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diff --git a/24576.txt b/24576.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b66027 --- /dev/null +++ b/24576.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1579 @@ +Project Gutenberg's An Interpretation of Friends Worship, by N. Jean Toomer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Interpretation of Friends Worship + +Author: N. Jean Toomer + +Release Date: February 11, 2008 [EBook #24576] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRIENDS WORSHIP *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + An Interpretation of + Friends Worship + + BY + + N. JEAN TOOMER + + + [Device] + + + Published by + THE COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF + FRIENDS GENERAL CONFERENCE + 1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia 2, Pa. + + _Price twenty-five cents_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + Introduction 3 + + Worship and Love 7 + + The Basis of Friends Worship and Other Inward Practices 11 + + What to Do in the Meeting for Worship 20 + + Questions and Answers 28 + + For Further Reading 35 + + + Copyright 1947 + Friends General Conference + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and + typographical errors have been corrected without note. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I was not more than ten years old when I first heard mention of the +Quakers. The grown-ups of my family were talking among themselves, +speaking of an uncle of mine who lived in Philadelphia and operated a +pharmacy near the university. I had never seen this uncle and was +curious about him, so my ears were open. Presently a reference to the +Quakers caught my attention. I wanted to know who the Quakers were. What +was told me then I have remembered ever since. The Quakers, I was told, +are people who wait for the spirit to move them. + +A picture formed in my mind. Many a time I had seen my grandmother +sitting quietly, an aura of peace around her as she sewed or crocheted +or did her beautiful embroidery work. So I pictured older people, most +of them with white hair like my grandparents, all with kindly faces, +gathered in silent assembly, heads bent slightly forward, waiting to be +moved. It never occurred to me that young people, boys and girls of my +age and even younger, might be present and participating. + +As the word "spirit" meant nothing definite to me, I could have no idea +of just what would move the Quakers, but I had a sense that it would be +something within them, perhaps like the stirrings that sometimes moved +me, and I may have had a vague notion that this something within them +was somehow related to what people called God. I never thought to ask +what the Quakers might do after they were moved. + +Had I been invited in those days to attend a Friends meeting for worship +I would have gladly gone. I would have gone because my picturings had +given me good feelings about the Quakers. I would have gone because, +young though I was, I liked to be silent now and again. Sometimes my +best friend and I would sit quietly together, happy that we were +together but not wanting to talk. Sometimes I would go off by myself on +walks to look at the wonders of nature, to think my own thoughts, to +dream, to feel something stirring in me for which I had no name. Or I +might withdraw for a time from the activities of the boys and girls and +sit on the porch of our house, my outward eyes watching them at play, my +inward eyes turned to an inner life that was as real to me, and +sometimes more wonderful than my life with the group. + +Certain experiences I had when alone, certain experiences I had with my +young friends, attitudes and feelings that would suddenly arise in me at +any time or place--these made up the mainstream of my religious life. +Such religion as I had was life-centered, not book-centered, not +church-centered. It arose from the well of life within me, and within my +friends and parents. It arose from the well of life within nature and +the human world. It consisted in my response to flowers, trees, birds, +snow, the smell of the earth after a spring rain, sunsets and the starry +sky. It consisted in my devotion to pet rabbits and dogs, and to some +interest or project that caught my imagination. + +I had been taught several formal prayers. One of these I said every +night, regularly, before getting into bed. But I am thinking of the +unformed prayers that welled up in me whenever I had need of them. I had +been read some stories from the Bible and some of the psalms, and from +these I had doubtless gained attitudes of reverence. But I am thinking +of the worship that spontaneously arose as I beheld the wonders of the +world which God created. Young eyes are new eyes, and to new eyes all +things are fresh, vivid, original. + +It is sometimes asked if children and young people are capable of the +religious life. Certainly they are not capable of sustained effort +towards an unswerving aim. Certainly they cannot hold themselves to a +consistent discipline. They cannot engage in the religious life as a +conscious way of living. These abilities come only as we grow up and +subject ourselves to training. But, just as certainly, young people do +have religious experiences, and these often are more vivid and glowing +than those of the elders. That is it--children can glow. They can light +up. This capacity to glow is at the very heart of what we are talking +about. + +To be sure, people young and old need instruction. We need instruction +in the Bible, in poetry, in all literature that contains truth and +beauty. We need to be helped to struggle against our faults, to overcome +our imperfections. And we need to be curbed on occasion, as the only way +in which we may eventually become able to curb ourselves. But it should +not be forgotten that all people, especially young people, have poetry +in them. And, more than that, according to the faith of the Friends all +people have within them something of the very spirit that created the +scriptures. + +Religious education, it seems to me, is on the wrong track if it assumes +that religion is something that must be drilled into people. It is on +the right track if it recognizes that the source of religion is within +us as a native endowment, and that the function of education is to call +this endowment forth, supply it with the nourishment it needs in order +to grow, and guide it in ways that promote maturing. People should have +reason to be assured that formal religion is not contrary to the springs +of innate religious experience and longing, but is in accord with the +life and light within, and simply seeks to direct and develop this +spiritual life. + +Had a Friend approached me in those days with some such understanding +and assurance, and had I been able to understand what he said, I would +have had still another reason, and this a compelling one, for attending +a meeting for worship. And so I would have gone. I'd have sat there with +the others, feeling much at home, perhaps feeling I was in a holy place. +I'd have sat as quietly as any for the first ten or fifteen minutes. I +would not have worshiped in any formal sense, for I had not been taught +any form. But I would have practiced my kind of inwardness, thinking my +own thoughts as I did when alone, dreaming wonderful dreams, feeling a +life stir within me. Had there been a spoken message or two, I would +have listened attentively, tried to understand, and honestly responded. + +Presently, however, I would have begun to fidget. Not knowing what I +should try to do in a meeting for worship, I would have had nothing to +fall back on when my thoughts ran out, no purpose for curbing my +increasing restlessness. Through the windows my eyes would have caught +sight of the world outdoors, and I'd have wished I were out there having +fun with the boys. Time would have dragged. I'd have asked myself, "Will +the meeting never end?" And when finally it did end, I'd have been as +glad for the ending as I had been for the beginning. + +What should we try to do in a meeting for worship? What do we hope to +attain through it? Why is silence desirable? What is the main idea +behind the Friends manner of worship? It is true that Quakers wait for +the spirit to move them. Why wait? Wouldn't it be better just to go +ahead? Besides waiting, what more is to be done? Can we not pray and +worship