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Our broken electoral and political systems are shamefully inadequate to halt our collective complicity in the violence committed in Gaza and Ukraine, and elsewhere in the world. What are we called to do about that complicity?
Are we called to risk arrest and imprisonment in witness of our professed ethical beliefs and concerns, as early Quakers did in seventeenth-century England in witness of theirs? I think that the answer to this question, for most people in the USA of any religious denomination or none, including Quakers, now seems clearly to be a resounding “No!” Are any of us prepared to support, with even a small fraction of the donations of money and time many of our fellow citizens made to the Kamala Harris pfesidential campaign in 2024, the work of people like Roger Hallam in the UK, who is serving a five year prison sentence for discussing over Zoom with four other people plans for a nonviolent demonstration in opposition to the genocide in Gaza)? If and when the constitutional right to assemble peacefully to seek redress for political grievances becomes criminalized in the US (as it already has been in the UK through vaguely worded Orwellian and Kafkaesque laws), what will we feel called to do, to prevent the massacre of more children and parents in Gaza and elsewhere, directly supported by our tax dollars? Former New York Times foreign correspondent Chris Hedges wrote in a recent Substack essay: Roger [Hallam] argues that if 10,000 people are willing to engage in civil resistance, which means accepting prison terms for non-violent civil disobedience, carry out grassroots educational campaigns and mobilize public assemblies, they can [inspire] one to two percent of the population to embrace the militancy to rupture the existing order. He draws on the research by Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard University, and Maria J. Stephan who examined 100 years of violent and nonviolent resistance movements in their book “Why Civil Resistance Works.” They concluded that nonviolent movements succeed twice as often as violent uprisings. Violent movements work primarily in civil wars or in ending foreign occupations, they found. Nonviolent movements that succeed appeal to those within the power structure, especially the police and civil servants, who are cognizant of the corruption and decadence of the power elite and are willing to abandon them. And we only need one to five percent of the population actively working for the overthrow of a system, history has shown, to bring down even the most ruthless totalitarian structures. “It’s not only about changing the world,” Roger says. “It’s about seeing the world in a different way, one that rejects the narrative of the dominant ideology. It is a re-enchantment of the world. It is about our spirit taking center stage. This is where it belonged all the time. But the spirit only becomes real through action. The spirit is made flesh, to use some old language.” What does the Inward Light (also known among Quakers by terms like Spirit, God, or the sense of the gathered meeting) call members and attenders of Old Chatham Meeting to do -- collectively -- in this situation? Can we find the collective discipline, faith, and courage to open ourselves to whatever this transcendent force might call us to do? ~ John Breasted
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 In her book, Walking In The World As A Friend, Nadine Hoover poses this question when discussing the role of Quakers as Witness:
And that brings me to a story I'd like to share about a friend whose conscience was piqued by a single question. A question that changed his life. My friend is a 29 year Veteran of the Army. He served as a jet pilot in many theaters of war, but while serving in Afghanistan he came back from a sortie and during the debriefing a government inspector came up to him and said "was that ethical what you did?" "Ethical?" he replies "I'm in the flying business not the ethical business. If you want ethical I'd go back to Washington and ask them why we're here." And that little question caught fire in my friend's mind and a year later he was out of the military. I imagine that's the kind of "terror" Nadine Hoover was referring to. The kind of question that puts everything into stark relief. The kind of question that has you start examining the assumptions that you made about life. What's important and what's not. So, yes, there is a way to be a Quaker "terrorist." Don't hold back. Listen carefully, but also ask the tough questions. Be a witness. Be still in the quiet conviction of your values. It is important because lots of folks have not challenged their assumptions in a long time. They may be running on autopilot not realizing that they are about to run out of fuel. A simple question can bring them down for a safe landing. ~ Joseph Olejak  Image Created by Meta AI https://www.meta.ai/ “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
~ Mathew 18:3 In Matthew, Jesus states that one must "be as a child" to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. How is it possible for an adult to do that? For myself, I am so far removed from my childhood I can barely remember what it was like to be four or five. I have one vivid memory of the day I received balance from the god of bicycles and learned to ride my little black and white single speed bike. Apart from that, it's a blur. So, this past Friday I'm working on a little project for a friend to build a deck out of rough cut lumber and I've got just about 3 hours to finish this thing before I have to get home. Being a goals based person I play little games with myself like saying "in three hours I'll have "x" done." So off I go pulling out my tools and gathering materials when a little boy comes along. He's about Four and a half and he's got no qualms about asking questions. He pipes up and says "whatcha doin'? Can I help?" "Oh god", I think to myself. "I'm never going to get this done today" But he's such an adorable kid I just can't say no and I think to myself "if you really believe what John Woolman said about letting love be the first motion" just make some room for this little guy. So we start with little things -- how to use a clamp, nailing in balusters, using a stick of wood as a spacer so all the vertical bits look even, and using a level to get the balusters nice and plumb. We're actually having quite a nice little time and then his cousins show up ... four girls. And the chorus starts "can I help too?" "Can I hammer a nail?" "What is that thing (a triangle) for?" And, as Kurt Vonnegut said "so it goes" I'm the pied piper of construction and I've got all these little kids from about two and half to 10 years old working on the deck. They're picking up wood scraps, running for screws, moving around tools and materials. The whole vibe is like Santa's workshop. And then it happens ... how I entered the kingdom of heaven. One of the kids is having trouble nailing in a nail. It bends. She bonks her finger and yet, undeterred, she keeps trying but that darn nail just won't go in. I'm about to step in and offer a little help when her older sister says "here, let me help you." She shows her how to hold the hammer and where to stand to get the best swing (this older girls is like a pro after 3 or 4 balusters) And I step back. And watch... and wait ... And then it hits me ... THIS IS IT !! This is the kingdom of heaven. If I had to qualify it here's what I'd say it is? It is the kid energy of openness, curiosity, willingness, eagerness, enthusiasm ... to learn, to help, to do, to be in the moment and not be too self-conscious. Just being in the now. Oh ... and BEING A YES TO LIFE !!! And my day became perfect. The railing was completed. The kids learned something useful. I learned how to be a child again. I entered the kingdom of heaven through these five wonderful kids. ~ Joseph olejak  commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OHM_-_Geburt_Christi_1e.jpg "I am the light of the world"
~ Jesus, Gospel of John In our last meeting for worship we had so many good messages. I'm going to try to share from my own perspective how they landed for me. In the last 12 years or so we have witnessed the crap-ification of almost everything. No matter what government officials or business touches they seem to muck it up. I could make a list but why bother? The deterioration is all around us. AND ... I don't want to focus on what is broken. There is enough brokenness. What can we imagine that's better? We can start with the power of NOW! The French word for now is maintenant. Etymology tells us that it comes from manū ("with the hand") and tenēre ("to hold"). Therefore, the literal meaning of maintenant can be understood as "while holding" or "in the act of holding". Interestingly, the word maintenance comes from a similar root but meaning "upkeep, shelter and protection. " An inquiry we might consider today is:
When Jesus said "I am the light of the world" it was in the gospel of John just after the mob was about the stone the woman who was accused of adultery. "Let he among you who is free of sin cast the first stone" Such a teacher. In one brief sentence the lesson of self-reflection, empathy, forgiveness and a world where love can enter. Can we be as wise as Jesus? We can consider the words of Jesus as a gate we pass through vis-a-vis all the people we meet and all the actions we take in the world.
~ Joseph Olejak |
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February 2026
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