Walk in the Light

Walk in the Light

This is a traditional Quaker hymn exploring the legacy of the first Quaker, George Fox. It illustrates the many affinities between the Gnostic quest for spiritual enlightenment and the Quaker journey toward the Light.

There's a light that was shining when the world began,
And a light that is shining in the heart of Man:
There's a light that is shining in the Turk and the Jew,
And a light that is shining, friend, in me and in you.
Walk in the light, wherever you may be,
Walk in the light, wherever you may be!
In my old leather breeches and my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light, said Fox.

With a book and a steeple and a bell and a key
They would bind it for ever-but they can't, said he.
O, the book, it will perish, and the steeple will fall,
But the light will be shining at the end of it all.
Walk in the light, wherever you may be,
Walk in the light, wherever you may be!
In my old leather breeches and my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light, said Fox.

"Will you swear on the Bible?" "I will not," said he,
"For the truth is as holy as the Book to me."
"If we give you a pistol, will you fight for the Lord?"
"You can't kill the devil with a gun or a sword."
Walk in the light, wherever you may be,
Walk in the light, wherever you may be!
In my old leather breeches and my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light, said Fox.

There's an ocean of darkness and I drowned in the night
Till I came through the darkness to the ocean of light;
And the light is forever, and the light will be free,
And I'll walk in the glory of the light, said he.
Walk in the light, wherever you may be,
Walk in the light, wherever you may be!
In my old leather breeches and my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light, said Fox.