when we are alone, or as we go about our daily affairs? Why is +it necessary to meet together? What is worship? + +These are not questions that you answer once and for all. You continue +to think about them and continue to increase your understanding. But it +helps us to think if we put our thoughts in order and study the thoughts +of others. So I am going to write down some of the thoughts that have +come to me. We shall think about worship and the central faith of the +Friends, and let the answers come as they may. + + + + +WORSHIP AND LOVE + + +Worship is the action of the spirit. It springs up from our depths, as +love does. It is a form of love, and just as desirable, and just as +necessary to human life at its fullest and highest. To worship is an +innate need of man. It is not imposed upon us from the outside, though +the way we sometimes go about it may make it seem an imposition. + +Suppose you are hungry. No one has to tell you to eat. No one has to +force you to take food. Suppose you are in love. Must you be told to +think of the person you are in love with? Must you be forced to yearn +for the loved one? + +Worship is a hunger of the human soul for God. When it really occurs, it +is as compelling as the hunger for food. It is as spontaneous as the +love of boy for girl. If we feel it, no one needs tell us we should +worship. No one has to try to make us do it. If we do not feel it, or +have no desire to feel it, no amount of urging or forcing will do any +good. We simply cannot be forced, from the outside, to worship. Only the +power within us, the life within, can move us to it. + +But others can guide our preliminary efforts. They can help us to +prepare to worship. Such preparation, as Rufus Jones has said, is the +most important business in the world. Others can provide conditions, +such as the Friends meeting for worship, thanks to which the desire to +worship may spring up and grow. The meeting for worship came into +existence because the early Friends were powerfully moved to worship +together and meet the spiritual needs of one another. I use the word +_needs_. Their spiritual needs were more dynamic than ours--or +theirs--for food and shelter. Neither threats of violence nor active +persecution could keep them away from their meetings. + +Why is it that some of us would rather go to a movie, or listen to the +radio, or see a ball game, or read an exciting book? One reason, it must +be acknowledged, is because our meetings today are sometimes dull and +unliving. We assemble in our meeting houses, but nothing happens. A +related reason is that many of us have not yet awakened spiritually. Our +bodies are active. Our minds are alert. But not our spirits. Such +awakening, however, will come in due time, if we encourage it, if we do +our part to prepare for it, if we live honestly and are true to +ourselves, face life with clear eyes, and continue growing. + +The main reason why we do not worship, or do not want to, is that God is +not yet sufficiently real to us. He is not as real to us as our human +father. His power is not as real to us as the power of man's brain and +muscles, as steam power, as electricity. Worship expresses man's +relationship to God. How then can we worship if we are not aware of this +relationship, if the main party to it is unreal to us? + +Some people speak of worshiping things that are not of God. God being +unreal to them, their relation to Him being unrecognized, they turn to +what is real to them, and engage in various so-called worships: +money-worship, hero-worship, ancestor-worship, the worship of material +power and machines, the worship of political States and their rulers. +These are false worships. God is the sole object of genuine worship--God +and His power which He manifests to us as love, light, and wisdom. + +All forms of true worship arise from an experience of the _fact_ of God, +from the realization that God _is_. Men such as George Fox and John +Woolman had their first experiences of God early in life. Most of us +come to the experience gradually and later on, if at all. What are we to +do meanwhile? Most religions offer formal official statements of what +they believe God to be. They say what God's nature is, and set forth His +attributes. Friends make no such pronouncement; and I, for one, am glad +there is none. Man's words about God cannot substitute for a first-hand +experience of the living reality. Friends are directed to seek for the +reality within themselves. Meanwhile, we are called upon to have faith +that God exists and that it is possible for us to meet with Him. We are +called upon to prepare ourselves for this supreme experience. We are +urged to try to sense God's presence, daily to practice His presence. By +such practice, if we persevere, we shall surely come to have a +convincing experience. + +Worship is our response to God's reality, a reality which is, to be +sure, within men, but which also is the radiant foundation of the entire +universe. In trying to worship, we turn ourselves Godwards. We yearn for +Him and endeavor to know His will. Our lives are pointed toward Him. If, +and as we succeed, we make contact with God, and by this contact He is +made real to us. When He becomes real to us we spontaneously love Him. + +Can we see a sunset without responding to its beauty? Can we witness +those we love, in their goodness to us, without being touched and moved? +Can we hear the voice of our best friend on the phone without eagerly +listening and eagerly replying? Be sure, then, that when we come into +God's presence we will be touched and moved beyond our greatest +expectation. + +Nothing so deters us from wanting to worship as the notion that worship +is unliving. If it is unliving it is not worship. If it seems dull, +tedious or difficult, it is because we are not truly worshiping. We are, +perhaps, preparing ourselves to worship. There are difficulties to be +overcome in the preparatory stages. Or, we are but assuming the +appearance of worship, there being no life, no yearning within, we being +more dead than alive inside. Indeed it is dull and tedious to hold the +posture, if it is not backed up by a quickening life of the spirit. + +True worship is a living experience. By and through it we enter into a +life so vital, so vivid, so large and glorious that, by comparison, our +life of ordinary activities seems narrow, dull, dead. By bodily action +the body comes alive. By mental action the mind comes alive. So by +spiritual action the spirit comes alive. Worship is spiritual action. By +means of it our spirits awake, mature, and grow up to God. + +All human beings, except those who have been badly damaged by man's +inhumanity to man, are moved to love. Some love animals, some flowers. +Others love the sea or farm lands or mountains. Some love truth, some +love beauty. All of us want and need to love and to be loved by our +families and friends, and we would be happy were we able to love all +people everywhere. To love and be loved is a universal human urge. Is it +any wonder, then, that we are moved to seek God's love? It is inevitable +that we should desire this supreme form of love. The First Commandment +expresses our innermost desire as well as God's will. + +There is nothing incredible about our wanting to love and to be loved by +God. The incredible fact is that it can actually happen, does happen. +Some day we will experience it. Then our doubts will end. Then we will +worship God through love of Him. + +Here is what two religious men of advanced spiritual development had to +say of their experiences. George Fox wrote, "The word of the Lord came +to me, saying, 'My love was always to thee, and thou art in my love.' +And I was ravished with the sense of the love of God." Brother Lawrence +wrote, "You must know that the benevolent and caressing light of God's +countenance kindles insensibly within the soul, which ardently embraces +it, a divine and consuming flame of love, so rapturous that one puts +curbs upon the outward expression of it." + +It is to this divine love that we are called. This is the high promise +of man's life. We are called away from indifference, from meanness, +malice, prejudice and hate. We are called above the earthly loves that +come and go, and are unsure. We are called into the deep enduring love +of God and man and all creation. Worship is a door into that love. Once +we have entered it, our every