neighbor as oneself.
It is so easy to vilify one guy (such as the current occupant of the white house) and everybody chants and gets their blood up while waving signs, but then what? When does the real work begin? People must understand that the real problem is not one opportunistic parasite who has figured out how to game the system and hoodwink millions of people, but that we are in the end stage of empire where greed and solipsism are the real kings. It's not one man or one party or a group of oligarchs. It's that a majority of humans have forgotten that human connections and the deep ties of community are the real malady we face. MAGA, Trumpianism, The death cult of war, The Democratic party failing to stand up for basic rights and all forms of "othering" are merely a symptom of a much deeper spiritual malady related to Paul's word to the Romans. We see absolutely crazy stuff and think: "Wow, look at that technology" when we really should be thinking "Interesting how the Oligarchs have dazzled us with shiny objects and succeeded in separating us from one another." A few examples:
The point is Christ did not advocate for participation in any of it. For him the Romans that occupied Palestine and the Ecclesiastical government of the Pharisees was total rubbish. He advocated for spiritual transformation over religious or political reform. He knew politics was the business of "strange bedfellows" He was a drop out. And what a great example of how to drop out and create something beautiful. The greatest way to undermine corrupt political systems is the make them irrelevant.
The love of God in us and working through us is our salvation ~ Joseph Olejak  Image generated by Meta AI We Quakers have a peace testimony that dates back to the Declaration of 1660 and which reads as follows:
The 1660 Declaration of "harmless and innocent people of God, called Quakers" was a pivotal document presented to King Charles II to distance Quakers from violent political plots and affirm their unwavering commitment to nonviolence, or the Peace Testimony. It famously declared the refusal to use "outward weapons" for any reason, establishing the foundation of Quaker pacifism. In the news this week we heard from the head of the newly named Dept of War "War, in this context and in pursuit of peace, is necessary,” Hegseth said, “which is why each day, on bended knee, we continue to appeal to heaven. To Almighty God’s providence, to watch over and give special skill and confidence to our leaders and to our warriors. To those warriors, who this nation prays for every single day, I hear from all of you out there, who pray for them every day, stay on bended knee, and pray for them. I continue to say to them, Godspeed, may the Lord bless you and keep you, and keep going.” Let me just say that the notion of "Almighty God's Providence" shining down on one group and not another is absolute rubbish. To invoke the name of God to send death and destruction to a particular group is 100% anathema to the teachings of Christ. It is the same lie that has always be promulgated; namely the redemptive power of destruction or peace through war. The truth is war begets war begets more war and ad infinitum. We must remember that this military operation in Iran is (as they always are) a death cult for the accumulation of land and treasure. Americans will be asked to sacrifice their sons and daughters on the altar of this cult. And 13 already have. They will be told it is for GOD AND COUNTRY as the commander in chief wears his golf cap to the tarmac as the dead are removed from a C130. It is for the oligarchs. (always was and always will be) George Fox, the founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), is most famous for his "Quaker "Peace Testimony". He consistently argued that war and strife arise from "lusts" and a "fallen" human state, but can be overcome by living in the "Light" and "Spirit of Christ". In the words of Christ: His teachings on peace emphasize that it is not merely the absence of conflict but a divine, internal state of wholeness (Shalom) that enables reconciliation with others. Unlike the "temporary lull in chaos" often provided by worldly solutions, the peace of Christ is described as a gift that transcends external circumstances. In the Spirit of Christ, Let us focus on Peace. ~ Joseph OLejak  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero#/media/File:Statue_of_Nero.jpg There weren't any violins in the 1st century. However, most contemporary sources describe Nero as tyrannical, self-indulgent, and debauched. The historian Tacitus claims the Roman people thought him compulsive and corrupt. Suetonius tells that many Romans believed the Great Fire of Rome was instigated by Nero to clear land for his planned "Golden House".
Sound familiar? The phrase "fiddling while Rome burns" is a common idiom used to criticize leaders for occupying themselves with trivial matters or being ineffectual during a major crisis. We are living that reality now. In Need to Know, David Rothkopf today called out the madness of the fact world trade and global security is being shattered by a single man. “Not since Adolf Hitler blew his brains out in a bunker beneath the garden of the German Reich Chancellery on April 30, 1945, have the lives of so many people around the world been so buffeted by the psychosis of a single man.” Why has Trump launched a war against Iran on a whim, attacked other countries, and upended world trade, Rothkopf asked. “Because he’s insane. Because he’s venal. Because he’s a malignant narcissist. Because he’s a sociopath. Because he has a fragile ego. Because those around him exacerbate and play to those traits to advance their own interests. Because CEOs and investors do likewise to fill their coffers. Because to some people, whether he is insane or malevolent or repugnant or not matters less than whether his actions will feather their nests, increase their power. “Because they, the billionaires…play their games and the consequences for the little people down below, the consequences for us, hardly matter a whit.” Quakers tend to be serious people. We have compassion and make room for mistakes, but we also have very little patience for liars, grifters and vacuous self-absorbed people who relish hurting others. Each time I look at the catastrophes playing out in the world I play a little game with myself and try to imagine what things would be like if I applied a Quaker value to the situation. So, let's play:
Here is one last Quaker value ... SERVICE ... (AKA ACTION) In WWI Quakers manned the ambulance corp. In our context today it may mean putting on your boots and getting out into the streets and doing what is necessary to hang on to our way of life. Let us not be fooled and let us not forget that even Christ went into the temple and tossed out the money changers! ~ Joseph Olejak  Meta AI at the prompts of the author Heather Cox Richardson, in her blog Letters From An American, has cited "Alison Durkee of Forbes magazine today that Trump’s military strikes in Iran have already cost U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion. The three F-15E Eagle jets lost to friendly fire on Sunday cost $90 million each. Transporting troops, ships, and aircraft to the Middle East cost about $630 million. Missiles and weapons systems are also expensive—a drone is about $35,000, and a Tomahawk missile costs millions—and the two aircraft carriers in the region together cost at least $13 million a day. And then there are the costs of operating aircraft, and so on."
