photo by Richard Russell Martha Braithwaite, a British minister of the nineteenth century, found herself often tried by weakness and dejection while traveling in her youth, after exhilarating times when she felt she was “well used” in ministry. She brought this sense of bereavement into her prayer, and was led to see how the emptiness was actually a time to wait and receive, perhaps in ways she could not identify.
I soon found my mind dipped into fresh baptisms as we rode along. Oh, these ‘ deaths oft,’ how the creaturely part does shrink from passing through them, and yet they are I believe indispensably necessary, nor is it any wonder if vessels in use need more washing and cleansing than those which may be laid up on the shelf. ~ from Brian Drayton’s Midweek Meditations Jan. 11, 2024 https://neym.org/events-calendar/2023/09/midweek-meditations ~ submitted by Richard Russell
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When I passed into the arrivals hall the place looked like every other airport I’ve seen. It was filled with the characteristic trolley carts of people pushing their luggage around, cabbies holding up signs for the clientele and advertisements everywhere for what to see in the country.
I stopped and took a long look around me trying to find my person, Sharon, in the sea of black faces ahead of me. It should have been easy but I was blind. It reminded me of this experiment I’d read about in my college years where kittens were raised in a cage with only vertical lines. When the kittens were released, they literally could not see anything horizontal. Being a minority for the first time in a place that is predominantly black was disorienting. Like the kittens I had a handicap to deal with. The guy at the taxi stand clearly saw the “deer in the headlights”look on my face and asked me if I needed a ride. I said that I had a ride but that I couldn’t locate her as my phone was not working in this place. “Come with me I’ll give you a hotspot and if can reach your friend — if it works — you can offer me something” It seemed fair enough. In a minute I was on the phone and Sharon came to the cab kiosk I handed the guy a $10 because I didn’t have any small bills and he was delighted. I had just given him R187, enough to buy himself a nice lunch. Sharon shook her head at my naïveté and said “I should be more careful.” Maybe I was to generous but off we went. What I’ve come to learn, is that South Africa is quite a polarized society. There are big gaps between the rich and the poor and everywhere you go in this country people are seeking ways to get by. If you park your car, there’s a parking attendant who will be looking for five Rand. If you use the toilet, there’s a toilet attendant who you are expected to give one or two Rands From the Quaker perspective of equality, this is a very unequal place and yet in spite of race and class this place seems to work; for how long no one knows but my gut sense is that unless the media whip up animosity between people they will continue to find ways of approaching each other’s humanity without violence. From the time the Portuguese landed here on their way to India in 1488 this place has been treated by Europeans as a rest stop where they took whatever they wanted. While locals were not taken for slaves elsewhere they were conscripted as laborers in service first to explorers and later to the chartered companies that would later take over everything. The Dutch East India Company first and then the British. Today the US, China and Russia are falling over each other to gain a foothold in a country so racked by corruption that the highest bidder will take all. When Mandela was elected after apartheid the country was in a five year fever dream of reconciliation and redistribution of wealth to balance what had been stolen, but today a kleptocracy exists inside the ANC to the point that water & sewer doesn’t work, the roads are so full of potholes that 25 k/hr is too fast to drive and the railways and electric grid is literally being stolen wire by wire and rail by rail. Rolling blackouts are managed by a smartphone app from the electric company and passenger & freight rail has been replaced by trucks. In spite of all of this, the place is spectacularly beautiful. And the land seems to quietly resist development 600 years after the first explorers arrived. The place where I’m staying now, the Highlands, after Scottish people who we’re dumped here after the closure of the commons in Britain around 1820, is wild. The Eastern Cape is not that hospitable to farming unless you’re either very lucky or very resilient. Some farmers have managed to eek out a living on sheep, cows, and goats but it’s not like Columbia County where there is rich topsoil and an abundance of water. The red clay is poor quality for planting. Dense scrub, native trees and plenty of invasive species imported from Australia by boats from errant seeds cling to life. Rainfall on average is 250 - 300 mm. /yr. Many houses and farms contain cisterns that hold 5000 - 10,000 liters of water for dry periods. One thing the environment is conducive for here is community- you can’t be the “Marlboro Man” or the “Lone Ranger “ in this place or you’ll fail. There seems to be deep ties of cooperation among the locals. Because the local municipality is so corrupt and incompetent the roads are in very poor condition. They locals have refused to pay the road tax, escrowed the money with a lawyer and used it to hire a company to grade the road. As a Quaker (and a war protester) that kind of cooperation appeals to me. A lawsuit is currently in progress to discover where the tax money goes once in the hands of officialdom. There are no Quakers in the Eastern Cape. The closest meeting seems to be near Cape Town but a deep reverence for nature pervades this place. If there is a God we can surely find it in creation. Life wants to live. Its many forms may come and go but it refuses to die. If there is proof of God, then surely it is life for a strong as the powers of destruction are – – those powers never win. By my estimation, spirituality runs deeply through this place but it requires stillness. One might see a termite mound and not realize below the ground is a hectare of termites, making their living in the soil beneath your feet. They are carrying out their lives following some grand design that we can’t even fathom. Humans are self absorbed by the notion that we are the pinnacle of creation… Nothing could be farther from the truth. If the last 4 billion years of life could be compressed into a single hour. Humans would be 11:59 PM. We carry a certain intelligence within us but we must also remember that we are just one part of a great web of life. The spirituality that I found in this place begins with humility. Humbly finding your place in the landscape, humbly asking your ancestors for guidance, and humbly seeking the small voice of God. The good news is that in a quiet place like a farm where there is no electricity, tv or internet that small voice seems closer. ~ Joseph Olejak Religiosity is the quality of being attached to the doctrines, dogmas, and rites of an institutional church. Spirituality is the sense that everything is sacred. Hope is the feeling that things can be better and that some personal action can help lead to that betterment.