act is a prayer, our whole life a +continuous worship. + + + + +THE BASIS OF FRIENDS WORSHIP AND OTHER INWARD PRACTICES + + +Some people believe that whereas God's nature is divine, man's nature is +depraved. God is good, but men are evil. God, according to this view, +exists in heaven, remote from us. We exist in sin, remote from Him, in +hell or next door to it. Human beings are completely separated from the +Divine Being. The only possible connection between men and God is that +brought about by the mediation of the church and its authorized +officials. Friends have never held this view. + +Friends, beginning with George Fox, realized that something of God +dwells _within_ each and every human being, and that, therefore, He is +reachable by us through direct contact, and we are within His reach, +subject to His immediate influence. This is the well-known basis of +Friends worship. + +Since God is within us, Friends turn inward to find Him. This is not a +matter of choice or inclination; it is a matter of necessity. Turning +inward, we turn away from all externals. Friends practice inwardness. +Rufus Jones writes, "The religion of the Quaker is primarily concerned +with the culture and development of the inward life and with direct +correspondence with God." + +Some number of Friends in the early days of the movement not only sought +God but found him, though it would perhaps be better to say were found +by him. It was because they found God that they had such living worship, +such vital meetings. It was because they truly worshiped and had vital +meetings that they progressively discovered God and came increasingly +within his power. The one led to the other. Without the one we cannot +have the other. + +That there is that of God in every man was, as already implied, more +than a belief or a concept with the early Friends. It was an +experience. It was a recovery of the living Deity. As he made and +continued to make this recovery in himself, George Fox went about his +apostolic work and laid the foundation of what came to be the Society of +Friends. What did Fox aim for? How did he regard his ministry? Let him +answer in his own words. "I exhorted the people to come off from all +these things (from churches, temples, priests, tithes, argumentation, +external ceremonies and dead traditions), and directed them to the +spirit and grace of God in themselves, and to the light of Jesus in +their own hearts, that they might come to know Christ, their free +Teacher." + +Pointing as they do to the basis of Friends worship, these several +considerations do not, of themselves, throw light on the reason for +certain other inward practices. The basis of these other practices is, +unfortunately, less simple and less well-known. Why is there need of +particular occasions for prayer and worship? Why need we gather together +and sit quietly? Why practice waiting before God? If He is in us, why +does He not manifest to us continually, why does His power not always +motivate our actions? Why do we have to practice His presence, and why +is this practice so difficult? To answer these questions we are forced +to adopt a somewhat complex and non-habitual view of the situation. + +Suppose we are approached by a person of inquiring mind who says, "You +say that there is that of God in every man. All right, I am prepared to +accept that as truth. But precisely where in us does the divine spark +exist? Is it in our bodies? Is it in our ordinary minds and everyday +thoughts and emotions? Do you mean to say that God exists in ignorance, +in man's prejudices and hatreds, in human evil?" How will we reply? +Obviously God does not exist in our trivial actions, nor in our godless +thoughts and feelings. Certainly He does not exist in our ignorance and +evil. But these things exist in us. They constitute a part of us. This +part of us, then, is separated from God, while another part is related +to Him. Insofar as we identify with the separated part and believe it to +be ourselves, we exist divorced from that of God in us. + +The attitude, in brief, is this. There is that of God in every man. +Therefore man, in his entirety, is not separated from God. But man is +divided within, and against, himself, into two different and opposing +aspects, and one of these aspects is separated from God. This is my view +of the situation. If I understand the writings of the early Friends, +this was their view of the situation. + +The early Friends had names for the part of us that is separated from +God. They called it the "natural man," the "earthly man." I shall +sometimes refer to it as the "body-mind" or the "separated self." The +early Friends called the part of us that is related to God and in which +God dwells the "spiritual man," the "new birth," the "new creation." I +shall sometimes call it the "inner being," the "spiritual self." + +It is of course the separated self that presents the problem. It +obstructs our attempts to relate ourselves to God and to our fellow men. +It interferes with worship as well as with love. It is because of this +self that we do not pray and love as naturally as we breathe. The +separated self stands in the way. Therefore it must be overcome. For +divine as well as genuinely human purposes it must be subdued and +eventually left behind. Every real religious practice, whether of +Friends or of others, either directly or indirectly aims to enable human +beings to transcend the separated self in order that we may be united +with the spiritual self or being which is near God because He dwells +therein. + +In the light of these facts we can understand the need and the purpose +of certain specific inward practices, such as the practice of contending +with oneself (Isaac Penington called it "lawful warring") and the +practice of gathering silently and waiting upon God. Since the separated +self exists, and is an obstruction, we must contend with it. We contend +with it so as to remove it and, at the same time, activate the spiritual +nature. Gathering in silence and waiting upon God is necessary for the +same reason, and is another means to the same end. More will be said of +this presently. + +The early Friends, while proclaiming the good news that there is a +spiritual man in each and all of us, that God dwells in this part of +human beings and is, for this very reason, close even to the earthly +man, regarded the earthly man as unregenerate, sinful, blind and dead to +the things of the spirit. Only by rising above the earthly aspect of +ourselves can we pass from sin into righteousness, from death to life, +from that which exists apart from God into that which exists as part of +God. Only by yielding to God's power can the earthly man be regenerated. +To the degree that this happens, we are unified with our spiritual +natures. Thus we are mended and made whole. What formerly was a +separated and contrary part, becomes the instrument of expression of the +resurrected spiritual being. + +If the earthly man is dead to the things of the spirit, then, as long as +he remains so, he obviously can neither truly pray nor truly worship. +Nor can we, as long as we remain identified with him. Should he try to +pray, he but prays according to his own ignorant and faulty notions. +Should he try to worship, he but worships in his own will, not according +to the will of God. Robert Barclay called this kind of worship +"will-worship." + +Will-worship was what the Friends condemned and tried to avoid. They +aimed for true spiritual worship. They wanted to worship God by and +through the workings of His spirit and power in their spiritual beings. +How were they to fulfill this aim? What, specifically, were they to do? +Try, by all available means, to quiet and subdue the earthly man, to lay +down his will, to turn the mind to God. But, having done this, they +found that something more was wanted. They discovered, as you and I have +or will, that it is one thing to still our habitual thoughts and +motions, but quite another to cause the spiritual self to arise. By our +own efforts we can subdue the body-mind to some extent. Few of us, by +our efforts alone, can activate our spiritual natures in a vital and +creative way. We need God's help. We need the help of one another. But +God's help may not come at once. Our help to each other, even though we +are gathered in a meeting for worship or actively serving our fellow +men outside of the meeting, may