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I am morally certain, that I have many a day
gone through the cares and concerns of life, with
much more composure, stability, satisfaction and
propriety, for the strength and assistance I have found
in drawing near to God in solemn silence in my family.
--Job Scott, Journal, 1797 |
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[Early Friends] made the discovery that silence is one of the best preparations for communion
[with God] and for the reception of inspiration and
guidance. Silence itself, of course, has no magic. It
may be just sheer emptiness, absence of words or
noise or music. . . . But it may be an intensified pause,
a vitalized hush, a creative quiet, an actual
moment of mutual and reciprocal correspondence with God.
--Rufus M. Jones, "Spiritual Message of the
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We value our times of waiting silently in holy expectancy. Many of us have quiet periods alone regularly; we share quiet before or after meals or with others in our meetings; silence is the context of our worship. Silence is also the context in which we come to inward reliance upon God. It brings us to our true commitment, our concerns, and our leadings.
| By 1660 [George Fox] had taught some 50,000 Friends, as he called them, to sit in silence under the inwardly searchlighting truth which showed up every act or impulse of self-will or self-righteousness. Naturally, they quaked, struggled, and despaired for months, upheld meanwhile by fellow-quakers alert to self-made escapes, until finally a "new man" was born within, able to respond freely to positive leadings of the Light, and joy broke |