THE STILL, SMALL VOICE

MAX I. REICH

THE FRIEND, SECOND MONTH 22, 1917

It was a long journey for the Hebrew prophet to take before he came to the revelation of the Divine method of working, namely, by a Voice, both still and small. And it is a long journey still which the majority of earnest souls have perforce to take to reach the same end. The professing Church speaking generally, has never properly learned it, even after nineteen centuries of straining after the effects produced by other methods, those symbolized by the whirlwind, the earthquake and the fire. And neither have the nations comprising Christendom, whose evil politics are a reflection of their false religion; or else the terrible upheaval of the present world war would never have taken place.

It is natural to associate power with such elements as the stormy tempest, the earthquake and the devouring fire. The ministry of Elijah had been characterized by these spectacular and sensational manifestations; and it had apparently succeeded on Mount Carmel where the priests of Baal were put to the sword. "But the Lord was not in the wind...the Lord was not in the earthquake...the Lord was not in the fire."

How much reliance there is in the great calm of religious profession upon carnal force and energy! Nothing is considered of any account that does not make a noise and create a stir. The eloquent preacher is, of course, a necessity. Hurricane campaigns are the order of the day. And yet as it has been said: "Souls may go away, admiring--excited--agitated; but there has been no intercourse with God."

The people called Quakers were raised up to demonstrate the power of the Still, Small Voice. They went "outside the camp bearing His reproach" following its guidance. They had found within what many were vainly seeking abroad: "Immediate Divine revelation" by the inshining light of the direct visitation of Christ--of God--in the temple of the heart. And recognizing that none were left out, or overlooked, or missed, or passed by, or neglected, by this visitation of Divine love and light; that it was one in high and low, learned and ignorant, male and female; that it knew neither social, national nor racial barriers; they perceived the basis of human brotherhood, and "peace on earth and goodwill towards men" became their watchword. How could they hate whom God loves! How despise whom God visits! Said George Fox in one of the classic utterances recorded in his Journal: "And I saw that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love flowed over the ocean of darkness: and in that I saw the infinite love of God."

God speaks to men by a Voice--and that not a voice of harsh command or angry accusation, but by a voice of gentle stillness and insignificant smallness. The Society of Friends has yet a great work to do in the earth to bring men, churches, communities--yea nations--to hearken to that Voice. For the tempest, the earthquake and the fire are abroad in the world today and are doing their deadly work. And yet these things are often a preparation for the Voice of God. The Lord was not in the tempest, the earthquake and the fire. But the wind, the earthquake and the fire went "before the Lord" all the same.

May we not believe that the present fearful overturnings and the daily augmentation of broken hearts, bereaved homes and blighted lives are precursors for the ministry of the Still, Small Voice? Not yet is the need of this diviner ministry felt. The nations all profess to desire peace. But they want to attain peace by the ordeal of war, and they have to learn by bitter experience that the Lord is not in their methods.

And as the Voice which bowed the head of the prophet was both small and still, may we not expect Divine wisdom to employ very insignificant instruments to bring the heartbroken nations into His kingdom of peace? God's good things still come out of men's despised Nazareths. Weak things of the world still confound the mighty. "The big trees in California have sprung from seeds, each of which is no larger than a grain of wheat, and the river which at its source is a tiny, tinkling rill over which a child may stride, is at its mouth broad enough and deep enough to bear a navy on its bosom." But whether this present generation will heed our message or not, it is ours to continue to work towards its certain, eventual triumph, our hearts set not upon temporary popularity, but upon eternal values, fearlessly following the direction of the only Sovereign Authority, the still, small voice of the Living God, heard by reason, conscience, and spirit in the inner sanctuary not made with hands, assured that love never faileth, no mater how often it be crossed. 

     "Loud mocked in the roaring street
       Say Christ is crucified again:
     Twice pierced His Gospel bearing feet,
       Twice broken His great heart in vain.
     I heard, and to myself I smile,
     For Christ talks with me all the while.

     "No more unto the stubborn heart
       With gentle knocking shall He plead,
     No more the mystic pity start,
       For Christ twice dead is dead indeed.
     So in the street I hear men say,
     Yet Christ is with me all the way."