And [God] said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.
And behold, the Lord passed by,
and a great and strong wind rent the mountains
and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord,
but the Lord was not in the wind;
and after the wind an earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
And after the earthquake a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire;
and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice.
1 Kings 19:11-12 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
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Quakers have long spoken of the “still, small voice” as a spiritual experience of God’s presence, often found in moments of silence and stillness.
***
“It seemed necessary for me to listen to some of them [the clamor of voices],
and to answer some of them, but God said, ‘Be still’.
And as I listened, and slowly learned to obey,
and shut my ears to every sound, I found, after a while,
that when the other voices ceased, or I ceased to hear them,
there was a still, small voice in the depths of my being
that began to speak with an inexpressible tenderness, power and comfort.”
John Edward Southall, c. 1900
***
“In the mounting din of our world,
nothing speaks more eloquently than silence.
Nothing will allow God to be heard as fully.
In repentant stillness a space is cleared
and a way is prepared for the coming of Christ.”
Douglas Gwyn, 1945–