Observance of special days and times and use of special placed for worship serve a helpful purpose in calling attention at regular intervals to our need for spiritual communion. They cannot, however, take the place of daily and hourly looking to God for guidance. Nor can any custom of fasting or abstaining from bodily comforts take the place of constantly refraining from everything that has the tendency to unfit mind and body for being the temple of the Divine Spirit. The foundation for all our personal live and social relations should be the sufficient and irreplaceable consciousness of God. Back to Top Sincerity Integrity is one of the fundamental characteristics of the Christian.
Friends believe that truth and sincerity are vital in all the dealings of life.
Therefore we earnestly advise the observation of great care in speech and the use of only such statements as convey the exact truth without exaggeration or omission of essential facts. We regard the taking of oaths as not only contrary to the teachings of Jesus, but as setting a double standard of truthfulness. It is recommended that Friends take the opportunity on all occasions where special statements are required, to advance the cause of truth by simple affirmation, thus emphasizing that their statement is only a part of their usual integrity of speech. Friends are advised to avoid pretense in dress and deportment, as well as in speech, realizing that false impressions may be conveyed by actions as well as by words. During the time of persecution of Quakers in 17th century England, it was sometimes necessary for Friends to be moved from one prison to another.