ALEXANDER
WOLFE
Musing The Eighth
Let me be proud for once. Let me boast of somebody that I love. My granddaughter, Claudia Spaulding, has recently passed a not-unsubstantial series of tests and qualifications and is now a Acolyte member of the Think Tank. It's not a surprise, certainly not, she comes from excellent stock and rises to every occasion that she's had the chance to encounter. On top of that, she's also an excellent Granddaughter.
It feels... how should I put this... it feels unfortunate to me that she has put forth so much effort for so little tangible reward, and from such a young age as well. When it's difficult to encourage most children to attend to their chores for an allowance or even to get a job for some spending money as they grow, Claudia has always been the first to volunteer and the last to leave any project she's worked on. She is the single-handed mastermind behind all of our internet presence, as well as the author of the historical blog, and the transcriber of this very collection of musings. If we could count how many people we'd each directly touched with a message about the Voices, my guess would be that her total would be quickly approaching mine, and I've been at it much, much longer.
I don't mind saying how much of a help she has been to me, personally, in the last month or so as well. This summer, along with being exceptionally warm, is exceptionally trying within the organization itself. It makes perfect sense, bigger problems, bigger ideas needed to solve them, bigger egos on the line when things either fall into place or don't... It's work. It's science. It's religion. It's the birth canal that we must push through to be bathed in the light of new knowledge. But it is trying. It is very trying. Add the constant attempts at infiltration and subterfuge from the Men In Suits and you just have the perfect storm of things to deal with that each require more hours than there are in a day.
But, when we all come together, and when Claudia especially allows me to support my now-frail weight upon her strong youth, we stand against the storm and prevail because of it.
No matter her great talents, great gifts, she cannot, and should not, do it alone. It is a burden that should be shouldered by the group collectively. This is why, effective as of the publishing of this, we are withdrawing all of our foreign and national operatives back to the Midwest base of operations. This is a Code Uriel. It is no longer considered safe for operations to continue outside of the 5th parameter.
Some may think that this is just another training exercise, but unfortunately, it couldn't be more real. While most of this month's musings are very positive, unfortunately there is a somber section as well. Attacks on our operatives have begun. This is an unprecedented move by the Men In Suits, and one that cannot be taken lightly. They still do not generally wish to commit acts of violence themselves, preferring instead to incite others to violence and watch from the safety of the shadows, but given the opportunity it seems like they've become emboldened.
The safety and security of the Midwest base of operations must become paramount. The fact that the pressure placed on us by the Men In Suits has escalated this quickly gives us hope that we are converting more people than they expected, and most likely faster than they've expected. We believe their violence to be the pitiful thrashes of a dying beast. But we must bear in mind that dying animals can also be the most dangerous.
We do not believe that any member of the general public who has expressed admiration for the Voices is in danger as of this point, but we still have a number of brave Shadow-Workers who are exclusively in the field, watching and gathering data on public opinion as well as general safety. Always moving. Always quiet. Each of their identities known by only 2-3 high ranking members of the Think Tank, so that even if one of us would become captured or turn traitor, we wouldn't lose everything. Could be anybody. Your mother. The President. Somebody in prison. All this and more. They are the only people that will not return to the Midwest base. Each is secret enough to have had no issues thus far, and all would put up a hell of a fight if located.
It's a sad state of affairs for the world when the success of righteousness can only be measured by how vitriolic and violent the forces of ambivalence and destruction can be in response. That's what's so very strange about this moment. For all intents and purposes, we are as successful as we have ever been. We have reached more people, in more countries, than we ever have before. We have spread the words and the art of a people and time that is us but not us, us at an end we must hope to never reach, but us, still. We have developed such incredible technological breakthroughs...we have communicated with beings higher than anybody truly believed possible, we have given humanity a chance to not simply shoot for the stars, but to be the stars, be the shining beacons of light and life in the universe.
Yet, to show for it, what else do we have? Infamy. Constant antagonism from the Men In Suits as well as a coalition of separate national governments who fear our growing power. The mockery of the established scientific community at large. Alienation.
I'll be the first to tell anybody that the only responsibility we truly have is to shoulder our burdens and do the best we can. Knowing and doing, though, are two very different things. There's knowing in the head, and there's doing with the heart. Living. Being.
Often times the admiration placed on me by certain members of the VFTU Organization borders on what I would call a near-worship. It is... natural, I think. Mankind has always revered those few of us that we see to be “enlightened”. Even when that reverence is turned to poison hatred and jealousy the core emotion is still one of desire. To be or to destroy. Become one with, or break apart. But just because something is natural doesn't make it easier to handle with delicacy and with grace. I am not a Jesus figure, though I would happily walk next to him in the sand, or pass a quiet afternoon with the Buddha for that matter, and it becomes difficult to encourage the growth of critical thinking and the questioning of authority when it is assumed that the leader is infallible.
Heck, I've even considered staging a fall down the stairs just to prove that I can make a mistake, but lying will not be the cure to this sickness. We must not make the mistake of embracing falsehood just to save ourselves the uncomfortable and honest view of the world.
It makes me think... and it makes me wonder...
Scientists are fairly certain there was once a Jesus. Not exactly the myth-figure that's been passed down through the years, but perhaps a man who attracted a certain amount of worship. Possibly even executed for it. And the story gets told for two thousand years, and here we are today with Jesus in stained glass, crosses adorning every third neck, and a church in every town.
It makes me wonder what might be said about our Organization in the next two thousand years. For most of it's existence I'd say the thought that we'd be remembered by name would have been silly, but we are in an age where the deletion and elimination of information is as much art as science again, so who knows?
I'll tell you one thing I DO know:
This Grandfather is going to have almost all of his children and grandchildren and the family he's made all under one roof again, and he couldn't be more excited. Despite it all, the excitement remains.
Bear witness, family, and do it with excitement.