d to worship God by and
through the workings of His spirit and power in their spiritual beings.
How were they to fulfill this aim? What, specifically, were they to do?
Try, by all available means, to quiet and subdue the earthly man, to lay
down his will, to turn the mind to God. But, having done this, they
found that something more was wanted. They discovered, as you and I have
or will, that it is one thing to still our habitual thoughts and
motions, but quite another to cause the spiritual self to arise. By our
own efforts we can subdue the body-mind to some extent. Few of us, by
our efforts alone, can activate our spiritual natures in a vital and
creative way. We need God's help. We need the help of one another. But
God's help may not come at once. Our help to each other, even though we
are gathered in a meeting for worship or actively serving our fellow
men outside of the meeting, may be and often is delayed as regards our
kindling one another spiritually. What are we to do in this case? There
is only one thing we can do--wait. Having done our part to overcome the
separated self, we can but wait for the spiritual self to arise and take
command of our lives. Having brought ourselves as close as we can to
God, we can but hold ourselves in an attitude of waiting for Him to work
His will in us, to draw us fully into His presence.

So the early Friends engaged in silent waiting, humble yet expectant
waiting, reverent waiting upon the Lord, that they might be empowered by
Him to help one another and to render to Him the honor and the adoration
which, as Robert Barclay said, characterizes true worship; that His
power might come over them and cover the meeting; that He might bring
about the death of the old, the birth of the new man.

Friends waited, both in and out of meeting. They waited for God to move
them, quicken them to life, make them His instruments. They waited for
the power of God to do its wonder-work, lifting up the part of them that
was akin to Him, gracing them with the miracle of resurrection. Waiting
preceded worship. Waiting prepared for worship, and the springing up of
new life. By waiting they began worshiping. The stillness of the meeting
house, the silence of the lips, the closed eyes and composed faces were
the tangible signs of the preliminary period of waiting.

It is instructive and reassuring to note how frequently, among the early
Friends, the practice of waiting did have the desired sequel. Thi