Since their founding in the mid 1600’s by George Fox, one of the hallmarks of worship among the Friends is silence. In the classic form, a worship service is ‘unprogramed’ where there is no formal order of worship, and consists mostly of silence, where believers wait in prayer for the light of Christ to speak from within. Sometimes people will share something that is sitting on their hearts, but this is spontaneous and undirected. For those of you who have never sat in silence with a group of people for an hour, it is an amazing experience. I’d recommend it.
Human beings are information seeking creatures-we love to have input to our eyes, ears, and mind. Sensory deprivation is actually one of the forms of torture that the US government used against prisoners, because being left without light and sound is deeply disconcerting to the human psyche-but there is something to be said for setting aside this need, and experiencing some discomfort in the deep silence of the world.
image from http://www.mountmellick.net/history/quakers/index.htm
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