Thought for the Week: Patterns and examples
Ian Kirk-Smith reflects on the Quaker way
Visitors to a Quaker Meeting house are often struck by the simplicity and plainness of the interior. Many are not used to this in a place of worship.
They look in vain for visual stimulus and storytelling. There are no images in stained glass, or carved in stone, or painted on canvas or wall, or crafted in wood. There are no words to be seen. No outward form. There is no altar for ritual and ceremony, no pulpit, no prayer book to recite from, and generally no hymnbook from which to praise in song. There is no minister or priest to guide. Indeed, where in this austere simplicity is the subject of most images, words and hymns – Christ?
A visitor would look around and see only people. They are usually clothed informally. They are not dressed up especially for the occasion.
Early Friends were often criticised for ‘denying Christ’. It was a perception that bemused them. They felt quite the opposite. By rejecting the outward form of images and ritual, and the guidance of priests and ministers, Friends felt they had embraced a new, joyful way that was, in fact, a return to ‘Primitive Christianity’.
Christ, they believed, was within everyone. There was a light that enlightened everyone that came into the world. Christ was a living presence. He had come to teach his people himself. The historical figure – celebrated in images in stained glass, in wood or in paint, worshipped in prayers, preached in a sermon and celebrated in song – was not as important as experiencing the living presence. Christ is the spirit of love. God is love.
Faith, for Friends, is built on personal experience and on being transformed. This personal transformation, vitally, prompts an active engagement with the world – not a retreat from it. Quakers profoundly believe that they should express their faith in the way they live their lives. Indeed, it also demands that Friends seek out need – whether in criminal justice, mental health, housing or where there is conflict – and respond to it.
This special issue of the Friend contains articles on Quaker history and heritage, witness and testimony, interests and concerns, and spirituality and the sacred. They reflect the respect that contemporary Quakers have for Friends who have put their faith into action over the centuries. They have been patterns and examples. Friends, today, follow in their footsteps, prompted by the same spirit of love, tenderness, compassion and concern for others. It is the Quaker way.
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.