be and often is delayed as regards our +kindling one another spiritually. What are we to do in this case? There +is only one thing we can do--wait. Having done our part to overcome the +separated self, we can but wait for the spiritual self to arise and take +command of our lives. Having brought ourselves as close as we can to +God, we can but hold ourselves in an attitude of waiting for Him to work +His will in us, to draw us fully into His presence. + +So the early Friends engaged in silent waiting, humble yet expectant +waiting, reverent waiting upon the Lord, that they might be empowered by +Him to help one another and to render to Him the honor and the adoration +which, as Robert Barclay said, characterizes true worship; that His +power might come over them and cover the meeting; that He might bring +about the death of the old, the birth of the new man. + +Friends waited, both in and out of meeting. They waited for God to move +them, quicken them to life, make them His instruments. They waited for +the power of God to do its wonder-work, lifting up the part of them that +was akin to Him, gracing them with the miracle of resurrection. Waiting +preceded worship. Waiting prepared for worship, and the springing up of +new life. By waiting they began worshiping. The stillness of the meeting +house, the silence of the lips, the closed eyes and composed faces were +the tangible signs of the preliminary period of waiting. + +It is instructive and reassuring to note how frequently, among the early +Friends, the practice of waiting did have the desired sequel. This +seeming inactivity led to spiritual action. Out of this chrysalis what a +life was born! God found them in the silence. Blessed and renewing +experiences came to Friends, experiences which enabled them to be agents +of the divine spirit in every situation of human life. It is instructive +because it points us, of this day, to a religious practice that is +effective. It is reassuring because from it we may have sound hope that, +if we rightly and faithfully engage in this and other inward practices, +we may reach and even surpass the high level of religious experience +and service attained by Friends in the days when the Quaker movement +really moved. In our present-day lives and meetings there can be +soul-shaking events. The Light can invade us. Truth can take hold of us. +Love may gather us. Above all, God himself may become real to us as the +supreme Fact of the entire universe. + +We of this modern age are inclined to be more lenient in our views of +the earthly man. We are disposed to consider him a moderately decent +fellow except when under the active power of evil. This makes us more +tolerant, less intense. It makes us more likely to indulge our fondness +for the earthly world and its things and pleasures, less moved to seek +God and His Kingdom. Nevertheless if we examine our experience we shall +recognize characteristics of the earthly man that are similar to those +seen by the early Friends. The outside world has changed considerably in +three hundred years, but man's constitution is much the same now as then +in all essential respects. + +The earthly man, whether we regard him as good, bad, or indifferent, is +evidently an exile from God's kingdom. Our body-minds, namely our +everyday persons, are out of touch with our spiritual natures most of +the time, hence out of touch with God. We, as ordinary people, are not +by inclination turned towards God, but, on the contrary, are turned away +from Him. Day in and day out we do not even think of the possibility of +loving God and doing His will, but think of ourselves, and are bent to +enact our own wills, have our own way. Whether we, as earthly men, can +truly pray and worship is a question about which there is likely to be +disagreement. But who will deny that when we are absorbed in our +affairs, as we are most of the time, we do not pray or worship? +Recognition of these several facts will lead us to a position similar to +that of the early Friends, and point us to the same needs as regards +what we must do if we would truly pray and worship, and, indeed, truly +live. We too must endeavor to subdue the body-mind and turn the mind +Godwards. We too must try to overcome the separated self and re-connect +with our spiritual natures. We too must practice waiting. We too must +strive to attain the Quaker ideal so well expressed by Douglas Steere, +"to live from the inside outwards, as _whole_ men." + +When compared with bodily action, what could seem more inactive than +waiting upon God? The modern world asks, "Where will that get you?" +Young people say, "We want action." Yet, as we have seen, it was +precisely through this and other apparently inactive means that the +early Friends came into a power of whole action that surpasses anything +that we experience today. We say we are activists, but often lack the +spiritual force to act effectively. They said they were waiters, and +frequently acted as moved by God's light and love. I think that we in +this age of decreasing inner-action, of ever increasing outer activity, +have a profound lesson to learn from the early Friends. We had best +learn it now, and quickly, lest the faith and practices of the Friends +become so watered that they lose their character and flow into the +activities of which the world is full, and are absorbed by them, and +Friends cease to be Friends. I do not say we should go back to the old +days. That is impossible. Let us move forward, as we must if we are to +move at all. But let us build upon those foundations, not scrap them. +Let those past summits show us how high men can go, with God's help. + +Friends are by no means the only ones who realize that the body-mind +presents a problem; that, in its usual state, it is an obstacle to +worship and to all forms of the religious life. Friends are not alone in +recognizing that when the separated self is uppermost and active, the +spiritual self is submerged and passive, and that we are called upon to +reverse this. All genuine religious people, whatever the religion, have +recognized the problem and have endeavored to solve it in one way or +another. Generally speaking, there are two ways of dealing with the +situation. One way consists of the attempt to lift the body-mind above +its usual condition, so that it may be included in the act of worship. +The body-mind is presented with sight of religious symbols. It is given +sound of religious music and of specially trained speakers called +priests or ministers. It participates in rituals, ceremonies, +sacraments. This way may be effective. When it is, the body-mind +actually is lifted above its usual state, the spiritual nature is +evoked. But when this way is not effective it merely results in exciting +the body-mind and gives people the illusion that this excitation is true +worship. Or it may result in a sterile enactment of outward forms. + +The other way is just the opposite. It consists of the effort to reduce +the body-mind below its usual state, so that it will not interfere with +worship. All externals are dispensed with. No religious symbols are in +view. No music is provided, no rituals, no appointed speakers. The +external setting is as plain as possible, so that the body-mind may be +more readily quieted. Internally, too, the attempt is to remove all +causes of excitement, all of the ordinarily stimulating thoughts, +images, desires. The one thought that should be present is the thought +of turning Godward, seeking Him, waiting before Him. This way may be +effective. When it is, the body-mind is subordinated and ceases to exist +as the principal part of man. The spiritual nature is activated and +lifted up. When, however, this way is not effective, it merely produces +deadness. + +In both cases the test is this: Does the spiritual nature arise? Friends +have chosen the way of subduing the body-mind, of excluding it from +worship except insofar as it may act as an organ of expression of the +risen spirit. Having chosen this way, we are called upon to do it +effectively, creatively. If we succeed--and we sometimes do--our inner +life is resurrected, the whole man is regenerated, and a living worship +connects man with God. But if we fail--and we often do--the spiritual +nature remains as if dead, and, on top of this, we pile a deadened +body-mind. What should be a meeting for worship, a place where man and +God come