Epistle on Integrity

11th-12th grade and Young Adults

This epistle was written by young adults at a recent Powell House conference for 11th-12th grade and young adults. The conference was called SPICES: Integrity, and was held December 1-3, 2023

This was a weekend about integrity. We had good food and played games. Here are the queries we talked about:

Friends have been concerned to communicate with integrity, to make our words and actions fit the truth of our lives. We endeavor to speak the truth as we know it, honestly and forthrightly, speaking plainly from our own lives. Sometimes this practice has been difficult, sometimes the results surprise and delight us. (New York Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice 2001)

What does integrity mean to you? How does integrity differ from honesty? What is difficult about integrity? How do kindness and tact relate to integrity?

The choice by early friends of the term “society” gives a clear indication of their attitude towards organization. To them, the word society meant a body held together by spiritual forces freshly operating through each individual without creed, ritual, or sacramental admiration. (New York Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice 1974)

Do you feel that integrity can guide community? 

What is needed to nurture a community created by everyone speaking their truth? 

How do you support others in speaking their truth?

Do you need to be honest to have integrity? 

What does it mean to act with integrity when there are conflicting values you hold? 

What determines the metric by which you can say whether you are acting with integrity? 

What does integrity mean in a community? 

Is that the same or different than integrity in an individual? 

What is the relation between integrity and Truth? 

Is lying ever good or helpful and how do you discern if that lie is beneficial? 

How does spirituality influence your sense of self and your idea of what integrity means? 

What is an act of integrity that you did recently that you are most proud of / want to share with others? 

Does having integrity make you a better person? 

What in your life has influenced your integrity/moral compass? 

What situations could challenge your integrity, and how might you overcome that? 

Who or what inspires integrity in you? 

What are some famous examples of someone acting with integrity? 

What is an aspect of your life that requires integrity and why? 

What was a time you struggled to maintain integrity, and how did you persevere? 

What are ways to uphold integrity in community?

Is it integral or honest to take the fall for an honest mistake that you did not commit, so that someone else doesn't have to suffer the pain associated with taking the fall? 

What changes have you had to make in your life to increase your integrity? 

What is ignorance? How are ignorance and integrity related, i.e. can you be ignorant and integral? 

What else do you need besides integrity to guide a group? 

Are the actions or inactions you are about to take in alignment with the values you hold to be important / then what you feel is right? 

How do you recover your integrity when you haven't followed through or have fallen short of your own / others expectations? 

How does the concept of integrity manifest in one's journey to unmask? How do you know what's true to you? 

What does it mean to be true to yourself? 

How do you determine when to draw the line between helping yourself and helping others? 

What is something that makes integrity difficult to achieve? 

How do you live up to your morals and act with integrity when there are many conflicting pressures or needs in a situation?