gone. I'd have sat there with
the others, feeling much at home, perhaps feeling I was in a holy place.
I'd have sat as quietly as any for the first ten or fifteen minutes. I
would not have worshiped in any formal sense, for I had not been taught
any form. But I would have practiced my kind of inwardness, thinking my
own thoughts as I did when alone, dreaming wonderful dreams, feeling a
life stir within me. Had there been a spoken message or two, I would
have listened attentively, tried to understand, and honestly responded.

Presently, however, I would have begun to fidget. Not knowing what I
should try to do in a meeting for worship, I would have had nothing to
fall back on when my thoughts ran out, no purpose for curbing my
increasing restlessness. Through the windows my eyes would have caught
sight of the world outdoors, and I'd have wished I were out there having
fun with the boys. Time would have dragged. I'd have asked myself, "Will
the meeting never end?" And when finally it did end, I'd have been as
glad for the ending as I had been for the beginning.

What should we try to do in a meeting for worship? What do we hope to
attain through it? Why is silence desirable? What is the main idea
behind the Friends manner of worship? It is true that Quakers wait for
the spirit to move them. Why wait? Wouldn't it be better just to go
ahead? Besides waiting, what more is to be done? Can we not pray and
worship when we are alone, or as we go about our daily affairs? Why is
it necessary to meet together? What is worship?

These are not questions that you answer once and for all. You continue
to think about them and continue to increase your understanding. But it
helps us to think if we put our thoughts in order and study the thoughts
of others. So I am going to write down some of the thoughts that have
come to me. We shall think about worship and the central faith of the
Friends, and let the answers come as they may.

WORSHIP AND LOVE

Worship is the action of the spirit. It springs up from our depths, as
love does. It is a form of love, and just as desirable, and just as
necessary to human life at its fullest and highest. To worship is an
innate need of man. It is not imposed upon us from the outside, though
the way we sometimes go about it may make it seem an imposition.

Suppose you are hungry. No one has to tell you to eat. No one has to
force you to take food. Suppose you are in love. Must you be told to
t