Words: Worship

Harvey Gillman introduces a new series in which he offers personal reflections on key words in Quakerism

by Harvey Gillman 3rd October 2014

I love words just as I love silence. In fact, each takes value from the other. A self-declared nontheist Friend at Meeting tells me that if I need to know what a word means, I should simply look in the dictionary. Usually the literal meaning of the word is given first. Sometimes, however, she fails to see the phrase ‘by extension’. The meaning of words often depends on their cultural context and changes as the culture changes. The question underlying these reflections is: can we still use religious vocabulary creatively and imaginatively in a world caught between religious literalism and secular indifference? How far can words be extended before they break?