Readings for Reflection: November 2005
from the Committee on Ministry and Counsel


On Testimonies

In June 2005, Pendle Hill published a pamphlet by Steve Smith entitled Living in Virtue, Declaring Against War: The Spiritual Roots of the Peace Testimony. 
The pamphlet begins with a quotation from George Fox:  "The first step to peace is
to stand still in the light."  Steve shares with the reader his practice of standing in
the light.

...Friends' testimonies are not judgments of the mind but voices of the heart.  True insight comes not in the form of a doctrine, dogma or principle, but in the stark, unmediated recognition of the condition of my life.  If I submit to this moment, I will act accordingly.  Truth must first be lived before it can be declared; Fox says, "profess no more than you are."  Quaker integrity is not mere logical consistency, but deep authenticity:  not merely conforming one's behavior to one's professed principles, but speaking what one has become, "talking the walk."

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