Quakers- More Than Oats

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One of the great privileges of my trip to Philadelphia, I took away much from the opportunity to attend a Friends Meeting, which is what the Quakers call their Sunday services. During the preceding days, many of the Quaker ideals struck me of particular interest, and I turned to my friend who lives there and remarked that of all the groups of which America is composed, I empathize with them the most.

When William Penn founded Pennsylvania as a colony, he took great pains to transpose upon it the ideals of the Quaker society to which he belonged. Aside from the obvious moral code of ethics, he made many practical improvements on society and law that make Pennsylvania today a bastion against the encroachments of civilization. Any man who walks through the streets mapped out by the planners passes from the hustle and bustle of the modern world into the tranquil shades of the past, under trees which once watched Quakers gather at the foot of their trunks.

Without a Quaker sensibility, America would be a different place. The Quakers lived a simplistic life without denying themselves of things that they wanted. A visit to Penn’s only home in the New World shows his concern for practicality and self-reliance but also a desire to make for himself and his family the life they deserved, despite being on the cusp of the wilderness. Quakers focused on things of true import- knowledge meant to elevate them and society, not simply for the sake of knowledge. They knew how to do a lot of things that seem largely lost to society yet built with surprising forethought about what might be. What Philadelphia lacks in convenience, it makes up for in charm. Penn’s Woods is truly a splendor.

From the Quakers we draw our moral strength. From their leaders we take many of our first laws. From their candor we become Friends, a land full of Freemen, Americans all, regardless of our origin or avarice. I appreciate their simplicity and morality.

Seize your opportunities.