If Americans want to know why their infrastructure is failing, why the cost of electricity is through the roof, why we don't offer our young people free college, and why healthcare is a luxury and not a right --- THIS IS YOUR ANSWER. Billions for the military and crumbs for everything else. People should be highly offended by this and not just because of the gross expenditure of money, but also because of the wanton destruction of human life. The Quaker peace testimony is based not only on the teachings of Christ to love thy neighbor, but also is rooted in non-coercion (Phillip Gulley). Coercion, in its many forms, is the root of violence. "Do what I want you to do or else!" People are manipulated with every manner of coercion from threats of violence to violence itself. We have normalized it. We accept it. We have enshrined it. What? Enshrined it? Surely not? Who has the right to fine, tax, imprison and kill -- all enforced with the threat of violence or actual violence? And able to do these things with immunity from consequence? Yes, the state. Enshrined in law. Americans have given a monopoly on the right to use violence to the state. And when we see it in action (whether it be suffocating George Floyd with a policeman's knee, Shooting non-violent protesters in Minn, or starting foreign wars) we are shocked. What we need to understand is that the rot runs deep in human culture. It is not an American phenomenon. It lies just below the surface in all of us. So what is the antidote to coercion and violence? To answer this just imagine the last conversation you were engaged in. The one where you were just waiting for an opening in the dialog to put your 2 cents in. That kind of communication, a discussion (a dis-cut-tion), where there is zero listening, a lack of consideration, and no discernment of what is going on. This is the root of coercion. It starts there and escalates. Witness the recent so-called "diplomacy" with Iran. Two sides sit down at a table to work out differences in foreign policy and one side has half its navy amassed in the Mediterranean and Red Sea threatening to unleash an "epic fury" if they don't get what they want. Is that diplomacy? Sounds like coercion to me! Expectant listening is the practice of having no agenda. No demands. It is the kind of listening that leads to discovery. Something that surprises you. Something that might actually have you change your mind. Something you could hear that might alter what you were "absolutely sure of." Expectant waiting is not merely psychological sovereignty over knee jerk reactions, but at its best is two (or many) gathered as one willing and open to discover what can arise from nothing. ~ Joseph Olejak  Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercomputer You may be thinking "open sesame" or some Disney cartoon remake of the Alladin story, but what I am referring to is the huge Blackrock supercomputer called Aladdin (Asset, Liability and Debt and Derivative Investment Network) which is an electronic system built by BlackRock Solutions, the risk management division of the largest investment management corporation in the world. The one that is buying up massive tracts of land and real property driving up housing costs. Yeah, that one. In 2013, it handled about $11 trillion in assets (including BlackRock's $4.1 trillion assets), which was about 7% of the world's financial assets, and kept track of about 30,000 investment portfolios. As of 2020, Aladdin managed $21.6 trillion in assets. Just to put that in perspective New York State has the third-largest economy in the United States, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of approximately $2.32 trillion as of 2024. This data point only makes sense from a social justice point of view if you go back to 1968. In that year TRW acquired Credit Data and began surveilling the financial transactions of basically everyone. Fast forward to 1996 and you have Bain Capital (Mitt Romney) buying TRW credit reporting and renaming it Experion. Today 3 credit reporting agencies determine if you can get a loan. They have a complete lock on us. Ever missed a credit card payment? Watch what happens!! Your score will drop 100 points from that one transgression. However this story is not about credit, but surveillance. Experion is like a handicapped version of Aladdin; which not only compiles financial data on everyone, every corporation and everything, but also an algorithm that uses predictive programming with data from many sources (including your social media feed and shopping data from places like Amazon and Walmart). Essentially, they can direct huge flows of money based on what they are seeing out in the world. What these flows of money mean is that they can move markets and manipulate democracy. If a president or a congress makes a law that would curtail their profit making it is entirely possible with 21 billion in assets Blackrock (alone or with other hedge funds) could create market volatility, tank certain sectors of the economy or just create problems with credit markets. The sad fact is that there is a very incestuous relationship between the banks and hedge funds as evidenced by the Archegos Capital Management incident that resulted in the loss of 100 Billion dollars. The US Treasury and the Federal Reserve have no controls on these folks. They are essentially the private government running the government. So ... what does this have to do with Quakerism and the work of OPJ? It all points to these questions:
As clerk of OPJ, I'd like to raise awareness of the fact that the US DOES NOT HAVE ONE SINGLE DATA PROTECTION LAW TO SHIELD US CITIZENS FROM THE ABUSES MENTIONED ABOVE. We need to have something similar to what the EU passed. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in effect since May 25, 2018, is the primary, strict EU law governing data protection and privacy for individuals in the EEA, with heavy fines up to €20 million or 4% of global turnover. It mandates explicit consent, data minimization, and grants individuals rights to access, erase, and move their data. Find out more about this issue here. ~ Joseph Olejak  Image generated by Meta AI This was the only message in meeting for worship today. It left me so upset and triggered.
