Simon Stevens
@retdreteach92.bsky.social
semi-retired after SLT at church secondary school; worship, SIAMS, RE specialisms; lay minister CoE; passionate about Uganda, Palestine, table tennis, all things Leeds U. Happy to live in Portishead/Bristol. Mainly post quotes that make me think.
There are only two kinds of folk: the righteous who believe themselves sinners; the rest, sinners, who believe themselves righteous.
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
December 29, 2025 at 3:45 PM
There are only two kinds of folk: the righteous who believe themselves sinners; the rest, sinners, who believe themselves righteous.
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
“Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”
—Helen Keller
—Helen Keller
December 29, 2025 at 11:11 AM
“Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”
—Helen Keller
—Helen Keller
Theologians through the centuries have tried to fully understand and explain the Incarnation, yet it remains a mystery. Sometimes, before a mystery, it is better to remain silent and to simply gaze in awe and wonder.
Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Br. Geoffrey Tristram
December 28, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Theologians through the centuries have tried to fully understand and explain the Incarnation, yet it remains a mystery. Sometimes, before a mystery, it is better to remain silent and to simply gaze in awe and wonder.
Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Br. Geoffrey Tristram
“Joy is the kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.”
—David Steindl-Rast
—David Steindl-Rast
December 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
“Joy is the kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.”
—David Steindl-Rast
—David Steindl-Rast
On the hillsides,
hope was heard singing unexpected Hallelujahs.
In a Bethlehem backwater,
hope hovered
and love was born.
And now we gather – the light of the world is here.
The job now is to keep it burning.
S-F Fulton
hope was heard singing unexpected Hallelujahs.
In a Bethlehem backwater,
hope hovered
and love was born.
And now we gather – the light of the world is here.
The job now is to keep it burning.
S-F Fulton
December 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
On the hillsides,
hope was heard singing unexpected Hallelujahs.
In a Bethlehem backwater,
hope hovered
and love was born.
And now we gather – the light of the world is here.
The job now is to keep it burning.
S-F Fulton
hope was heard singing unexpected Hallelujahs.
In a Bethlehem backwater,
hope hovered
and love was born.
And now we gather – the light of the world is here.
The job now is to keep it burning.
S-F Fulton
When we accept what happens to us and make the best of it, we are praising God.
Teresa of Avila
Teresa of Avila
December 19, 2025 at 5:40 PM
When we accept what happens to us and make the best of it, we are praising God.
Teresa of Avila
Teresa of Avila
God waits for us. God waits patiently as we wander, rebel, go our own way, and get lost. As a loving parent, God waits patiently “for the eyes of our heart to be enlightened.” God is there, scanning the horizon for the first glimpse of us. God runs wildly to welcome us home.
Br. Luke Ditewig
Br. Luke Ditewig
December 18, 2025 at 4:08 PM
God waits for us. God waits patiently as we wander, rebel, go our own way, and get lost. As a loving parent, God waits patiently “for the eyes of our heart to be enlightened.” God is there, scanning the horizon for the first glimpse of us. God runs wildly to welcome us home.
Br. Luke Ditewig
Br. Luke Ditewig
We do not yet see the peace of God reigning among the nations of the world, but God calls us to live by God’s light, and not to dwell in the present darkness. God calls us to faith in a soaring promise of peace, and asks us to become peacemakers, wherever and however we can.
Br David Vryhof
Br David Vryhof
December 16, 2025 at 3:56 PM
We do not yet see the peace of God reigning among the nations of the world, but God calls us to live by God’s light, and not to dwell in the present darkness. God calls us to faith in a soaring promise of peace, and asks us to become peacemakers, wherever and however we can.
Br David Vryhof
Br David Vryhof
I sought to hear the voice of God
And climbed the topmost steeple,
But God declared: “Go down again—
I dwell among the people.”
John Henry Newman
And climbed the topmost steeple,
But God declared: “Go down again—
I dwell among the people.”
John Henry Newman
December 8, 2025 at 3:20 PM
I sought to hear the voice of God
And climbed the topmost steeple,
But God declared: “Go down again—
I dwell among the people.”
John Henry Newman
And climbed the topmost steeple,
But God declared: “Go down again—
I dwell among the people.”
