Silence is a deep part of Quaker tradition. The
early Friends met in silence, waiting upon the Spirit, and so we meet
today. But the silence is the means, not the end; contact with the
Divine is the hope, the aspiration, the goal of Quaker worship. The
outward silence is a tool; stillness and absence of distraction makes
it easier to reach that place inside you where that eternal and
universal Presence that binds and strengthens us all can be known.
Do not rely on the outward silence. Cultivate the
inward silence. Learn your way to that feeling within, where you
connect to the Presence, where you know the Spirit, where you realise
your nature as part of the Divine. Then you can know that life and
power wherever you are and whatever you face, be guided by and
strengthened by it, and doubts and fears will cease to control you.
Written October 2017
