To all you, my dear friends,

To all you, my dear friends,
who have tasted of the immediate, working power of the Lord,
and find an alteration in your minds,
and see from where virtue comes,
and strength, that renews the inward man, and refreshes you; which draws you in love to forsake the world,
and that which has form and beauty in it to the eye of the world;
and has turned your minds within,
who see your houses foul, and corruptions strong, and the way narrow and straight, which leads to life eternal;
to you all I say, wait upon God in that which is pure.
Though you see little, and know little, and have little,
and see your emptiness, and see your nakedness, and barrenness,
and unfruitfulness, and see the hardness of your hearts,
and your own unworthiness; it is the light, that discovers all this,
and the love of God to you,
and it is that which is present, but the dark understanding cannot comprehend it.
So, wait upon God in that which is pure, in your measure,
and stand still in it everyone, to see your Savior,
to make you free from that which the light discovers in you to be evil. For the voice of the bridegroom is heard in our land;
and Christ has come among the prisoners,
to visit them in the prison houses;
they all have hopes of release and free pardon,
and to come out freely, for the debt is paid; wait for the manifestation of it,
and he who comes out of prison shall reign.
So, meet together all you who fear the Lord God,
and think upon his name,
his mercies endure forever;
his mercies are in temptations and troubles,
his mercies are in afflictions, in reproaches, and in scorns.
Therefore rejoice, you simple ones, who love simplicity,
and meet and wait together to receive strength and wisdom from the Lord God;
and in departing from sin and evil,
you will be able to speak to the praise of the Lord.
And meeting and waiting in his power, which you have received,
in it all to improve your measure that God has given you;
for you never improve your measure,
so long as you rely upon any visible thing without you;
but when you come alone to wait upon God,
everyone shall have a reward according to your deserts,
and everyone your penny, who are called into the vineyard to labor.
Therefore be faithful to God, and mind that which is committed to you,
as faithful servants, laboring in love; some threshing, and some ploughing, and some to keep the sheep.
He who can receive this let him.
And all watch over one another in the spirit of God.
So God Almighty bless, guide, and prosper you unto his kingdom, where there is no tribulation.
When your minds run into anything outwardly, without the power,
it covers and veils the pure in you.

George Fox

Source: A Collection of Many Select Epistles to Friends of That Ancient Eminent and Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ, George Fox, <http://www.hallvworthington.com/Letters/gfsection1.html>23.02.2017.