On this day, 325 years ago, George Fox the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as Quakers, died.

George Fox had the courage and openness to follow his “inner voice” which led him from the Church of England to becoming involved with English Dissenters to eventually publicly preaching and traveling with like minded souls who called themselves “Children of the Light”, “Friends of the Truth”, and simply “Friends”.  This movement would come to be known as the Society of Friends or Quakers.

The Society of Friends came to be known as Quakers after one judge mocked Fox’s exhortation for him to “tremble at the word of the Lord.”

Although he suffered imprisonment and mockery at the hands of the legal system of his time, George Fox didn’t let this deter him from listening to his inner voice and fighting for justice and things he thought were morally wrong.  His disdain for the established church and paying tithes was rooted in the the belief that God was everywhere, that anyone could preach, that a university degree didn’t qualify a preacher.

Here are a few of his quotes:

That which I was moved to declare was this: that…as the Spirit of God was in them that gave forth the Scriptures, so the same Spirit of God must be in them that come to understand the Scriptures…and without this Spirit they can know neither God nor Christ, nor the Scriptures, nor have right fellowship with one another.– George Fox

and

I also saw that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love which flowed over the ocean of darkness. In that also I saw the infinite love of God; and I had great openings. — George Fox

and

The ministers of the Spirit must minister to the Spirit that is in prison, which hath been in captivity in every one, that with the Spirit of Christ people may be led out of captivity up to God, the Father of Spirits, do service to Him, and have unity with Him, with the Scriptures, and with one another. Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one; whereby in them ye may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you; then to the Lord God you will be a sweet savour, and a blessing…. — George Fox

Walt Whitman wonderfully summarizes the impact of George Fox when he wrote:

George Fox stands for something too—a thought—the thought that wakes in silent hours—perhaps the deepest, most eternal thought latent in the human soul. This is the thought of God, merged in the thoughts of moral right and the immortality of identity. Great, great is this thought—aye, greater than all else.  — Walt Whitman

May that thought awaken in your soul and help you be a blessing to the world today.

Originally published January 13, 2016