Each year at this time two women set up shop in our church for hearing and vision tests. Moms (usually) show up with one or two small children in tow, who then go through brief tests to check on how well their ears and eyes are working. I’ve never asked where the two women are from — the health department probably. They put up these green signs to let parents know where to go since most are unfamiliar with our building. I have often set up chairs in the hallways for them to sit on while they wait. They whole process takes only a few minutes.
The Quaker faith centers on our interior capacity for hearing and vision. Friends covet the ancient experience of people in the Bible: “The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.” (Gen 15:1)
The one corner-stone of belief upon which the Society of Friends is built is the conviction that God does indeed communicate with each one of the spirits he has made, in a direct and living inbreathing of some measure of the breath of his own life; that he never leaves himself without a witness in the heart as well as in the surroundings of man; and that in order clearly to hear the divine voice thus speaking to us we need to be still; to be alone with him in the secret place of his presence; that all flesh should keep silence before him.
Caroline Stephen
Quakers listen for a speaking voice deep in their hearts, and they watch for a leading, an opening. Historian Rufus Jones says business meetings in the Society of Friends that require only 20 minutes of actual agenda items may take an hour or two because Quakers spend long stretches of time in attentive silence, waiting for God’s direction to make itself clear. I have been in a lot of church meetings but never any that featured silence and silent watchfulness. In our meetings, we ask for divine guidance at the beginning and spend the rest of the time listening to ourselves talk.
I benefit from listening to others. In meetings the wisdom people will share out of their life experiences is always instructive to me. Only, there is an interior voice, an inner light, that I fear we attend to too little in our churches. The question I am asking today is how we can cultivate the inner ability to hear and see. The Quakers say silence is the place to start.
A few months ago I had a conversation with someone who had come to our church, appreciated the warm welcome that their family had received, connected with some people in significant ways, appreciated the preaching, but had decided to worship elsewhere while his wife and kids continue to attend here. His reason? Not enough silence. He now celebrates mass with a group of mostly 65+ year olds at a local Catholic church because he finds time and space for contemplation and silence there. “I can hear myself think there,” he says. “It’s peaceful.” I found myself inwardly nodding in understanding throughout the conversation.
All this is to say that I, too, wonder about the amount of time we spend listening to ourselves talk. We do not do well with silence.
I think if the average church committee tried to engage in extended times of silence, the members would get bored and fidgety. For the Quakers, there is a church culture that nurtures, supports and expects the practice of silence. At least there used to be… I have heard that some Quakers have changed on this. So to be honest, I’m not sure how to involve more silent watchfulness into our church business and worship. I only know that silent is an anagram for listen. The two are connected.
There are various sects of Quakers. Some of them remain very much oriented to silence, and exploration of the “Inner Light.” More and more are adapting the Evangelical/non-denom model of Sunday mornings, which I think is a shame. I’m not Quaker, but my seminary is (or was), and I deeply revere their traditions.
I think silence is one of the most countercultural disciplines we could possibly practice in this day and age. It’s almost painful, and I find the older I get, the harder it is to turn off all the “devices” and simply be.
Another of my favorite aspects of the Quakers was their liberal approach to the prophetic work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of everyday believers. It impacted everything, including their approach to Scripture:
“No sect sat so free to the claims of Biblical authority as did the Society of Friends. With their emphasis upon the inner light as the primary rule, it was inevitable that they insisted on the secondary, human character of the scriptures. Extra-canonical writings they did not exalt, but rather they brought the canonical ones down to the same level.” (Henry Joel Cadbury. “Early Quakerism and uncanonical lore.”)
Wildly independent. Love it.
As a Methodist, I suggest we launch a Silence Committe (SiCo) to look into implementing more silence in our meetings and service. The SiCo can also best determine when to place this silent time on the agenda.
So be it resolved…
So, would meetings of the SiCo involve, um, talking?
SiCo sounds suspiciously like Psycho, too. Hmmm.
But yeah, thanks for the idea. ’tis resolved. Amen. (-:
Hi Chris…
I have been in Georgia at with my daughter Jane and her family for a few weeks, helping her through a trying time. My stay has been extended for a longer time but I hope to be back soon. Praise services will be starting each week again. I’ve been looking forward to that.
I just wanted you to know that I follow your blog and that makes me feell a little closer to home.
Thanks,
Jo Emerson
Thanks for your encouraging comment, Jo. Hope your stay in Georgia is fruitful… and that you can come home to Michigan soon.