48 QUAKER ASPECTS OF TRUTH 



expression in material things^ it is a selfish indulgence ; 

 a demoralising sentiment* 



It was a true instinct that caused the act of worship 

 to be so constantly associated with the sharing of food. 

 The earliest form of sacrifice was the Communal Feast, 

 at which the sacred animal was slain and eaten by the 

 tribesmen ♦ The sharing of the food was the outward and 

 visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace of brother- 

 hood ♦ In the Old Testament we find that many of the 

 most striking theophanies were associated with the 

 sharing of food. 



For example, we have the Old World story of Abraham 

 entertaining, with Oriental hospitality, three strangers ; 

 and it transpired that One of the three was the God of 

 IsraeL Nor is the idea confined to the Old Testament, 

 As we read the Gospels we get the impression that 

 every social meal attended by our Lord became a 

 Sacrament, The Feeding of the Multitude was cer- 

 tainly sacramental, and so was the Last Supper, So 

 also was the meal at Emmaus, when our Lord was made 

 known to the two humble disciples in the breaking of 

 bread. And after the Resurrection the connection 

 between worship and the sharing of food was still 

 maintained in the Early Church, Every evening the 

 ** agape ** or common meal was held as an outward 

 and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace of 

 brotherhood. 



And still, if the inward and spiritual grace be real, 

 it cannot fail to find expression in the sharing of food 

 and of all the good gifts of God, 



Far from Quakerism having discarded the Sacra- 

 ments, it is the most sacramental of all religions. It 

 was not by accident that Quakerism did so much to reform 

 our prisons, to abolish slavery, to revolutionise the 

 treatment of the insane, and to relieve the sufferings of 

 the innocent victims of the Great War, As my wife and 



