Whittier

A Post-Reformation Model of Worship: Quaker Worship

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The worship of the Friends is rooted in silence. The people wait upon the Holy Spirit, who in the silence moves them in worship, where they meet God.

Introduction
In calm and cool and silence once again
I find my old accustomed place among
My brethren, where, perchance no human tongue
Shall utter words; where never hymn is sung,
Nor deep-toned organ blown, nor censer swung.
Nor dim light falling through the pictured pane!
There, syllabled by silence, let me hear
The still small voice which reached the prophet’s ear;
Read in my heart a still diviner law
Than Israel’s leader on his tables saw …
(John Greenleaf Whittier, “First-Day Thoughts”)

Quaker writers like John Greenleaf Whittier have left us vivid descriptions of the traditional Quaker meeting for worship in which worshipers assemble in disciplined silence and holy expectancy, to wait—without prearranged singing, Bible reading, prayers or sermon—for the movement of God’s spirit. And as they wait, they pray—

Recall my wandering fancies, and restrain
The sore disquiet of a restless brain.…
(Whittier, ibid.)

As the silence of the gathered meeting deepens, it draws a profound response from the worshiper:

… when I came into the silent assemblies of God’s people, I felt a secret power among them, which touched my heart, and as I gave way unto it, I found the evil weakening in me, and the good raised up, and so I became thus knit and united unto them, hungering more and more after the increase of this power and life.…

(Robert Barclay, quoted in Eleanore Price Mather, Barclay in Brief [Wallingford, Pa: Pendle Hill Pamphlet, 1948]).

There is no pastoral leadership in Quaker worship. Each worshiper centers down in personal prayer and meditation. Worship proceeds with mystical communion and spoken ministry as individual worshipers are led by the Spirit to speak or pray.

Lowly before the Unseen Presence knelt
Each waiting heart, til haply, some one felt
On his moved lips the seal of silence melt.
Or, without spoken words, low breathings stole
Of a diviner life from soul to soul,
Baptizing in one tender thought the whole.
The spirit of God moves, and worshipers are
Wrapped in a sense of unity and of Presence such as quiets all words and enfolds [them] within an
Unspeakable calm and interknittedness within a vaster life.
(Thomas Kelly, The Eternal Promise [New York: Harper & Row, 1966]).

Worship continues undirected and uninterrupted—“for silence and words have been of one texture, one piece” (Kelley)—until an elder quietly stands and turns to greet those near him.

When shaken hands announced the meeting o’er.
The friendly group still lingered near the door,
Greeting, inquiring, sharing all the store
Of weekly tidings.…
And solemn meeting, summer sky and wood,
Old, kindly faces, youth and maidenhood,
Seemed, like God’s new creation, very good.
And greeting all with quiet smile and word,
Pastorius went his way. The unscared bird
Sang at his side; scarcely the squirrel stirred
At his hushed footstep on the mossy sod;
And wheresoe’er the good man looked or trod,
He felt the peace of Nature and of God.
(John Greenleaf Whittier, “The Quaker Meeting,” 1868, in Joseph Walton, Incidents Illustrating the Doctrine and History of the Society of Friends [Philadelphia: Wm. H. Pile’s Sons, 1897]).

I BOW MY FOREHEAD TO THE DUST

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I bow my forehead to the dust,
I veil mine eyes for shame,
And urge, in trembling self distrust,
A prayer without a claim.

No offering of mine own I have,
Nor works my faith to prove;
I can but give the gifts He gave,
And plead His love for love.

I dimly guess, from blessings known,
Of greater out of sight;
And, with the chastened psalmist, own
His judgments too are right.

And if my heart and flesh are weak
To bear an untried pain,
The bruiséd reed He will not break,
But strengthen and sustain.

I know not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.

And so beside the silent sea
I wait the muffled oar;
No harm from Him can come to me
On ocean or on shore.

I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care;

And Thou, O Lord, by Whom are seen
Thy creatures as they be,
Forgive me if too close I lean
My human heart on Thee.

About the writer: John Greenleaf Whittier, commonly known as the “Quaker Poet,” was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1807. Beginning life as a farm boy and village shoemaker, and with only a limited education, he entered the profession of journalism in 1828. He became that year editor of the American Manufacturer and, in 1830, editor of the New England Review. In 1836 he became Secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society and editor of its official publication, the Freeman. In his religious poems, he always magnified the goodness and love of God for humanity and the need for Christian charity. From 1824 until his death in 1892 he wrote and published poems singly in periodicals and collectively in book form. From these poems about 75 hymns have been made by selecting verses of religious and devotional sentiments.

Key Verse: I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance. –Job 42:6

Whittier, John Greenleaf

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John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), commonly known as the “Quaker Poet,” was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Beginning life as a farm boy and village shoemaker, and with only a limited education, he entered the profession of journalism in 1828. He became that year editor of the American Manufacturer and, in 1830, editor of the New England Review. In 1836 he became Secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society and editor of its official publication, the Freeman. In his religious poems, he always magnified the goodness and love of God for humanity and the need for Christian charity. From 1824 until his death in 1892 he wrote and published poems singly in periodicals and collectively in book form. His poems include such classics as The Pennsylvania Pilgrim and Barbara Frietchie. From these poems about 75 hymns have been made by selecting verses of religious and devotional sentiments. He is considered one of the great American poets and the Christian themes he included in his works have brought the message of Christ to many who would not otherwise read and study religious materials.