Hope may spring from religiosity, but it can also be stifled by a religious orientation. I’m thinking of my grandmother, an extremely religious person who nevertheless died without hope, convinced that God would send her to Hell. Hope is the natural off-spring of spirituality, and I can’t think of any example in which spirituality would extinguish hope. Friends may be religious and/or spiritual. May they always live in hope! (Based on Speaking of Psychology: Why We Need Hope.) ~ Richard Russell I’m presently reading the original Spanish version of Gabriel García Márquez’ great book, Noticia de un secuestro or “News of a Kidnapping.” I’m a proficient Spanish reader; but Spanish is my second language and always seems stranger than my first language, English. What jumps out at me as I read the book is how meaning arises from these strange Spanish words. The language is different from English, but the meaning is the same.
This phenomenon has an application to vocal ministry. When a Friend testifies in Meeting for Worship, their language may seem strange to us but we may be able to parse a meaning from the words, a meaning that speaks to our condition. Consider, for example, the case of a Quaker speaker who is a traditional Christian and a non-theist listener. Suppose the Friend testifying refers to the following Bible verse in their message. “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’” (Matthew 16: 24-26, ESV) The non-theist puts no stock in Jesus as Messiah, nor does he believe in Jesus’ death as a sacrifice for all humankind. The words are strange to him. BUT, our non-theist can “translate” the verse from its Christian framework into his own humanist philosophy. He can reflect that Jesus represents Truth and the Good. As a humanist, he wants to pursue truth and moral goodness; but he realizes that such a pursuit will inevitably entail suffering as other people do not necessarily share his ideas. BUT, if the humanist abandons goodness and truth for, say, money and prestige, he will lose the essential meaning of his life. He doesn’t believe in the literal existence of souls that can be saved, but—metaphorically—he can lose his soul—his true life—as he gives in to moral ambiguity and outright evil. This process of translating from one spiritual language to another is called “listening in tongues,” a reference to early Christians who “spoke in tongues.” As Friends, I believe we are called upon to listen in tongues as someone speaks in meeting. Even if the words are strange to us, we should search for their underlying meaning. ~ Richard Russell Pope Francis has just authorized priests to bless the marriages of LGBTQ people “without an exhaustive moral evaluation.” Sacramental marriages are still required to be between a man and a woman. Moreover, the blessing of same-sex unions is not to be done at the same time as a civil marriage ceremony, nor can a couple be blessed while wearing wedding apparel. The Catholic Church is slower than Friends on social issues, but it moves in the right direction. I’m proud of being a “combination” Catholic-Quaker.
~ Richard Russell …then you’ll want to read the letter below, written by Lydia Lancaster to Gilbert Thompson. Lydia was a British Quaker and a traveling minister in England, Scotland, and Ireland. She also journeyed to America in 1718. Her letters were not published until 1840.
