4/27 update: Anon56 said: Found this very interesting, enjoyed the video. I
believe it does come from within, but not everyone can talk about
it.
Larry replied: Thanks for the reply. Many Friends come to Meeting
and have internal experience and never feel moved to speak (i.e.,
talk). love, Larry
adding here: In some Friends Meetings, depending on the group, it is
not uncommon for the entire hour of meditation to pass without a
single word being spoken by anyone. There is no rule about that.
If one comes from a different background the silence can take some
getting used to. :-)
-------sent 4/25/15-------------------
Quaker Explorations, "Waiting Worship and Vocal Ministry"
I want to share this with you because it is very familiar to me and
might be unfamiliar to you, to give you some idea what it is that
goes on at silent-type Meetings of the Religious Society of
Friends. It is different individuals telling what the leading feels
like and knowing when to speak and when not to speak. I have
mentioned before my personal experience with them. Because it is
familiar to me I can say that the experience of being moved to speak
out of the silence in a Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
is something very different, a very special experience all its own,
for me and for others as well, going by what others say. The video
and these writings were collected by one Friend for a special
conversation outside the usual Meeting time tomorrow morning for one
particular Friends meeting that I hear some things about from a
close friend who is one of the members. This is not me preaching or
telling you or anyone else what to do. It is sharing the words of
different people who have caught the attention of some others. Note
that the words written and the words that are spoken by different
Friends in the video are different, not all the same by any means.
The words from Pacific Yearly Meeting's
Faith and Practice
were agreed upon by a large gathering of Friends at an annual
conference. Please make what you will of all of this. love, Larry
Readings for Quaker Explorations
April 26, 2015 from 9 – 10:15 AM
On Waiting Worship and Vocal Ministry
To
find
true religion, turn inward. It is in ourselves, though not of
ourselves. The
voice is too still, the seed too small, and the light shineth in
darkness, so
most people overlook it. Sit down in true silence, resting from
your own will
and workings, and wait upon the Lord, with your minds fixed in
that Light
wherewith Christ enlightened you, until the Lord breathes life
in you,
refresheth you and prepares you… to make you fit for his
service.
~William Penn [William Penn was an early Quaker who founded the Province
of Pennsylvania. LAS]
There
is
a pure seed of life which God hath sown in thee… Oh wait daily
to feel it… and
wait for the rising of the power in thy heart… Be still and
quiet, and silent
before the Lord, not putting up any request… nor cherishing any
desire in thee…
Learn but in quietness and stillness to retire to the Lord and
wait upon him…
Come out of the knowledge and comprehension about things, into
the feeling
life… without reasoning, consulting, or disputing… And so sink
very low, and
become very little…
~
Isaac
Penington
“I
learned
to wait till my whole body was quiet and ready to be moved from
within
from a deep inner impulse. Expectations, programs, agendas had
to be set aside.
As the waiting deepened, occasionally I experienced something
akin to
Penington’s “rising of the power” and “purely springing life”
which was more
than physical, though it was anchored in the physical task of
not moving until
one was “moved.”… It is not easy to wait, or just be
unprogrammed.
Paradoxically, it takes effort to stop and wait. It takes
attention and
determination to set aside the habitual inner voices… The
unfolding of the
divine Seed within us is so momentous, so unpredictable, that we
cannot afford
to clutter our worship with preprogrammed hymns, prayers, and
sermons… After we
have restrained our reasonings, our judgments, our “runnings and
willings,” the
only appropriate response is to wait.”
~
Teresina Havens, Pendle Hill Pamphlet 304
Ministry is what is on one’s soul, and it can be in direct
contradiction to what is on one’s mind. It’s what the Inner
Light gently pushes you toward or suddenly dumps in your lap.
It is rooted in eternity, divinity, and selflessness of the
Inner Light, not in the worldly, egoistic functions of the
conscious
mind.
~ Marriane McMullen 1987
Speaking
of
those who are divinely inspired, in 1750 Samuel Bownas wrote:
“These
are
very humble and low of heart, and the more their minds are
enlightenend by
divine inspiration, the more they see a necessity to watch over
themselves, so
that the innocence, meekness, and humility suiting a true and
right minister
will appear in all their conduct. Such are slow to speak, and
ready to hear and
receive instruction, and are known by them that are spiritual to
be such.”
