Tell Pharaoh, Let His People Go...

No Richard, thee is not Pharaoh. Pharaoh is the culture of greed, the culture of blind consumption. I am not Moses, I am only a Quaker. Moses was not Moses, he was a Jew who listened to the voice of God within telling him to speak truth to power.

In the past, we Quakers built great institutions through the process of unity. We did so well, we built institutions for others. We had elders, not leaders. Decisions were made in unity for the common good.

Today, Pharaoh has nearly completely taken those institutions away from us, but, the small week grasp we have on out past offends this culture of elitism, of greed, of exigency, of me first and last. So, Pharaoh attempts to make us feel small by the dazzle of golden idols such as the respect out school has in the hierarchy of the culture of Mammon.

Then, to dazzle and confuse further, Pharaoh twines away some of the faithful, teaches new dances, which distract most of the children of light from the reality of their former power, power in their faith rather than power granted in small parcels by Pharaoh.

Once Fox, who also was not Moses, guided the children of light out of Pharaoh’s grasp on our souls. Now, thee and a handful of others lead the children of light out of the desert, the road to attention to the voice within, and back to the halls of Mammon.

In order to work Pharaoh’s will over our children, lies must be the unquestionable truth. For lies to be taken as true, Pharaoh must place the priest’s hand over the mouths of all who ask why, all who point to the wrongs, from the products of slavery in our shelters - prison labor used by Friends, to the grasp for power to lead by Trustees, to the misappropriation of our name by those who raise money for their own ego at the cost of our reputation.

No, Richard, thee is not Pharaoh, and I am not Moses or Fox. But, I do hark to the voice of God, who for all the ages has said to each of us to tell Pharaoh to let His people go, that we might serve him. Speak truth to all power, even our dear friends. Let His people go.