If you’ve been a Quaker for a while, or even if you’ve just been around them, you’ve probably heard about SPICES: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship (or Sustainability). They’re often described as “Quaker testimonies,” sometimes even “the Quaker testimonies.” Paul Buckley was curious about how that came about.
In this conversation, Paul explains how a catchy acronym intended as a mnemonic for children about some Quaker values became an easy template for Friends to explain their overall belief system to newcomers. But that emphasis, Paul says, comes with a risk: “All testimonies are fruits of the Spirit,” he explains. “But by using SPICES so frequently, we lose that sense of them being the products of our relationship with God and begin thinking about them as the roots.” And that, he warns, can cut us off from recognizing and acting upon Spirit’s full calling.
Here are Paul’s guidelines for discerning whether you’ve got hold of a genuine Quaker testimony: Does it originate with God? Does it involve outward, public behavior? Does it call upon the entire Quaker community? Does it challenge us? And is it rooted in love?
Resources:
Transcript:
About 10, 15, years ago I began noticing that a particular set of testimonies known by the acronym SPICES (Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality and Sustainability or Stewardship) they were being treated as if they were ‘the testimonies’, to the exclusion of all others. That then led me into the question, “What are testimonies? Where do they come from? Do these go all the way back to George Fox? Did did he come down from Pendle Hill with a stone tablet that had: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity…”. I didn’t think so, but I didn’t know.
I’m Paul Buckley. I live in Richmond, Indiana, and I attend Clear Creek Friends meeting, which is part of the Ohio Valley yearly meeting. What is a testimony?
It seemed to me that there were five essential characteristics when you talk about a ‘Quaker’ testimony. First of all, that it originates in God. And if that term God isn’t one that you use, that’s not what’s critical here. It’s something that I have been given that has touched me in my soul.
Secondly, a testimony has to testify. It’s got to be outward public behavior. Something that I do privately by myself, might be a deeply held belief, but it doesn’t testify.
Third, a testimony, if it’s a Quaker testimony, has to be communal. I have personal testimonies. I’ve been called to travel in the ministry. That’s a testimony, but it’s a personal one. The entire Society of Friends is not called to do those things. But, there are some things that I feel we are called to as a community, and those deserve the label of being Quaker testimonies.
Four, this is the good one I think. Testimonies, and this goes back to the very beginning, are challenging. Early friends, for example, wore what we call plain clothes. They didn’t just wear them because it was something that Quakers did. They did it because they felt called to it by God, and they did it because wearing those plain clothes was a challenge to the people around them. Because, what I am implicitly saying is, “You don’t need to spend extra money to look that way.” And even more, a challenge to themselves because you had to dress in a way that made you stand out from everyone else. That made you look somewhat ludicrous.
And then finally, getting back to the characteristics, a testimony is rooted in love. If it doesn’t come out of love, if it comes out of pride, or it comes out of showing off in some way not a testimony. It’s an expression of love. So, five characteristics. If something doesn’t have all five, it’s not a Quaker testimony.
You can go back to the 1940s and Howard Brinton wrote a Pendle Hill pamphlet in which he talked about what Quakerism is. And one of the things that he put in there was a statement about social testimonies. People began talking about these social testimonies more and more as being characteristics of being a Friend. By the 1990s, somewhere I think probably in the mid 1990s, this particular acronym catches on. Research that I’ve done and that other people have done seems to indicate that early in the use of SPICES it was for children. SPICES became an easy way of telling children some Quaker values in a format that made it easy to remember. And it’s catchy. It really is catchy. It’s a great way to introduce these things to kids and people realized well, that’s a pretty good way of answering the question from the newcomer on Sunday morning who says, “What do Quakers believe?” Well, trot out the SPICES, “Well, we believe in peace and integrity and, well, simplicity. You don’t want to forget that one.”
One thing that we’ve lost when we put so much emphasis on SPICES is that these testimonies, all testimonies, are fruits of the spirit. They’re things that we’re led into by God. But by using spices so frequently we lose that sense of them being the products of our relationship with God, and begin thinking about them as if they’re their roots. They can be a good way of starting things if you recognize how little they are, and if you don’t use them as a substitute for really thinking about, “Well, what are my testimonies? what do I think is important?” as an individual and as a member of the Society of Friends, so that when that newcomer asks the question, I don’t just rattle off simplicity, peace, integrity, blah, blah, and I’m done. You need to be open to that divine nudge. Or, in some cases, that divine shove that says, “Here’s what I need you to do.” And you don’t go and check, “Well, is it in the list?” You say, “Yes. If this what God’s calling me to do, I need to do it!” That’s Quaker testimony. We need to get beyond just these few things. There’s a treasure house and SPICES, to that newcomer on Sunday morning, SPICES could be a way of saying, “Well, there’s the door.” But if you just point at the door and that’s it, you haven’t given that newcomer what they need to know. They need to go and open the door if they really want to know the richness of what it means to be a friend.
For more info, read the pamphlet this interview is based in! “Quaker Testimony: What We Witness to the World
Quaker Testimony: What We Witness to the World
Discussion Question:
- How do you think Friends should use the SPICES?
- What are your personal testimonies?
The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.
Thank you for putting this out for us to remember! I became a convinced (convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit) Friend in the late ‘70s. Newtown Friends Meeting had an elementary school under its care and I observed how this acronym took over as: “THIS is what Quakers believe!” To me it felt so empty because it does not include nor mention ‘that of God’ nor the power of the Holy Spirit! Nor does it speak of the “motion of Love!” It is good for us to remember the truth of ‘SPICES’ – that they are a gift of our relationship with God’s Presence, the Holy Spirit with in us. And not forget to always speak this truth!!
Thanks, Paul. You really nailed TESTIMONIES, as I knew you would. This video will be one to show newcomers and old timers both.
I really appreciate this. Another Friend and I were hosting a visiting church group, and she used SPICES to answer the question of what Friends believed. I startled everyone by saying no. My response is that the basic belief of Friends is that every person can communicate directly with God (by whatever name they use), and hear from God what we’re supposed to know and do. I say this also when we have visitors at meeting; it explains why we sit in silence, and why we don’t discuss messages during the worship. It really is foundational.
Beautiful and moving QuakerSpeak on SPICES. Thank you!