While Quaker worship is quiet and patient, that does not imply that  Quakers are to lead lives entirely marked by retreat and reflection.  There is always the call to make a difference; To put action into words.  Quakers ask[i], “Do we partake in the joy of love of God and make our lives a celebration of the sharing of this love?”[ii]  The sharing of love is to be lived out with thought, word and deed.

Quakers consider attending meeting regularly to be “the heart”[iii] of being a Quaker.  Showing up matters.  Being a Quaker is not a concept but a lived reality.

Quakers understand themselves to be a peace church and therefore seek to “live in the life of the power that takes away the occasion for all wars.”[iv]  One cannot rise to the challenge without action.  Prayer, reflection and conversation are not enough to live in the powerful place that would bring an end to war. The passive refusal “to participate in or cooperate with the military effort” falls short of the life and work that will remove the causes of war.[v]

Quakers are encouraged to open all areas of their lives to the examination of both inaction and action. “We speak through inaction as much as we do by our actions.”[vi]

The call to engagement is nowhere more clear than the query - “Are you following Jesus’ example of love in action?”[vii]

The quotations which follow speak common wisdom which encourages fuller engagement with daily life.