117 … as
iron sharpeneth iron, the seeing of the faces one of
another, when both are inwardly gathered unto the life, giveth occasion
for
the life secretly to rise, and pass from vessel to vessel. And as many
candles
lighted, and put in one place, do greatly augment the light, and make
it
more to shine forth, so when many are gathered together into the same
life,
there more of the glory of God, and his power appears, to the refreshment
of each individual…
robert barclay, 1671
118
On one never-to-be-forgotten Sunday morning, I found myself one of
a small company of silent worshippers, who were content to
sit down
together without words, that each one might feel after and draw near
to the
Divine Presence, unhindered at least, if not helped, by any human
utterance.Utterance I knew was free, should the words be given; and,
before
the meeting was over a sentence or two were uttered in great simplicity
by
an old and apparently untaught man, rising in his place amongst the
rest of
us. I did not pay much attention to the words he spoke, and I have
no
recollection of their purport.My whole soul was filled with the unutterable
peace of the undisturbed opportunity for communion with God, with
the sense that at last I had found a place where I might, without
the faintest
suspicion of insincerity, join with others in simply seeking His
presence. To
sit down in silence could at least pledge me to nothing; it might
open to me
(as it did that morning) the very gate of heaven.
caroline stephen, 1872
119
We highly prize silent waiting upon the Lord in humble dependence
upon him. We esteem it to be a precious part of spiritual
worship, and trust that no vocal offering will ever exclude it from
its true
place in our religious meetings. Let not the silence … be
spent in indolent
or vacant musing but in patient waiting in humble prayerful expectancy
before the Lord.
london yearly meeting, 1886
120
Silence is often a stern discipline, a laying bare of the soul before
God, a listening to the “reproof of life.” But the
discipline has to be gone
through, the reproof has to be submitted to, before we can find our
right
place in the temple.Words may help and silence may help, but the
one thing
needful is that the heart should turn to its Maker as the needle
turns to the
pole. For this we must be still.
caroline stephen, 1908
121 In the united
stillness of a truly “gathered” meeting
there is a
power known only by experience, and mysterious even when most familiar.
There are perhaps few things which more readily flow “from
vessel to
vessel” than quietness. The presence of fellow-worshippers
in some gently
penetrating manner reveals to the spirit something of the nearness
of the Divine Presence. “Where two or three
are gathered together in His Name” have we
not again and again felt that the promise was fulfilled and
that the
Master Himself was indeed “in the midst of us”?
And it is out of the depths
of this stillness that there do arise at times spoken words which,
springing
from the very source of prayer, have something of the power
of prayer—
something of its quickening and melting and purifying effect. Such
words
as these have at least as much power as silence to gather into stillness.
caroline stephen, 1908
122
From its earliest days the Society of Friends has emphasized the
importance to the Christian community of a living ministry, freely
given in
the service of God and man, a task calling for dedication of life
and often
for the sacrifice of other claims, because it involved not the pursuit
of a
profession, but obedience to a vocation.
london yearly meeting, 1931
123
The Meeting for Worship raises to the highest plane the relationship
of the individual to the group. Since in meeting together
for
worship we seek as a group to worship God — for this
is the essential
difference between corporate worship and private devotion — this
fact
must be consciously or unconsciously present to all taking part,
and it
would seem a good plan that in the early part of the meeting it should
be
consciously present that each should lift up the group to God in
prayer.
w. russell brain, 1944
124
In 1948, during the formative meeting of the Assembly of the World
Council of Churches, a “sample” Quaker Meeting
for Worship was
held, with most attending for the first time. The following card
was in the
pews, in German, French, and English: “worship,
according to the ancient
practice of the Religious Society of Friends, is entirely without
any human
direction or supervision. … It is not wholly accurate
to say that such a
Meeting is held on the basis of Silence; it is more accurate to say
that it held
on the basis of ‘Holy Obedience.’ Those who
enter such a Meeting can harm
it in two specific ways: first, by an advance determination to speak;
and
second, by advance determination to keep silent. The only way in
which a
worshipper can help such is by an advance determination to try to
be responsive in listening to the still small voice and doing whatever
may be
commanded. Such a Meeting is always a high venture of Faith and it
is to
this venture we invite you this hour.”
d. elton trueblood, 1966
125 True
ministry is not simply an expression of views of truth or ideals of conduct.
It arises out of personal communion with God in
the
atmosphere of fellowship with others, whether before or at the time
of
meeting with them. It should have in it a direct message adapted
to their
present spiritual needs. To find the right words for a gathered company,
whether of vocal prayer or testimony, we need to wait for that sense
of call
that comes to us from God through the fellowship of hearts that are
bound
into harmony by the flowing through them of the tides of His living
presence. Hence, whatever may have been on our minds beforehand— whatever thoughts we may have worked out under the sense of help
from God — must be held loosely, with perfect willingness to
refrain from
uttering them if the right time has not come. In a large company,
where there may be many speakers, it is of special importance that
we should
thus
quietly wait for clear guidance.
london yearly meeting, 1945
126
I returned to Quaker meeting of my childhood. It was the silence
that drew me, that deep, healing silence of the meeting at
its best,
when the search of each is intensified by the search
of all, when the ‘gentle
motions,’ the ‘breathings and stirrings’ of
the Spirit which is within each
and beyond all, are expectantly awaited and often experienced.
elizabeth gray vining
127
It must never be presumed that because the call has come once, it
will come again. Equally, if it has never come, one must never
think it
never will. Strictly speaking, all one is called upon to do is to
be ready if
called, and in this, once more, the distinction between the minister
and the
ordinary worshipper disappears, for in the silence … God
[will] choose
whom he will. It has to be said, however, that there are meetings
in which
there is little sense of divine leading in the spoken ministry, but
a lot of
reliance of what Friends used to call ‘the creature.’ These
flights of
imaginative fancy, intellectual preoccupations and emotional difficulties
provide much information about the ministers but not a great deal
about God.
john punshon, 1987
128 There is no question of one’s worthiness to speak, or
of the
importance of the message. Rather, the matter at hand is the source
of the
message. Is it coming from the Friend who would speak, or through
him or
her? And if the message is coming through the Friend, is the message
properly situated in space and time? Is it for the meeting as then
and there
gathered, or is the message not yet ripe, or meant to be kept to
oneself, or
better shared after meeting with a more select audience?
lanny jay, 2000
129
The spiritual formation for my work as a healer came out of the Quaker
tradition, out of repeatedly hearing the call in Meeting for
Worship
and testing it against ego’s desire to
speak. It comes from once having had a
message in Meeting for Worship and not giving it and having a woman
stand up beside me in meeting and say, “There is someone
in this meeting
who has a message who is not giving it.Will
thee be faithful?”
elizabeth dearborn, 2000