A Communion as Strong as in Any Bread and Wine
“For the last 350 years, gathered silence has been the foundation of Quaker worship. The silence of Quaker worship, however, is not an end in itself, but an opportunity for seeking communion with the Sacred.
Quakers do not worship the silence, but that to which the silence leads. If mystical experience is a direct and unmediated experience of the Divine, the Sacred, God, then the Quaker meeting seeks and sometimes achieves a group mystical experience in which all present can share together in this connection.
For these moments, all are ‘gathered’ and are ‘covered’ by the Spirit. Here Quakers have found—and still find—a communion in the silence as deep and strong as in any bread and wine.”
— Tom Rothschild, 2007
Quaker facilitator
Today’s Invitation
Worship that to which the silence leads.
This Week’s Query
What do you value about silence?
What are the fruits of sitting in silence?
Read the source of today’s quote
Banner art by Mark Pratt-Russum