together, becomes a void. There is no life, only a sterile +quietism. Sterile quietism is as bad as sterile ritualism. + +Sterility, in whatever form, is what we want to avoid. Creativity is +what we must recover--aliveness, growth, moving, wonder, reverence, a +sense of being related to the vast motions of that ocean of light and +love. + + + + +WHAT TO DO IN THE MEETING FOR WORSHIP + + +Definite periods for worship should be established because, constituted +as we are, worship does not occur as naturally as it might, and at all +times. Unless we set aside regularly recurring times, many of us are not +likely to worship at any time. We appoint times and places so that we +may do what something deep in us yearns to do, yet which we all too +rarely engage in because most often we are caught up in the current of +contrary or irrelevant events. Set times of worship not only aid us to +worship at those times but at others too; and, of course, the more often +we try to worship at other times, the more able we become to make good +use of the established occasions. + +Among the people of our day, Mahatma Gandhi is an outstanding example of +applied religion. It might seem that he, of all people, would feel no +need of special times of prayer; yet this is not the case. There are +appointed times each day when he and those around him engage in prayer. +Whenever possible he attends a Friends meeting for worship. The +following quotation from the _Friends Intelligencer_ gives his view of +this matter. "Discussing the question whether one's whole life could not +be a hymn of praise and prayer to one's Maker, so that no separate time +of prayer is needed, Gandhi observed, 'I agree that if a man could +practice the presence of God all the twenty-four hours, there would be +no need for a separate time of prayer.' But most people, he pointed out, +find that impossible. For them silent communion, for even a few minutes +a day, would be of infinite use." + +Each of us individually should daily prepare for worship and, now and +again, go off by himself in solitude. Fresh stimulus and challenge are +experienced when a man puts himself utterly on his own and seeks to come +face to face with his God. Aloneness may release the spirit. So may +genuine togetherness. Group or corporate worship is also necessary +because, as already mentioned, we need each other's help to quiet the +body-mind, to lay down the ordinary self, to lift up the spiritual +nature. Many a person finds it possible to become still in a meeting for +worship as nowhere else. Peace settles over us. Many a person is +inwardly kindled in a meeting for worship as nowhere else. The creative +forces begin to stir. When a number of people assemble reverently, and +all engage in similar inward practices with the same aim and expectancy, +life-currents pass between them; a spiritual atmosphere is formed; and +in this atmosphere things are possible that are impossible without it. +More particularly, we may have opportunity in a meeting for coming close +to a person more quickened than we are. By proximity with him or her we +are quickened. It is true that in a Friends meeting the responsibility +for worship and ministry rests upon each and every member; but it is +also true that Friends, like others, must somewhat rely for their +awakening upon those who are more in God's spirit and power than the +average. We minimize an essential feature of our meetings if we fail to +recognize the role of the sheer presence of men and women who are +spiritually more advanced than most and are able to act as leaven. + +The meeting for worship should begin outside of the meeting house, on +our way to it. As we enter the house, we would do well to remind +ourselves of the meaning of worship, the significance of corporate +worship, the possibility of meeting with God. Be expectant that this may +happen in this very gathering. Lift up the mind and heart to the Eternal +Being in whom we have brotherhood. The hope is that by these initial +acts we will put ourselves in the mood of worship and kindle a warmth of +inner life that will continue throughout the meeting and give spiritual +meaning to all subsequent efforts. + +Settle into your place as an anonymous member of an anonymous group. If +you have come to have a reputation among people, forget this and become +anonymous. If you have not made a name for yourself, forget this. The +opportunity to practice anonymity is a precious one. The meeting for +worship would be of great value if it did no more than make this +practice possible. If you are accustomed to feel yourself important in +the eyes of men, lay it down and feel only that you and others may have +some importance in the eyes of God. If you feel unimportant, lay this +down. If articulate or inarticulate, forget this. Lay aside all your +worldly relationships and your everyday interior states. In fine, forget +yourself. Surrender yourself. Immerse yourself in the life of the group. +This is our chance to lose ourselves in a unified and greater life. It +is our opportunity to die as separated individuals and be born anew in +the life and power of the spirit. Seek, in the words of Thomas Kelly, to +will your will into the will of God. + +Quiet and relax the body. We should try to quiet its habitual activity, +to relax it from strain, yet not over-relax it. Though relaxed it should +not become limp or drowsy. It must be kept upright, alert, wakeful. What +we desire is a body so poised and at rest that it is content to sit +there, taking care of itself, and we can forget it. + +Still the mind, gather it, turn it steadfastly towards God. This is more +difficult. It is contrary to the mind's nature to be still. It is +against its grain to turn Godwards. Left to itself it goes on and on +under its own momentum, roaming, wandering. It thinks and pictures and +dreams of everything on earth except God and the practice of His +presence. Even those who developed great aptitude for taking hold of the +mind and turning it to God found it difficult and even painful in the +beginning. If we expect it to be easy and pleasant we shall be easily +discouraged after a few trials. Brother Lawrence warns us that this +practice may even seem repugnant to us at first. + +The mind of an adult is more restive and all over the place than the +body of a child. How are we to curb its incessant restlessness and stay +it upon prayer and worship? How restrain its wanderings and point it to +the mark? How take it away from its automatic stream of thoughts and +focus it on God? Only by effort, practice, repeated effort, regular +practice. It requires life-long preparation and training. We cannot hope +to make much progress if we attempt to stay the mind only on First-days +during meeting. We must make effort throughout the week, daily, hourly. + +It is by stilling the body-mind that we center down. Put the other way, +it is by centering down that we still the body-mind. I would judge that +all Friends have in common the practice of centering down. This is our +common preparation for worship. From here on, however, each of us is +likely to go his individual way, no two ways being alike. This is the +freedom of worship which has ever been an integral part of the Friends +religion. We are not called upon to follow any fixed procedure. This is +creative. The individual spirit is set free to find its way, in its own +manner, to God. Yet it leaves some of us at a loss to know what to do +next. Some of us are not yet able to press on. We are unsure of the +inward way, and our available resources are not yet adequate to this +type of exploration. We need hints from others, suggestions, guides. To +meet this need, a number of Friends have written of what they do after +they center down. Among these writings may be mentioned Douglas V. +Steere's _A Quaker Meeting for Worship_, and Howard E. Collier's _The +Quaker Meeting_. In the same spirit I would like to indicate what I do. + +Once I have centered down I try to open myself, to let the light in. I +try to open myself to God's power. I try to open myself to the other +members of the meeting, to gain a vital awareness of them, to sense the +spiritual state of the gathering. I try so to reform myself inwardly +that, as a result of this meeting, I will thereafter be just a little +less conformed to the unregenerate ways of the world, just a little more +conformed to the dedicated way of love. + +I