L'Arche Kent from the inside

Question: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it…. does it make a noise? do the other trees point and laugh? does anyone care? I met a friend recently that I hadn't seen for a while. For me, she's always been this bubbly, talkative, slightly forgetful figure in my life. Yet she continually describes herself as shy, slightly awkward and a little quiet at times. We said goodbye and I returned to Rainbow house for supper. But on the way home I was left wondering – what is she? Is she quiet just because she says she is? Or is my experience of her what really counts – if people think you’re outgoing, are you outgoing, despite what you think of yourself? Are you an introvert because Myers Briggs tells you that you are? Who is your real you? I’ve never really got to an answer to the question; neither I guess have the psychological, philosophical and theological community so I don’t feel too stupid. Isaac Newton’s third law of Motion states...

When I was little, one of the worst times for me was Christmas Day morning, just before opening a stocking full of presents. The anticipation of Christmas had built and built through November and December, school had ended for Christmas, Christmas shopping had been finished, as a family we’d done our ritual family-visiting on Christmas eve, Midnight Mass was over and now here I was, staring at my Christmas Stocking and knowing it would be 365 days before I’d wake up to find another one at the bottom of my bed. A couple of weeks ago, we said goodbye to Sebastien, an assistant in the house who returned to France and welcomed a new assistant, Jeremiah from Canada, to Rainbow. Community living is always a time of goodbyes and hellos – some assistants and core members have been members of the community for twenty or thirty years – Peter has been a member for 33 years – my age today! Others come and go in less than a year. Changes in Rainbow are always a slightly anxious time in the house – ...