John Henry Newman
“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
—Anne Frank
—Anne Frank
December 6, 2025 at 2:32 PM
“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
—Anne Frank
—Anne Frank
I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.
- C. S. Lewis
- C. S. Lewis
November 25, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.
- C. S. Lewis
- C. S. Lewis
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.”
—Melody Beattie
—Melody Beattie
November 24, 2025 at 6:52 PM
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.”
—Melody Beattie
—Melody Beattie
“What counts can’t always be counted; what can be counted doesn’t always count.”
—Albert Einstein
—Albert Einstein
November 17, 2025 at 12:38 PM
“What counts can’t always be counted; what can be counted doesn’t always count.”
—Albert Einstein
—Albert Einstein
The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
November 14, 2025 at 1:42 PM
The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
November 11, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
We cannot love God unless we love each other n to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread and we know each other in the breaking of bread and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet, life is a banquet too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day
November 6, 2025 at 1:57 PM
We cannot love God unless we love each other n to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread and we know each other in the breaking of bread and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet, life is a banquet too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day
Like it or not we all live together. Our lives are a day-to-day balancing act between focusing on our own selves and working on our relationships with others. If we sway too far to either side we are in danger of drowning in ourselves or drowning in the lives of others.
Br Jack Crowley
Br Jack Crowley
November 5, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Like it or not we all live together. Our lives are a day-to-day balancing act between focusing on our own selves and working on our relationships with others. If we sway too far to either side we are in danger of drowning in ourselves or drowning in the lives of others.
Br Jack Crowley
Br Jack Crowley
God of rainbows,
confront the cynical.
Blow away the blasé.
Fill us with delight,
that we may celebrate the WOW!
In every person, every place.
Zam Walker
confront the cynical.
Blow away the blasé.
Fill us with delight,
that we may celebrate the WOW!
In every person, every place.
Zam Walker
November 3, 2025 at 7:46 AM
God of rainbows,
confront the cynical.
Blow away the blasé.
Fill us with delight,
that we may celebrate the WOW!
In every person, every place.
Zam Walker
confront the cynical.
Blow away the blasé.
Fill us with delight,
that we may celebrate the WOW!
In every person, every place.
Zam Walker
It is the obligation of every person born in a safer room to open the door when someone in danger knocks.
- Dina Nayeri
- Dina Nayeri
October 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM
It is the obligation of every person born in a safer room to open the door when someone in danger knocks.
- Dina Nayeri
- Dina Nayeri
“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
—Nelson Mandela
—Nelson Mandela
October 24, 2025 at 1:06 PM
“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
—Nelson Mandela
—Nelson Mandela
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
October 24, 2025 at 12:58 PM
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Learn from the Master of truth, who preached virtue only after he had practiced it.
- St. Catherine of Siena
- St. Catherine of Siena
October 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Learn from the Master of truth, who preached virtue only after he had practiced it.
- St. Catherine of Siena
- St. Catherine of Siena
The London Times asked various writers for essays on the topic “What’s Wrong with the World?” G. K. Chesterton replied (in perhaps the shortest essay in history),
Dear Sirs:
I am.
Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Dear Sirs:
I am.
Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
October 22, 2025 at 1:11 PM
The London Times asked various writers for essays on the topic “What’s Wrong with the World?” G. K. Chesterton replied (in perhaps the shortest essay in history),
Dear Sirs:
I am.
Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Dear Sirs:
I am.
Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Activism is the body of justice. It invites you into embodied declarations of dignity and worth. As you participate in its body, you find yourself increasingly grounded in your own.
- Cole Arthur Riley
- Cole Arthur Riley
October 20, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Activism is the body of justice. It invites you into embodied declarations of dignity and worth. As you participate in its body, you find yourself increasingly grounded in your own.
- Cole Arthur Riley
- Cole Arthur Riley
It seems to me that when we get to heaven, God will recognize us not so much by our achievements, our gifts and talents. God, I think, will recognize us by our wounds received in the struggle. God will love us for them, and God will bless us.
Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Br. Geoffrey Tristram
October 15, 2025 at 3:58 PM
It seems to me that when we get to heaven, God will recognize us not so much by our achievements, our gifts and talents. God, I think, will recognize us by our wounds received in the struggle. God will love us for them, and God will bless us.
Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Br. Geoffrey Tristram