Actually, even very modern Friends can “translate” Lydia’s letter into their own spiritual idiom and profit from her words. (Brian Drayton selected this letter as one of his Midweek Meditations.) Colthouse, 29th of 10th Month, 1729. Endeared Friend and Kinsman, - Often art thou present with me in spirit, strong cries also in a spring of Divine love filling my heart on thy account, that the merciful visitation from on high may still be continued and increased thee-ward, to the making of thee both fit and compliable, to answer such love as hath been and is bestowed on thee, for a good end no doubt, and which I have not fear that thou art unmindful of. I believe thou often hast low thoughts of thyself, yet a high esteem for Truth and the walkers therein. It is such as those who come to be exalted in time, even the lowlies, who are ready to say, "Who is so unworthy, whoso unfit as I? I love the Truth, but alas! I can do nothing to promote it!" It is those who cannot, and dare not do of themselves, that the Holy One will make use of, to do by and to do for, as seemeth good in his sight. The whole building or work is his, there is not tool to be lifted up upon it, but his own hand is to do it both immediately and instrumentally, and when that instrument knows and keeps its place, in lying be and keeping still he take it in hand, and then mind the turning of his hand, the motions of his Spirit, in beginning, and in going on, and in leaving off, then his wisdom and glory are the most manifest, and that servant lies down in most safety and peace. It is good for the servant to be one with his Master's mind, to have no will, or at least not to suffer any will to act in him, but what agrees in pure obedience with the requirings of the great Lord, who, in all things, is worthy to be served and followed to the end. Oh! then consider the early visitations thou hast been favoured with — the melting, bowing times thou hast had; it makes me remember my own going on, because that was the way and manner I was followed when very young. And blessed be the Author thereof, I hope I may say it hath not been in vain, if I hold but fast the faith firm unto the end, which is a shield as needful for me now as ever in all my life, for it is a troublesome sort of a disturbed passage that I have to tread in this pilgrimage of tears, yet often sweetened by the enjoyment of Divine favour. The last time I heard of thee it was a time of great weakness with thee, which took deep hold of my mind, and thankful to Providence I am for thy recovery, hoping thou will make a good use of it, and mind thy day's work while the day lasteth, that it may be well with thee when it is over. Thou knowest the harvest is great, and the faithful labourers in many places are too few. It is our duty both to pray and to be engaged in our own particulars for the work going on, which is begun in the earth, many of our worthy fathers being gone to their rest from their labours, and we, who remain in their places, are passing on after them toward eternity: Oh! let us be faithful to death, that we may have a crown of life with them hereafter. Dear Gilbert, my heart is replenished with love to thee, yet I must conclude, desiring my love to thy mother and sisters, etc. Maybe, we shall see each other at our spring meeting, meanwhile let us be true in our desire for each other, and for the Israel and heritage of God every where, that Truth may increase, and cover the earth in a more general way to his praise, and the comfort of all his mourners, that they may put on the garments of praise, instead of the spirit of heaviness, - so wisheth, so prayeth, thy firm friend and true lover in the covenant of endless life, L. Lancaster. http://www.qhpress.org/quakerpages/qwhp/llf15b.htm ~ submitted by Richard Russell Dorothy Martin, clairvoyant extraordinaire, believed that alien beings from the planet Clarion were communicating with her. They warned her of a global flood that would destroy Earth on December 21, 1954 and offered to save her and her disciples by sending a flying saucer to ferry them away before the disaster.
On December 17, these aliens, the “Guardians,” instructed Dorothy and her followers to remove all metal from their bodies as the metal would prevent them from being levitated upward into the rescue ship. Thus, on December 20, Dorothy and her “Seekers,” wearing special robes and with suitcases in hand, gathered at her home in suburban Chicago. Midnight came and went. Nothing happened. Some of the Seekers were anxious and confused. Some left. Others stayed and prayed for deliverance. At 4:45 am Dorothy received an interstellar message that the group had been saved because of their faith; and—because of their faith—the world itself had been saved. The spaceship would finally arrive on December 24, precisely at 6:00 pm. Again, the Seekers came to Dorothy’s house and sang Christmas carols while gazing upwards at the heavens. The appointed time came and went. Police were called as an unruly mob of jeering spectators heckled the Seekers, some of whom went home, disillusioned, their faith broken. But many of the Seekers refused to doubt. Dorothy’s messages would continue, and her faithful followers would continue to believe. Unbeknownst to these rapturists, the Seekers had been infiltrated by research assistants of Dr. Leon Festinger, social psychologist at the University of Michigan. Festinger was studying cognitive dissonance, which occurs when a strongly-held belief suddenly conflicts with reality. Based on his investigation into the Seekers, Festinger concluded that when a conflict between reality and belief occurs—under certain conditions—the believers react by reaffirming their ideas. Such was the case after the Christmas carol incident detailed above. And cognitive dissonance was surely a phenomenon for early Christians, who believed that “…people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” (NIV, Mark 13:26-27) The apostle Paul was a firm believer in the Second Coming. In the earliest part of the New Testament (Thessalonians 4:16, ESV) he writes, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise….” Of course, Jesus never descended from the Heavens, but Christians continued to believe in the Apocalypse, simply postponing its realization to the future. In this, they were exactly like Dorothy Martin’s Seekers. In fact, many present-day evangelical Christians continue to believe that Christ will shortly return to Earth. There is, however, another way to rationalize all this—a way which I myself have adopted. One can see the Second Coming and the Kingdom of God as already an established fact. In this metaphorical concept, the Kingdom of God is already present in the hearts of the faithful. When we act with loving kindness, we are showing the fruits of that spiritual Kingdom. And yet, many Christians who believe in a metaphorical Kingdom (me included), continue to long for a non-metaphorical Second Coming. They say to themselves with the Apostle John, “Come, Lord Jesus.” (NIV, Rev 22:20) ~ Richard Russell The sources for this article include Wikipedia and a Hidden Brain podcast, When You Need It to be True Here’s an interesting quote that may serve as an antidote to the rigid materialism of scientists like Robert Sapolsky:
