Early Friends spoke of being “convinced.” What did they mean by that? Convincing, or being convinced, or convincement (as it was often expressed) sounds like the outcome of a debate or an argument before a jury leading to the acceptance of a doctrine. This understanding doesn’t make much sense for we know that a key part of the spiritual life of early Friends was the avoidance of creeds or formal doctrines. What happened to early Friends was something entirely different. They were convinced first that they were in a condition that needed to change and second by their experience of the Inward Light. They were shaken, moved to tears, and yes, they quaked. It was this experience that caused them to be convinced, not the intellectual absorption of a doctrine.

It is inward experience rather than intellectual exercise that provides knowledge of who and where we are. It is inward experience in which we put our faith and trust in the Inward Light, and doing so over and over strengthens the life of the Spirit. We can make this knowledge our friend and daily companion (and let belief and notions be distant cousins we visit rarely). The proof of our knowledge will appear in the life we lead. As Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt. 7:16). Many before us have found their way to this experience of the Light, and it is as available now as it was in Fox’s time. We can’t afford to stop short of this experience of the Spirit. If we have not had such experience, or have had only vague intimations of it, we must be patient and wait in openness until it comes. We have nothing better to do.

When we open ourselves and wait, the experience that comes to us leads us into a covenant of peace with all of creation.

–Robert Griswold in Pendle Hill Pamphlet 439: Marking the Quaker Path