62 QUAKER ASPECTS OF TRUTH 



" Swear not at all/' Surely it is obvious^ that if a 

 man's oath is more binding than his simple word, then 

 his simple word is not absolutely binding* Well might 

 our Lord say, *' Let your yea be yea and your nay, nay, 

 for whatsoever is more than this cometh of evil/' 



Then again, the members of other religious denomi- 

 nations believe, theoretically, in the universal priesthood 

 of all believers* Yet many of them see nothing incon- 

 sistent in the establishment of official priests with 

 sacerdotal functions* But those who have received this 

 truth from the Quaker point of view, and have realised 

 by personal experience that they are in very truth priests 

 unto God, could never entertain the idea of any human 

 mediator between God and man* 



Then again, the members of other religious denomi- 

 nations hold, theoretically, much the same views as 

 ourselves regarding communion with God. Yet they are 

 willing to limit this Holy Communion to such times and 

 seasons as an official priesthood may arrange* But surely 

 he who has once realised by personal experience the 

 omnipresence of God, and His nearness to us — that He 

 is as near to us to-day as ever He can be, either in this 

 world or the next — could never submit to any such 

 limitations of time and place* We know by personal 

 experience that we can and do enjoy this precious 

 privilege of Holy Communion at all times and at all 

 seasons; and that, moreover, without any priestly 

 intervention* 



Stephen Grellet, the Quaker evangelist, tells us 

 that in his own personal experience it became impossible 

 for him ever to break bread at an ordinary meal without 

 remembering in deep thankfulness of heart the Body 

 that was broken and the Blood that was shed on Calvary* 

 Thus our religion becomes a thing, not of special times 

 and places, but of the ordinary every-day life, permeating 

 our every word^ and thought, and deed. 



