Facts About Friends(Quakers) #5

The Inner Voice

Friends believe that if they wait silently upon God there will be times when God will speak to them in the heart. The silent Meeting of Friends is therefore the sacrament of communion with God during which Friends lay themselves open to the leading of the Spirit.

George Fox often wrote about his "openings'', meaning revelations, and it has been the experience of Quakers over the centuries that "openings'' will occur in the mind of that "a way will open''.

Openings can come to individuals when they are alone or may come out of the silence of a gathered Meeting for Worship. It is a perennial question as to whether a leading comes from God, from one's own ego, or from another power and it is the practice in the Society of Friends to test a leading or a concern in a meeting with others.

When they meet for business Friends strive to obtain the "sense of the meeting'' from those present before taking action for they recognize the light as a force which creates unity among all who respond to it or who "answer it in one another''. It does not follow that a majority is always right; a prophetic role is a lonely one and, if a concern is deeply felt and continues to be raised, the Meeting will continue to hear it and may later come to recognize its validity.