Love for this too? What is the messenger referring to:
It is hard to express my revulsion for what has happened in the last year. As a Quaker who has worked for peace it is very hard to use the word love for any of this ... should I? My prefrontal cortex that controls my higher brain centers forces me to consider my values and what I hold dear and say no to violence, yet my lizard brain wants to pick up arms and fight the injustice. I'm neither happy nor proud to admit that, but it's right there alongside the revulsion. An inconvenient duality. I keep raising the question in my mind -- could I love Hitler? Stalin? Pol Pot? Mao? Or any other crazed homicidal nut with a desire to hurt people. Don't we have a duty to protect these people? But how? My queries today are:
~ Joseph Olejak The Religious society of Friends come together for Meeting for Worship.
There is an old Quaker story of the grandmother who took her grandchild to meeting one Sunday. After sitting a while the child reached up and whispered, "Grandma, when does the service begin?" And grandma replied "When the worship is over." Friends we have been getting it backward. Service without adequate worship is worthless, and maybe even disruptive to the plan God has. Let us restore our Meetings for worship with worship and our service for after the rise of Meeting for Worship. ~ Mary Lou Peck  Photo - Joseph Olejak “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” — Maya Angelou.
Some consider flourishing to be synonymous with thriving. Flourish comes from the French word for flower - fleur. Thrive is a Norse word which means "to take." Flourish can also be a dramatic gesture (I always think of one of the three musketeers making an entrance) As a person who loves words and the etymology of words, I think these differences are instructional. I'd even go so far as to say they are essential to understand the nature of human flourishing. When we consider a flower that is growing and beautiful and radiant it takes nothing, but is integral to its environment. In my mind, I connotate thriving with taking and plunder. So what is it?
If you've been around as long as I have you might recall "Debbie Downer" from SNL. Someone says something and sure enough Debbie chimes in with some horrific story. Essentially her life is defined by tragedy. Many are depressed and miserable. Many feel just getting to neutral (neither happy nor miserable) is a win. Positive emotions is not being a Pollyanna, naively chipper no matter what, but it does involve adopting a view of life that we have some agency when it comes to our emotions. We are not adrift in a sea of misery. We have a rudder, sails and even oars if necessary -- we can navigate! Physical movement is a great navigation tool. Remember the penguin in Happy Feet? I used to love to run as a child. It made me happy. When I need a "pick me up" I literally pick myself up and move. And navigation is intimately related to engagement with our environs. This part is critical because like the flower we are rooted in our environment. I was once told by a motivational speaker that if you look at the 5 people you are closest to you can predict with pretty good accuracy your future.
Which is another way of saying what is important? Meaning. Here's a tip from Seligman, The self is completely impoverished soil for well-being. If you think about some peak experience where you were happy and in flow of life the odds are you were not alone. It happened in community. When I consider meaning, of course, I place it in a Quaker context. I derive enormous well-being, sense of belonging and meaning when I am in a gathered meeting waiting on a message from spirit. The deep knowing that I am not alone. I am part of something much greater and infinitely more intelligent than myself. But to really get the bang the real prize is parlaying that knowing into gifting your time and energy to others. Accomplishment. What are you good at? What can you accomplish? Do you have the discipline to finish things? They say it takes 10,000 hours to get good at something and then from there one can aspire to virtuoso or master / legend and pass that skill on. I want to end with Nietzsche's three stages of spiritual transformation—the Camel, Lion, and Child—describe human development from obeying others' values (Camel), to rejecting them (Lion, saying "No" to "Thou Shalt"), and finally to creating one's own values (Child, saying "Yes" to life).
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This blog was set up to post content of interest to Old Chatham Quaker members and attenders. Posts related to one's own personal spiritual journey, reports based on interviews with others, and reflections on Quaker-related topics are welcome. Posts by individuals are personal expressions and do not necessarily reflect those of the Meeting as a whole.
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