“Heed the still small voice when it comes.” In a TV show called The Dead Zone, a science teacher named Johnny Smith comes out of a coma with an amazing gift. When he touches things he can see and hear things that no one around him can perceive. He sees visions of the past or visions of the future. The visions help him solve crimes and prevent disasters. He has access to a special form of knowledge that others don’t. During the opening credits a voice echoes in his memory to “Heed the still, small voice.” It’s a reference to 1 Kings 19, but it is also remembered as something that Quakers are especially called to do. Quakers have access to another level of reality that others can’t access or aren’t willing to put in the hard work to reach.
In The Matrix, Morpheus asks Neo, “What is real?” Morpheus answers his own question saying, “How do you define ‘real’? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.” If Morpheus is right then, Johnny’s visions are just as real as what the people around him see.
According to the Gospel of John, Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, What is truth? There’s a tendency to see Pilate’s question as a bitter and cynical and definitely rhetorical question. Doesn’t everybody already know what truth is? Maybe it’s time to take the question more seriously.
The question of what is real and what is true are significant ones. There is an entire branch of philosophy dedicated to the question of “What is truth?” It’s called epistemology. Key concepts include what is Truth, what can we know and how do we know it.
Quakers have a somewhat peculiar epistemology. In addition to Morpheus’ list of “what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see” Quakers add something more.
Quakers listen deeply to something that cannot be seen with eyes nor heard with ears. Yet we still find truth there. There a variety of terms for this source of knowledge and Truth. They include Inward Teacher, Inner Light, Christ Within, Spirit, and the Spirit of Truth. Other Christians speak of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, and the Advocate.
In our reading from John today (16:12-14), Jesus spoke of how his hearers were not ready for everything he had to say to them and how the Spirit of Truth would bring them more from Jesus later. The technical term for this is continuing revelation.
Most knowledge of God is said to fall into two other categories, general and specific revelation. General revelation, according to Romans 1:20, comes from looking at the earth and sky and all God made. General revelation is great because we all have access to it without any special training or spiritual skill. You can see people doing good in the world. You can feel it when you are following the way of love. You can look around and ask the question my Ministry Formation professor was fond of asking: Where is God in all of that? When you see justice done there is God. When you see the truth win out, there is God. When you see people have enough and even more share in abundance there is God. As Quakers, we look at how our lives are guided by opportunities opening and other paths closing. We describe this as way opening and way closing. There you can see God guiding your path. Look around you and you will see signs of God everywhere. As my friend George Schaller says, Your life does have meaning. The divine is present in your life.
Another kind of knowledge is called special revelation. Special revelation is peculiar to each religion. This is a way of describing sacred truth. Muslims have the Quran. Hindus have the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita, among others. Christians have the Bible. The upside is that it can put you in touch with centuries and even millenia of believers and their collective knowledge. The catch with special revelation is that it is generally seen as completed at some point in the past. We know God once spoke to the great and most holy people, but we no longer feel that God is speaking to us today.
Now back to the Inward Teacher. One of the things most special about Quakers is continuing revelation. We are aware that have access to God here and now. As the United Church of Christ poignantly asks, what if God is still speaking… We answer strongly in the affirmative. God is still speaking, right here and right now. We only have to listen closely enough.
In the past, I have emphasized the commonality of Quaker worship and meditation. Meditation can get us most of the way there. We can quiet and focus our thoughts. There is, however, another element to Quaker waiting worship. We actually expect God to have a message for us. This and not centering down is the point. Being grounded is not enough–it’s what you can reach when you’re there that matters. The Spirit of Truth that Jesus spoke of is speaking to us today. Quakers over the centuries have wrestled with how to balance the authority of the Bible, worldly knowledge, and personal experience of God.
Still, our connection with God is one of the things that sets us apart. As Quakers we listen for guidance and messages bringing us truth for the here and now. While we can see, hear, and touch the world around us, we know there is more. We can find truth in the Bible, but it does not end there for us. We listen for truth within.
- How has listening to God been important to you?
- What’s the message that made the biggest difference for you?
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