Reflections and Stories

The Power Within: Empowered, Encouraged, Enlightened.

20 Sep 2017
"My life is ruined”
“I hate myself”
“No one will love me”
 
Once upon a time, I used to believe those things. I was incredibly unhappy. I hated myself and my life. Every relationship I had was a disaster, I did not trust anybody. I felt like people...
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A Week In Silence

8 Sep 2017
For a lot of people, even doing a day in silence would be a daunting thought. I’d had such a busy year of having to be loud and talkative when I really just wanted to do the opposite that I was in need of some serious reflection time. So, when my friends in SCM Leeds said they were going to...
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Rach's Reflection - Grounding

7 Sep 2017

At 9.15am last Monday morning I had that ‘new start’ feeling I used to get at the start of a new school year. The team at St Peter’s House were meeting for morning prayer, which is a change from our normal 12.15pm gathering. A candle was lit, a psalm read and a chance to reflect in silence...

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The Gospel and Safe Spaces

7 Sep 2017

“Snowflakes” (the non-wintery kind) seem to be the talk of the day, with many a modern-day Cato complaining about the times and mores; they decry “safe spaces” with the same verve one would expect Cotton Mather used in the witch hunts of his day.

One such...

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Quakers and Language: Classically Christian or Distinctly Quaker?

21 Aug 2017

From the mention of internal translation, I felt that language would be a recurring theme throughout this year’s Quaker Yearly Meeting Gathering (YMG) for me. Quakers use a wide variety of language, with some appearing to be more explicitly Christian than others. We all have words we are...

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Rach's Reflection - no big yellow taxi

25 Jul 2017

One of my favourite songs is Big Yellow Taxi, particularly the Counting Crows featuring Vanessa Carlton version. It includes in it "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone." This is something I try...

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Rach's Reflections - Boxes

10 Jul 2017

When I arrived at my first year of University I was dropped off at my halls by my dad and my brother. I was excited to unpack my boxes, sort out my new bed linen, and put up cards and photos on my notice board, to make my room about me.

During my first year at university, I accumulated a...

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Why I’m Spending a Year Living With a Community of Nuns

3 Jul 2017

Vocation was described by Frederick Buechner as the place where our deep joy meets the world’s deep need. In a few days, I’ll be attempting to find my own sense of calling by spending 12 months living with the Order of the Holy Paraclete, a community of nuns at St Hilda’s Priory in Whitby. Often...

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What Makes a Good Leader?

5 Jun 2017

I have sometimes half-jokingly said that a fair bit of what I know about ministry, I learned from my mother. I think I might have learnt a few things from her about what makes a good leader, too. After all, I doubt you can bring up three children single-handed as she did without some skills in...

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Rach's Reflections - Celebrate with SCM

1 Jun 2017

It is usually about now we start to think about things coming to an end, whether it is the last exam or essay being handed in for the summer, or even completing the last one ever. I wonder what is coming to an end for you? How are you celebrating?

I’m the sort of person who gets excited...

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