encourage a feeling of expectancy. I invite the expectation that here, +in this very meeting, before it is over, the Lord's power will spring up +in us, cover the meeting, gather us to Him and to one another. Though +meetings come and go, and weeks and even years pass, and it does not +happen, nevertheless I renew this expectation at every meeting. I have +faith that some day it will be fulfilled. We should be bold in our +expectations, look forward to momentous events. We should not be timid +or small but large with expectancy, and, at the same time humble, so +that there is no egotism in it. + +I kindle the hope that, should the large events not be for me and for us +this day, some true prayer will arise from our depths, some act of +genuine worship. I hope that at the least I will start some exploration +or continue one already begun, make some small discovery, feel my inward +life stir creatively and expand to those around me. + +Having aroused my expectancy, I wait. I wait before the Lord, forgetting +the words in which I clothed my expectations, if possible forgetting +myself and my desires, laying down my will, asking only that His will be +done. In attitude or silent words I may say, "I am before thee, Lord. If +it be thy will, work thy love in me, work thy love in us." + +"O wait," wrote Isaac Penington, "wait upon God. Be still a while. Wait +in true humility, and pure subjection of soul and spirit, upon Him. Wait +for the shutting of thy own eye, and for the opening of the eye of God +in thee, and for the sight of things therewith, as they are from Him." + +Sometimes, while waiting, a glow steals over me, a warmth spreads from +my heart. I have a chance to welcome the welling up of reverence, the +sense that I am in the presence of the sacred. Sometimes, though rarely, +the practice of waiting is invaded by an unexpected series of inner +events which carry me by their action through the meeting to the end. I +feel God's spirit moving in me, my spirit awakening to Him. + +More often I come to have the sense that I have waited long enough for +this time. To forestall the possibility of falling into dead passivity, +I voluntarily discontinue the practice of waiting and turn my attention +to other concerns. I may summon to mind a vital problem that confronts +me or one of my friends, trying to see the problem by the inward light, +seeking the decision that would be best. I may bring into consciousness +someone I know to be suffering. This may be a personal acquaintance or +someone whose plight I have learned of through others, or people in +distress brought to my attention by an article in a newspaper or a +magazine. I call to him or them in my spirit, and suffer with them, and +pray God that through their suffering they will be turned to Him, that +by their very pain they may grow up to Him. + +Hardly a meeting passes but what I pray that I and the members of the +meeting and people everywhere may have this experience: that our wills +be overcome by God's will, that our powers be overpowered by His light +and love and wisdom. And sometimes, though again rarely, I find it +possible to hold my attention, or, rather, to have my heart held, +without wavering, upon the one supreme reality, the sheer fact of God. +These are the moments that I feel to be true worship. These are the +times when the effort to have faith is superseded by an effortless +assurance born of actual experience. God's reality is felt in every +fibre of the soul and brings convincement even to the body-mind. + +I would not give the impression that what I have described takes place +in just this way every time, or that it happens without disruptions, +lapses, roamings of the mind, day-dreams. Frequently I must recall +myself, again still the mind and turn it Godwards, again practice +waiting. All too often I awake to find, no, not that I have been +actually sleeping, but that I might as well have been, so far have I +strayed from the path that leads to God and brotherhood. And I must +confess, too, that during some meetings I have been buried under inertia +and deadness and unable to overcome them. Having meant nothing to +myself, it is not likely that my presence meant anything to the others. +My body was but an object, unliving, filling space on a bench. It would +have been better for others had I stayed away. A dead body gives off no +life; it but absorbs life from others, reducing the life-level of the +meeting. + +As I am one of those who are sometimes moved to speak in meetings, I may +indicate how this happens in my case. First let me say what I do not do. +I never try to think up something to say. I am quite content to be +silent, unless something comes into my mind and I am moved to say it, or +unless I sense that the meeting would like to hear a few living words. +In this latter case, I may search myself to see what may be found; and +by this searching I may set in motion the processes which discover +hidden messages. + +I never go to the meeting with an "itch" to speak, though it sometimes +happens to me, as to others, that I am moved to speak before arriving at +the meeting house. Even so, I usually restrain the urge until we have +had at least a short period of silent waiting before God. One is vain +indeed if he thinks that his words are more important than this waiting. +If I have not been moved to speak before arriving, such an impulse, if +it comes at all, is likely to arise after I have been waiting a while. +It arises within my silence. An insight or understanding flashes into my +mind. A prayer or a pleading or a brief exhortation comes upon me. I +hold it in mind and look at it, and at myself. I examine it. + +Is this a genuine moving that deserves expression in a meeting for +worship, or had I best curb and forget it? May it have some real meaning +for others, and is it suited to the condition of this meeting? Can I +phrase it clearly and simply? If it passes these tests, I regard it as +something to be said but I am not yet sure it should be said here and +now. To find out how urgent it is, I press it down and try to forget it. +If time passes and it does not take hold of me with increased strength, +I conclude that it is not to be spoken of at this time. If, on the other +hand, it will not be downed, if it rebounds and insists and will not +leave me alone, I give it expression. + +If it turns out that the words were spoken more in my own will than in +the power, I feel that egotistical-I has done it, and that this +self-doing has set me apart from the other members of the meeting. I am +dissatisfied until again immersed in the life of the group. But if it +seems that I have been an instrument of the power, I have the feeling +that the power has done it and has, by this very act, joined those +assembled even closer. Having spoken, I feel at peace once again, warmed +and made glowing by the passage of a living current through me to my +fellows. With a heightened sense of fellowship with man and God, I +resume my silent practices. + +I never speak if, in my sense of it, spoken words would break a living +silence and disrupt the life that is gathering underneath. But I have on +occasion spoken in the hope of breaking a dead silence. Spoken words +should arise by common consent. The silence should accept them. The +invisible life should sanction them. The members of the meeting should +welcome them and be unable to mark exactly when the message began and +when it ends. The message should form with the silence a seamless whole. + +If the message be a genuine one, the longer I restrain it the better +shaped it becomes in my mind and the stronger the impulse to express it. +A force gathers behind it. Presently, however, I must either voice it or +put it from my mind completely, lest it dominate my consciousness +overlong and rule out the other concerns which should engage us in a +meeting for worship. It is good when a message possesses us. Our +meetings need compelling utterances. But it is not good when a message +obsesses us to the exclusion of all else. This is a danger which +articulate people, particularly those like myself who have much dealing +with words, must avoid. We miss our chance if we do not use the meeting +for worship as an opportunity to dwell in the depths of life far below +the level of words, rising to the surface only when we are forced to by +an upthrust of the spirit which seeks to unite the surface with the +depths and gather those assembled into a quickened sense of creative +wholeness--each in all and all in God. + + + + +QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS + + +WHAT MOVES US TO PRAY AND WORSHIP? Sometimes we are moved by a quickened +sense of a sacred Presence. Prayer and worship are our spontaneous +responses as we awaken to God's unutterable radiance and wonder. +Sometimes we are moved by a realization that, left to ourselves, we are +inadequate, that apart from God we are insufficient. Realizing that our +knowledge is insufficient, we turn to God's light and wisdom. And there +are those who pray and worship as a conscious means of growing up to God +and becoming firmly established in His kingdom. + +WHY DO NOT MORE PEOPLE PRAY? Why do not all of us worship more often? +Many lack a quickened sense of a sacred Presence. Though aware of +material things, they are inert to the things of the spirit. They wait +to be spiritually awakened. Most of us persist in feeling that we are +self-sufficient. We feel we are adequate for all ordinary affairs, and +it is only when we find ourselves in overpowering situations that we +recognize we are not self-sufficient, and may then turn to God. But when +the crisis passes we are likely to lapse into an assumption of +self-sufficiency. + +WHY DO NOT THE LEADERS OF NATIONS TURN TO GOD? Did not the recent war, +does not the present chaos of the world show them that their powers and +knowledge are inadequate? It would seem that the leaders, despite all +evidence to the contrary, still believe that their own powers and +politics are enough to prevent war and to secure an ordered and peaceful +world. + +WHEN WILL THE PEOPLE LEARN? WHEN WILL THE LEADERS LEARN? I do not know, +but for the sake of mankind I hope we learn soon. The people of all +nations would do well to suspend their ordinary affairs for an hour each +day, and, in concert, turn their minds and hearts steadfastly towards +God. The purpose of regeneration would be better served in this one +hour than in all the other hours of the day. + +IS THE MEETING FOR WORSHIP BASED ON SILENCE? No. Friends know that it is +not, yet some Friends have fallen into the habit of saying that it is. +Jane Rushmore brought out this point in one of our meetings of Ministry +and Counsel. She reminded us that the meeting for worship is based on +the conviction that we can directly communicate with God, and He with +us. Silence, we believe, is a necessary means to such communion. For if +we are busy with our own talk, God will not speak to us. Stillness is a +necessary condition for practicing the presence of God. For if we stir +about in our own wills, God will not move us. In the meeting for worship +we try to obey the command, "Be still, and know that I am God." God is +the goal. A living silence is a means thereto. + +Recently I was visited by three young Friends, thirteen years of age. +They had some problems to talk over. I asked if they felt they knew what +to do in the meeting for worship. Their happy confidence that they did +know was a pleasant surprise, as I have found many Friends, young and +old, who are in need of suggestions and guides. I asked these three what +they did in the silence. After some hesitancy, one brightened and +replied, "I talk over my problems with God." I told her that was a +splendid thing to do. For young people of thirteen or thereabouts, it is +enough that they talk over their problems with God, or engage in some +other simple and sincere exercise. For some older people one or two +simple practices are enough. I am in sympathy with those who would +worship in simplicity of mind and heart. But others are in need of more, +and the preceding chapter tries to speak to this need. Whatever the +means used, the important thing is that we spiritually awake and come +alive during the meeting for worship even more than at other times. + +WHO SHOULD SPEAK IN THE MEETING FOR WORSHIP? Anyone who is genuinely +moved to. Age has nothing to do with it, though older people may be more +able because of longer practice. Education has nothing to do with it, +though education may facilitate verbal expression. The essential matter +is the inward prompting, under God's guidance. The Book of Discipline +says, "Our conviction is that the Spirit of God is in all, and that +vocal utterance comes when this Spirit works within us. The varying +needs of a meeting can be best supplied by different personalities, and +a meeting is enriched by the sharing of any living experience of God." + +WHAT ARE WE TO DO IF WE FEEL GENUINELY MOVED TO SPEAK BUT ARE INHIBITED +BY THE FEAR OF NOT EXPRESSING OURSELVES WELL? Attend to what you have to +say. Put your mind on that, and take it off yourself. Do not be +concerned that your speech may be halting and imperfect. Do not compare +yourself with others, thinking that they speak fluently, you poorly. Be +concerned to communicate. Summon up your courage and break the ice. Try. +If you can once overcome an inhibition, you have broken its hold. It +will still be there, but you can overcome it more readily the next time. +Keep trying. + +It is true that some people seem born with the facility to speak, but it +is also true that the ability, like other abilities, is developed by +practice. Most of those who speak well now, began with embarrassment, +self-consciousness, and an imperfect command of words. Friends can be +counted on to understand if at first your thoughts and feelings are not +expressed as well as they might be. They will attend more to what you +are trying to say than to how you say it. Here again the Book of +Discipline gives wise counsel. "One who is timid or unaccustomed to +speak should have faith that God will strengthen him to give his +message." + +WHEN SHOULD WE SPEAK IN THE MEETING FOR WORSHIP? Whenever we are moved +to. We may be moved to speak near the beginning, midway, or towards the +end. The important thing is not the time but the moving. However, as +Rufus Jones once pointed out, it sometimes helps if, once we are really +settled, something is said that lifts the spirit, that raises us above +our worldly problems and gives impetus to our search for the indwelling +divinity. + +WHAT SHOULD BE SPOKEN OF IN THE MEETING FOR WORSHIP? This question will +be answered for us, inwardly, if we are in the spirit of the meeting, if +the meeting is in God's spirit. We may speak of spiritual things. We may +speak of daily affairs and events, if these are given a spiritual +interpretation. We may speak of world problems, if these are seen in the +light of religion. Anything that comes from the heart is proper and +acceptable. We will not go wrong if we keep in mind the central purpose +of the meeting for worship, and are striving to fulfill this purpose. +Let your heart respond to the need of our meetings for a vital ministry. +Open yourself and accept, should it come to you, the call to an inspired +ministry. + +SHOULD MESSAGES COME ONE AFTER THE OTHER IN RAPID SUCCESSION? No. There +should be a due interval between them, a living silence in which the +spirit works deep below the level of words. Messages should arise from +the silence and return to it. Of course there are times when one message +arises from another. Even so, there should be pauses between them during +which the creative forces may operate in unexpected ways. Restraint of +speech improves both the speech and the silence. Read what Thomas Kelly +has to say of spoken words in his pamphlet, _The Gathered Meeting_. + + But more frequently some words are spoken. I have in mind those + meeting hours which are not dominated by a single sermon, a single + twenty-minute address, well-rounded out, with all the edges tucked + in so there is nothing more to say. In some of our meetings we may + have too many polished examples of homiletic perfection which lead + the rest to sit back and admire but which close the question + considered, rather than open it. Participants are converted into + spectators; active worship on the part of all drifts into passive + reception of external instruction. To be sure, there are gathered + meetings, which arise about a single towering mountain peak of a + sermon. One kindled soul may be the agent whereby the slumbering + embers within are quickened into a living flame. + + But I have more particularly in mind those hours of worship in which + no one person, no one speech stands out as the one