13.03.2025

by Thomas Niblett

As the house filled up and the chaos increased, I started to feel totally at peace. I felt lifted up by the gratefulness and contentment of everyone around me.

Meet Thomas

Something I’ve heard said quite a bit about being in L’Arche is that the experience gives meaning to the mundane. Having been in Faith House in L’Arche Kent since the end of September, I’ve learned a wide range of skills, but a standout is reflecting on the day and finding the moments within it that were life-giving and uplifting, especially despite their everyday appearance.

Reflective practice

As part of the L'Arche Internship, together with the other interns across the country, we start each weekly Zoom meeting with a check-in, going round each person to hear what in the past week has made them feel present and thankful for life and its positives, what has got in the way of this, and what to look forward to in the next week. This is based on the examen, part of Catholic Ignatian spirituality, which involves spending time reflecting on our individual experience and time with God over the course of a day or week. I’ve found this an essential part of journeying through the ups and downs of the week as a way to go beyond finding peace and joy only in little snippets.

Stopping and reflecting on the role of God in the small stuff diffuses out spiritual presence more broadly over the course of the day. Rather than seeing my day as made up of stretches of boredom or difficult frustration, I’m learning to see the Love that is God in any place or situation I happen to be in. Humility is underrated in our culture, and finding satisfaction in the laundry room, or in supporting a person with a learning disability's morning routine, or in the few minutes of quiet after everyone has filled their bellies from dinner, is really important for the longevity and satisfaction of being in community. Doing a weekly check-in as a group has caused me to think back to where I found moments of sanctuary that week, and with who.

A gift in disguise 

Recently, a bug going around in the city caused our head Christmas chef to fall ill just as we agreed to take in twice the number of people expected for Christmas dinner... The Faith House live-ins woke up on Christmas morning for six hours of stressful, improvised cooking for 22 people! It was nerve-wracking to be responsible for making Christmas Day special for so many people. I remember a feeling of dread as the first guest arrived before any of the food was ready!

And then, as the house filled up and the chaos increased, I started to feel totally at peace. I felt lifted up by the gratefulness and contentment of everyone around me and felt lucky to be able to cook, pour drinks, and be merry with the community. I had forgotten to think in the collective rather than the individual and realized I had to focus on the joy of being together on a special occasion, not just thinking task by task. It worked a treat, and we had plenty leftover.

The L'Arche Internship