The
motion
to speak must come from a deep place, after sinking into the
quiet
center where the boundaries of self begin to soften and the
worshipper feels in
communion with God and the worshipping community. The inward
motion takes its
origins there, below the level of consciousness where words have
beginnings and
endings, in the presence of a Word that was in the beginning.
That motion rises
through the soul’s layers of awareness until words take form and
a message
takes shape… The minister does not so much speak as is spoken
through.
~
Michael Birkel, Silence and Witness: The Quaker
Tradition
What happens
in meeting for worship is inward attention to Stillness, Breath,
Word,
and Space, and the persistent return of attention to these, plus
the effort to discern
leadings, resistances, fears, and motivations. We clear a space…
We rely on
silence and fresh words emerging from the silence to carry us
into the Holy
Stillness. The silence can hold us and provide comfort, safety,
a place to
heal, but eventually it will open up to a vastness. We feel our
way to the
silence within for the still small voice to work its
transformation. We do this
by a discipline of attention, anticipation, patiently turning
away from idle
thoughts, feeling within our spirit for the quickening of Life.
If a few words
form there, we ask if the message is to be shared, and is it
truly grounded in
the Light? How much am I to say, and no more? It is this Life,
Presence, Truth,
we seek, and to settle for anything less is an idolatry of form.
~
David Snyder, Pendle Hill Pamphlet #397
Vocal
offerings that are ministry will deepen the gathering or knitting
together of the Meeting in love. The gathering of a Meeting takes
us deeper into unity with each other in God, in widening circles.
First we sense our oneness with other worshippers, then with those
who are more distant from us in some way, in ever-increasing
circles of love and concern until we encompass the whole of what
is. However, vocal offerings that interfere with worshippers
centring down, or remaining centred, will tend to unravel the
Meeting. Vocal offerings sometimes increase our agitation thereby
bringing us up into the shallows. Any vocal offering arising from
a negative attitude will have this effect. Such offerings take us
out of the love and unity.
~ Helen Gould, The Quaking Meeting
Guidelines
for
spoken ministry, adapted from Howard Brinton, Guide to
Quaker Practice, and
from Deepening and Strengthening our Meeting for Worship, by
57th Street
Friends Meeting, Chicago.
Spontaneous.
The
spoken message is not prepared in advance but emerges from the
experience of a
meeting. This does not mean that Friends should not prepare for
a meeting, nor
that a message cannot emerge over a longer period of time, but
such preparation
should be for general fitness for worship, not explicit
preparation for a
special occasion. Question the urge to speak if it comes
frequently and
especially if it comes during all or almost all meetings for
worship.
Spiritual. The
subject matter of ministry should be of a spiritual or religious
nature rather
than a secular nature. Messages that are political in nature can
be disruptive
to a meeting for worship. Question whether messages prompted by
current events
contain a deeper insight. Not a debate, argument, or discussion.
Messages may
be inspired by earlier messages but should not be simple
responses to them.
Meeting should also be a safe place and should not be used for
criticism of
others. Leave time for silence between messages.
Simple.
Exercise caution in delivering ministry that is overly
intellectual or sounds
like a lecture.
Brief.
Usually
a message can be fully given within a few minutes. Often a
single sentence with
reverence and conviction carries more weight than many words.
Non-personal.
Those
offering vocal ministry should think of themselves as an
instrument though
which the Spirit speaks. A message should be meant for the
meeting. To this
end, some Friends have traditionally questioned the use of “I”
in messages.
Faith
and Practice, Pacific Yearly Meeting:
Vocal
ministry is a form of service in which a person stands to share
a message from
God delivered through the individual. Friends hope that all
spoken messages
during worship are in fact vocal ministry. As one sits in
silence, a message
may arise out of the depth of the soul that seems intended not
simply for the
worshiper, but for the gathering as a whole… Experience in
meeting helps to
discriminate between private words and those that arise as true
leadings of the
Spirit that should not be silenced… The decision to speak should
await a clear
leading at the time. With practice, a person may learn to
discern a call
clearly. As one is weighing whether to speak, certain questions
may be helpful.
Is this message Spirit-led, or merely emotionally compelling? Is
this message
intended for this group, or is it only for me? Is it better
saved for another
time or place?