…for the person who believes we are completely reducible to physiological firings in the brain, and that we are essentially pinnacle insects, impressive, yes, prone to deviations both endearing and alarming, most definitely, but in the end as rote and reactionary as the immense machine through which we move and live and have our algebraic being—for such a person, any setback to the steady pleasure of a prosperous and emotionally gratifying existence, much less any real tragedy such as the prospect of our own deaths or the death of someone we “love” (for a scientific materialist, the word must always be in quotes) blows open the doors of deliberate ignorance behind which we were hiding: the real meaning of our lives comes flooding in, which, for the materialist is that there is no real meaning to our lives whatsoever. (quote by Christian Wiman, excerpted from his book, Zero at the Bone) ~ submitted by Richard Russell Many Christians believe in a literal Heaven that is holy perfection—the opposite of a corrupt Earth filled with sin and misery. For the 17th century priest, Thomas Traherne, Heaven and Earth overlap. For Traherne, savoring life on Earth gives a foretaste of Heaven. After all, God is present in the created world even as God transcends that world. Traherne writes,
Your enjoyment of the world is never right till every morning you awake in heaven; see yourself in your Father’s palace; and look upon the skies, the earth, and the air as celestial joys: having such a reverend esteem of all, as if you were among the angels. You never enjoy the world aright till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars; and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world, and more than so, because men are in it who are every one sole heirs as well as you. Till you can sing and rejoice and delight in God, as misers do in gold, you never enjoy the world. https://surprisedbytraherne.com/ ~ submitted by Richard Russell Mathematics is being used as a shield for corrupt practices ~Joy Buolamwini I want to start this blog with what I think is a false premise: machines will make a better world for humans. Now, before you call me a Luddite I just ask that you hear me out. For those unfamiliar, the Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers which opposed the use of certain types of cost-saving machinery, often by destroying the machines in clandestine raids. They protested against manufacturers who used machines in "a fraudulent and deceitful manner" to replace the skilled labour of workers and drive down wages by producing inferior goods. To my point, we have outsourced a good deal of work to machines already and what that has produced is a hollowing out of the middle class, but I digress. The thesis I wish to make in this blog post is that AI is a dehumanizing technology. It seeks to supplant human thinking with bot thinking. Some people have even gone so far as to develop sermons or "messages" from Chat Gpt as if AI has some sentient quality or even provide us with spiritual messages. A machine that can "learn" by definition can only learn from the past. And as Einstein said: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." It is a tautology (a logical conclusion) that AI can only be a dead end to something as ethereal and delicate as a spiritual message. I am beginning to see how AI is blunting human interaction in areas such as social media. The AI algorithms used to funnel content has had a horrific dehumanizing effect on the social body of humanity. Anything now can be used to divide by siloing people down informational rabbit holes. In an age of information we are drowning in disinformation and bad ideas. Some people point to the usefulness of AI. Let's look at a few examples. -- Facial recognition in policing: Black faces are not even seen by this technology and there have been numerous cases of arrest due to false identification. Besides that, do we really want to live in a surveillance society? Mental note -- reread George Orwell. -- Medical Diagnosis by Watson: IBM's AI system claims to be able to scan thousands of images (in the case of x-ray) and medical texts in seconds to arrive at a diagnosis. But here's a question -- who is evaluating the quality of the research. How can we know that the medical information that Watson is scanning was done right? That is to say, was the study statistically skewed, was the methodology flawed, and who paid for the research and for what purpose was the research done? What research is being sifted through? Do natural medicines get considered? The healing work that Native People have collated over centuries? In this scenario, what if a doctor of 30 or 40 years experience disagreed with Watson? A doctor who has insight into how a disease might manifest from ACTUAL experience. Who would you trust? Is that doctor going to want to speak up and challenge an AI diagnosis? In the case of spirituality, people have used CHAT gpt to generate sermons and while you might get some text which is an amalgamation of other spiritual texts it is merely a representation of spirituality." It is not spirituality. To be more concrete a shadow is a representation of an object but it is NOT the object. If I were to put it in biblical terminology I'd call it a False god. I posit that AI is our modern day Baal. Modern people will "follow the data" to find meaning in life and the answers they seek and they will be led down rabbit holes. Holes that may even have been dug on purpose by the algorithm designers. Here's a question: who gets to decide what data the bots will use? The way out is the way in. From Luke 21:17 "The kingdom of God is within you." Quakers have always sought a direct experience of God free from intercessors. AI is no different. ~ Joseph Olejak |
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