Quaker Spiritual Practices:
One of the most powerful and beautiful aspects of Quakerism is the application of the religious discipline in our daily lives. Meeting for Worship serves to recharge the basic tenet of Quakerism, which is recognition of the Light within and the Divine in ourselves and in others. This can and must carry over into our daily lives, where we are called to bring God into our work and to be guided by this Light on a daily basis in every action and decision.
Like a plant, spirituality must be nourished and nurtured every day, not just watered every so often, or it will die. Outside of the weekly Meeting for Worship, there are many practices that can and should be employed on a daily or twice daily basis in order to maximize the connection to the Power and Light that brings serenity, unity, tolerance, and love to our world.
The beauty of Quakerism lies in its simplicity and democracy. These practices can be used anywhere at any time, by anyone. While worshiping together does give structure and strength to the community, worship is never limited to a certain time or place.
A few practices that can be used outside of Meeting for Worship to keep us centered and carry our Divine Light into our daily life are:
- Silent meditation focusing on emptying the mind and letting go of stress and worry
- Moment of Silence
- Holding People in the Light
- Journaling
- Collage or artistic activity
- Going for a walk in Silence
- Count to five in consideration before speaking, especially in a disagreement
- Practice seeing the good in every human that we encounter each day
- Compliment someone every day, even a stranger
- With a spouse or good friend, make a list of the "Beauty that I see in Thee"
- "Where lies the Spirit with Thee?" Ask people that you know how they are doing.
- At the end of each day, analyze the day: what went well? Where were you in line with the Divine? Where did you go astray? How can you start over and do better tomorrow?
It is important that these be used consistently once or twice daily in order to listen to God as our source and to fulfill the Quaker ideals of serenely accepting God's will, and touching everyone we meet in recognition of their own divine light. Start with one or two and see which ones help you the most. If the spiritual practices are respected and used daily, everything else in life seems to magically fall into place!
—Luisa Adelfio, 10th month 7th, 2012