that "made" the + meeting, those hours wherein the personalities that take part + verbally are not enhanced as individuals in the eyes of others, but + are subdued and softened and lost sight of because in the language + of Fox, "The Lord's power was over all." Brevity, earnestness, + sincerity--and frequently a lack of polish--characterizes the best + Quaker speaking. The words should rise like a shaggy crag upthrust + from the surface of silence, under the pressure of river power and + yearning, contrition and wonder. But on the other hand the words + should not rise up like a shaggy crag. They should not break the + silence, but continue it. For the Divine Life who was ministering + through the medium of silence is the same Life as is now ministering + through words. And when such words are truly spoken "in the Life," + then when such words cease the _uninterrupted_ silence and worship + continue, for silence and words have been of one texture, one piece. + Second and third speakers only continue the enhancement of the + moving Presence, until a climax is reached, and the discerning head + of the meeting knows when to break it. + +WHAT ARE WE TO DO IF SOME FRIENDS ARE SOMETIMES OVER-VOCAL ABOUT MATTERS +THAT ARE HARDLY THE PROPER CONCERN FOR A MEETING FOR WORSHIP? How are we +to regard those who do not always speak acceptably to us, or are +overlong in their words, or who get up and repeat what we have heard +them say again and again? Instead of viewing them as objects of +criticism, separated from you, try to feel them as being together with +you in a common life, and pray that the Creator of this life may make +all expressions living expressions. Do not let your resentment build up, +but increase your humility by recognizing that the faults that others +display may well be your own. + +HOW ARE WE TO MANAGE THE OCCASIONAL RUSTLINGS AND NOISES, WITHIN AND +WITHOUT THE MEETING, THAT THREATENS TO DISTRACT US AND DRAW US AWAY FROM +WORSHIP? Here Douglas Steere has a helpful practice. Try to include +these distractions in one's worship. Instead of attempting to exclude +them, weave them into your efforts to practice the presence of God. Read +what Douglas Steere has to say of this in _A Quaker Meeting for +Worship_. + + But again and again before I get through this far in prayer my mind + has been drawn away by some distraction. Someone has come in late. + Two adorable little girls who are sitting on opposite sides of their + mother are almost overcome by delight in something which is much too + subtle to be comprehended by the adult mind, the drafts in the coal + stove need readjusting, how noisy the cars are out on the highway + today, the wind howls around the corner and rattles the old + pre-revolutionary glass in the window sashes. Do these rude + interruptions destroy the silent prayer? Well, there was a time when + they did, and there are times still when they interfere somewhat, + but for the most part, I think they help. The late-comers stir me to + a resolve to be more punctual myself--a fault I am all too well + aware of--and I pass directly on to prayer, glad that they have come + today. The little girls remind me of the undiscovered gaiety in + every cell of life that these little "bon-vivants" know ever so + well, and they remind me too that a meeting for worship must be made + to reach these fierce-eyed nine- and ten-year-olds, and I pass on. I + get up and open the draft in the coal stove. Sometimes I pray the + distractions directly into the prayer--"swift, hurrying life of + which these humming motors are the symbol--pass by at your will--I + seek the still water that lies beneath these surface waves," or "the + wind of God is always blowing but I must hoist my sail," and proceed + with my prayer. + +WHAT ARE WE TO DO WHEN A MEETING IS UNLIVING? Suffer it. Continue to do +your part to contribute to the life. Continue to pray that God will +quicken the meeting, shake it awake. Suppose you yourself are heavy with +inertia and feel more dead than alive. The only way to overcome inertia +is to become active. Since, in a meeting for worship, our bodies are +still, the only positive action is inner-action. We have already +considered several inward practices that facilitate inner-action. Engage +in one or more of these with renewed determination. See your deadness as +a challenge and resolve not to be overcome by it but to overcome it. +Struggle against it. Persist in the act of turning your mind and heart +Godwards. Kindle your expectancy. Wait before the Lord. Think of Him. +Pray Him to send His life into you, and into the meeting, and into the +people of the world. Should these inward practices prove of no avail, I +sometimes fall back on this device. There is always in us some theme +that the mind wants to think of, some fear, some desire, some problems, +some situation, some prospect. Though the theme is not a fit one for a +meeting for worship, I let my mind run on about it. Once the mind is +well started on this topic, I switch it and transfer its momentum to one +of the practices that prepare for worship. + +HOW SHOULD WE COME TO MEETING? Reluctantly? No. Burdened by a feeling of +obligation to attend? No. Expecting something dull and tedious? No! If a +meeting evokes only dullness in its members it is a dead meeting and +ought to be laid down. A live meeting evokes life. Just the prospect of +attending such a meeting should quicken us. It were better to come alive +doing housework than to become deadened in a meeting house. + +Come with the expectancy that, as you make effort to turn yourself +Godwards, the life deep within you will arise, and meet you half-way, +and call you, and draw you, gather you into God's presence. Come with +the hope that the Teacher within will teach you of spiritual things. +Come with the expectancy that as you meet with other Friends, in this +very gathering you and they will be shaken awake by the impact of God's +power, and made to tremble, and become actual Quakers. Come with the +prayer that one and all may be "brought through the very ocean of +darkness and death, by the eternal, glorious power of Christ, into the +ocean of light and love." + +WHAT SHOULD WE DO, IN AND OUT OF MEETING, IN OUR PERIODS OF WORSHIP AND +IN OUR DAILY LIVES? Practice the presence of God. Practice, as far as we +are able, the love of God and the love of man and all creation. But let +George Fox declare it to us, as he declared it to the early Friends and +to people of all ranks and conditions in two continents. "All people +must first come to the Spirit of God in themselves, by which they might +know God and Christ, of whom the prophets and apostles learnt; by which +Spirit they might have fellowship with the Son, and with the Father, and +with the Scriptures, and with one another; and without this Spirit they +can know neither God nor Christ, nor the Scriptures, nor have right +fellowship one with another." + + + + +FOR FURTHER READING + + +Books + +AN APOLOGY FOR THE TRUE CHRISTIAN DIVINITY by Robert Barclay + +THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS + +CREATIVE WORSHIP by Howard H. Brinton + +THE FAITH AND PRACTICE OF THE QUAKERS by Rufus M. Jones + +THE JOURNAL OF GEORGE FOX + +THE LETTERS OF ISAAC PENINGTON + +PRAYER AND WORSHIP by Douglas V. Steere + +THE QUAKER MINISTRY by John William Graham + +THE QUAKER WAY OF LIFE by William Wistar Comfort + +THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE PEOPLE CALLED QUAKERS by William Penn + +SILENT WORSHIP, THE WAY OF WONDER by L. Violet Hodgkin + +A TESTAMENT OF DEVOTION by Thomas R. Kelly + +TESTIMONIES AND PRACTICE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS by Jane P. Rushmore + +WORSHIP AND THE COMMON LIFE by Eric Hayman + + +Pamphlets + +PENN'S ADVICE TO HIS CHILDREN + +THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD by Brother Lawrence + +THE QUAKER MEETING by Howard E. Collier + + +Leaflets + +THE GATHERED MEETING by Thomas R. Kelly + +GOING TO MEETING by Leonard S. Kenworthy + +A QUAKER MEETING FOR WORSHIP by Douglas V. Steere + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Interpretation of Friends Worship, by +N. Jean Toomer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRIENDS WORSHIP *** + +***** This file should be named 24576.txt or 24576.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/5/7/24576/ + +Produced by Mark C. 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