The Religious Society of Friends is rooted in Christianity and has always found inspiration in the life and teachings of Jesus. How do you interpret your faith in the light of this heritage? How does Jesus speak to you today? Are you following Jesus’ example of love in action? Are you learning from his life the reality and cost of obedience to God? How does his relationship with God challenge and inspire you? — Britain Yearly Meeting Advices #4
Take heed, dear Friends, to the promptings of love and truth in your hearts. Seek to live in affection as true Friends in your meetings, in your families, in all your dealings with others, and in your relationship with outward society. — New England Yearly Meeting #1
We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly, with reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendour of God’s continuing creation. — Britain Yearly Meeting Advices #42
Are you able to contemplate your death and the death of those closest to you? Accepting the fact of death, we are freed to live more fully. In bereavement, give yourself time to grieve. When others mourn, let your love embrace them. — Britain Yearly Meeting Advices #30
Read the Bible. — New England Yearly Meeting Young Adult Friends #9
Seek to lead others to Truth through love. Let us teach by being ourselves teachable. We are all humble learners in the school of Christ. — New England Yearly Meeting #2
We are called to live ‘in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars’. Do you faithfully maintain our testimony that war and the preparation for war are inconsistent with the spirit of Christ? Search out whatever in your own way of life may contain the seeds of war. Stand firm in our testimony, even when others commit or prepare to commit acts of violence, yet always remember that they too are children of God. — Britain Yearly Meeting Advices #31
Let your life speak. — New England Yearly Meeting #14
What calls us into a Religious Society? Do we grow together in faithfulness? — New England Yearly Meeting Queries #11
Try to live simply. A simple lifestyle freely chosen is a source of strength. Do not be persuaded into buying what you do not need or cannot afford. Do you keep yourself informed about the effects your style of living is having on the global economy and environment? — Britain Yearly Meeting Advices #41
Do you try to set aside times of quiet for openness to the Holy Spirit? All of us need to find a way into silence which allows us to deepen our awareness of the divine and to find the inward source of our strength. Seek to know an inward stillness, even amid the activities of daily life. Do you encourage in yourself and in others a habit of dependence on God’s guidance for each day? Hold yourself and others in the Light, knowing that all are cherished by God. — Britain Yearly Meeting Advices #3
Remember that love is a gift of the Divine, not simply a human emotion. As imperfect human beings we are not always able to feel loving toward one another, but by opening ourselves to the Light Within, we can receive and give love beyond our human capacity. — New England Yearly Meeting #15
"You will say, Christ saith this, and the apostles say this; but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of Light and hast walked in the Light, and what thou speakest, is it inwardly from God?" — New England Yearly Meeting Queries #2
Do not fear periods of doubt and questions; they may lead to openings. — New England Yearly Meeting #3
Respect the wide diversity among us in our lives and relationships. Refrain from making prejudiced judgments about the life journeys of others. Do you foster the spirit of mutual understanding and forgiveness which our discipleship asks of us? Remember that each one of us is unique, precious, a child of God. — Britain Yearly Meeting Advices #22
Are your meetings for church affairs held in a spirit of worship and in dependence on the guidance of God? Remember that we do not seek a majority decision nor even consensus. As we wait patiently for divine guidance our experience is that the right way will open and we shall be led into unity. — Britain Yearly Meeting Advices #14
Deny the distractions. Follow only God. — New England Yearly Meeting Young Adult Friends #13
To whom or to what are you accountable? — New England Yearly Meeting Queries #7
Do you look for opportunities to deepen your understanding of the history and testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends? Do you inform yourself about the diversity of Friends’ theology and practice? The space within Quakerism is graciously large. Where are its boundaries? — New England Yearly Meeting Queries #10
Talk about your spiritual journey explicitly. Find words for that which is hard or strange. — New England Yearly Meeting Young Adult Friends #2