When, many years ago, I discovered the Little Falls Friends meetinghouse in Fallston, Maryland, USA, the following was lettered on a wooden sign attached to the front wall. As I later learned, it was also printed on the back of a leaflet that describes the origins of the meeting. I will never forget approaching the silent stone meetinghouse for the first time and reading those words in the golden light of a winter afternoon. It was my introduction to Quakerism, and soon I began to worship in that beautiful old house with a small group of wonderful Friends for whom those words were a true expression of their lives. -- George Amoss

WHAT FRIENDS BELIEVE... The basis of Quaker life and practice is the conviction that there is something of God's spirit in us all: that every soul can have immediate communion with God. When Friends meet together, they do not rely on priests, clergy, or leaders. The meeting begins in living silence, one in which the clamor of everyday life is stilled and we can hear God's voice. Then there may be brief passages of vocal prayer or ministry from any of those present. When thus seeking God consistently, we can at all times and in any place sense the eternal which is behind the succession of ordinary events. This for us is the sacramental life which need not be marked by outward rites. This attitude could only be founded on the life and teaching of Jesus. It involves an attempt to accept literally the command to love God and one another. It rules out war. It recognizes evil but meets it with that active good will which outlasts it or transforms it. Such beliefs have involved sacrifice and much suffering. Our numbers are not large. Membership is open to those who share our outlook and who in worshipping with us find themselves "at home." That simple expression is not out of place, for the Quaker way of life leads us to think of men and women all over the world as parts of the family of God.

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