Rest in the Light and the World

What was opened to me

The Lord opened to me many things in the days when I was seeking, and amongst them the nature of that which is pure and of that rest which the creature cannot make for itself. I was brought through great troubles and temptations, and in the deep of them the Lord did visit me, and by His power took me out of an ocean of darkness into another ocean which I could not fathom for its greatness. I saw, also, that there was an ocean of darkness and death; but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness.

Thus the Light of Christ was shown me as the Teacher and the Rest; and I was made to see that who come to that Light are led into life and peace, not by their own scheming, but by receiving that which is given. Therefore I withdrew oft into solitary places, and kept my soul low and still; I fasted much, walked abroad in solitary places many days, and often took my Bible, and sat in hollow trees and lonesome places till night came on; for I was a man of sorrows in the time of the first workings of the Lord in me.

What rest is, and who gives it

When men speak of rest as if it were a thing to be taken, the Lord opened to me another order; rest is that which is received from Him who is the Rest. As I was opened to the Scriptures and to the Spirit that gave them forth, I saw plainly that in the second Adam is the true peace and the life that the first Adam lost. "Christ the second Adam is come, that the dead in the first Adam might have life, and might be quickeued ; and that they might be awakened to righteousness, who are asleep in the unrighteousness."

This is not a cunning of the mind or a neat arrangement of hours, but a receiving of life that overcomes the weariness which sleep cannot cure. He that cometh to this Rest finds the work of the world changed in him; his labour is no longer only for himself and his convenience, nor is his silence only an absence of noise, but both work and rest are ordered by that which is pure within. Where this is, there is peace and rest; where it is not, outward stopping is a poor thing and quickly clogs with unease.

How work is ordered by the Light

Thou tellest me that the device which follows men at their table and to their beds makes a seven-day toil, and that men are praised who are always ready to answer. I know not the fashion of thy instruments; I am told that they take from thee the steadings of thy hours. Yet I can say what the Light taught me concerning business and the service of men: every one that is led of the Light hath a place and work in the Body, and that work is to be minded in the measure given, and to be kept in subjection to the life of the Lord.

I have written to Friends that they should mind their gift, mind their measure, mind their calling and their work; some speak to the conscience; some plough and break the clods; some weed out, and some sow; some wait, that fowls devour not the seed. But if the heart be given to nothing but outward ends, then the life is gone, and rest cannot come. Labour that proceeds from the Seed, and is stayed in the Light, is preserved from that hurry which wears the soul; and when the day of travail is over the Light gives a rest that is inward and lasting, not a mere ceasing of motion.

Therefore the ordering of days is not a calendar of tasks only, but a living ordering by the inward Measure; and that which preserves it is this watchfulness, "Mind that which is pure in you to guide you to God, out of Babylon, out of confusion, where all the world is ;" for if the mind be kept in the pure, God will show thee what to do and when to be still.

Silence, leisure, and mere stopping

Many call leisure what is only diversion, and call stillness what is only slackness. I saw that there is a twofold rest: the rest of the creature when it ceases, and the rest of the soul when it receives the life of the Teacher. Mere stopping is like putting down a tool and leaving the house undone; it may leave rust and complaint. True rest fills the soul with power, so that when it returns to labour it is not the same man that laboured before. The service made in the Light is perennial.

I would have thee beware of that which takes up the outward hours and leaves the conscience empty. The world hath many snares that call themselves ease; and whereas some men take comfort in the fashions and in the paintings of the time, they are soon up and down. Rejoice not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, which crucifieth all fleshly boastings: if that will be fed, then carelessness cometh up, and they fall into flatness from the Spirit, and are mindless of the Lord God: such are soon up and down.

But when thou dost enter into serious quiet, not to fritter away the mind but to be gathered into that which is pure, leisure becomes a hearing of the inward Teacher. It is a keeping of the lamp trimmed and the eye single, that the fruit of the time may be gathered. The Light will show thee whether a thing is a necessary care or a needless entanglement; it will show thee whether thy stillness is a living silence or an anxious stopping that breeds disquiet.

What thee that art not religious may do this week

Thou that sayest thou art not religious, hear this: I am not come to thy fashions, nor to heap up new ceremonies, but to invite thee to a practice plain and faithful. Thou needest not take on new names to be instructed in that which is common to the faithful and the unbelieving, for the Seed of God is in every one. The counsel I give is not a schedule of hours, nor a list of techniques, but an advice to a posture of the heart: stand still a while and feel what answers in thee when all clamour ceases.

Set not thy tongue to babble with thyself nor thy hands to flee into the business that would keep thee from feeling. Be sober in thy thoughts and mind the life in thee that is pure; let that inner measure be the rule of thy days. As I exhorted Friends: be obedient to the life and power of the Lord God, and that will keep you from being as a wilderness; but be faithful and still, till the winds cease, and the storm be over.

If thou dost this, though thou wert never given to formulas nor to any name, thou shalt find the difference between a poor pause and a true rest. The former leaves thee heavy and hunted; the latter gives thee a quiet power, a clearness to know what is necessary and what is vain, so that when the week begins again thy labour will be less distracted, thy body more set, and thy mind not so tired as before. For that which is received in the inward life abides and fruiteth; that which is only taken it cannot keep.

I say these things because I saw the misery of being carried about with the world’s plannings, and I found the remedy in being led by the Teacher within; and if any in thy time will mind that which is pure, they shall find a right ordering of their days and a rest that sleep cannot give.