The L'Arche Canada of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Daily Thoughts with Jean Vanier for Friday, 9 December 2016 "The Open Heart"
Sometimes when people knock on my door I ask them in and we talk, but I make it clear to them in a thousand small ways that I am busy, that I have other things to do. The door of my office is open, but the door to my heart is closed. If we have other things to do that can't wait, we should say so - but open our heart all the same.[Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, page 267]
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Thursday, 8 December 2016 "Personal Growth"
In the course of my experience at L'Arche, I have discovered four principles necessary for human growth and good accompaniment:
1- The principle of reality: to embrace things as they really are, and not to be constantly angry with them but rather to see what is positive in them. Not to be attached to preconceived ideas and especially not to prejudices and theories. To recognise in ourselves the blind spots and the defence mechanisms that stop us from seeing reality, and lead us to deny it. To love and live the present moment in the reality that is given.
2- The principle of growth: life is moving, evolving. There are things that we cannot do today because of our limitations, our youth, our fears. But tomorrow, or with time, new strengths will grow up in us. We are in the process of changing: others are changing too. We must know how to wait patiently. We must know how to befriend time.
3 & 4- Finally, the principle of nourishment and the principle of finality. ...the purpose of all human growth is openness to others, to God, to the world: to discover our common humanity; to work for a world where there is more communion and compassion between human beings. But each person needs to choose the right means to be well nourished in order to achieve this end. We must make good choices[Jean Vanier, Our Journey Home, page 159]
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Wednesday, 7 December 2016 "Acceptance"
It is because we belong with others and see them as brothers and sisters in humanity that we learn not only to accept them as they are, with different gifts and capacities, but to see each one as a person with a vulnerable heart. We learn to forgive those who hurt us or reject us; we ask forgiveness of those we have hurt. We learn to accept humbly those who point out our errors and mistakes and who challenge us to grow in truth and love. We support and encourage each other on the journey to inner freedom. We learn how to be close to those who are weaker and more vulnerable, those who may be sick or going through crises or are grieving. As we accept our personal limits and weaknesses, we discover that we need others and we learn to appreciate others and to thank them.[Jean Vanier, Becoming Human, page 59]
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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 "Community as Caring"
[Another] thing people with disabilities have revealed to me is their incredible capacity for creating community and bringing people together. Experience has shown that one person, all alone, can never heal another. A one-to-one situation is not a good situation. It is important to bring broken people into a community of love, a place where they feel accepted and recognized in their gifts, and have a sense of belonging. That is what wounded people need and want most.[Jean Vanier, From Brokenness to Community, pages 28-29]
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Monday, 5 December 2016 "Belonging"
We all belong to the universe; we all receive from it and give to it; we are all parts of a whole. The danger for people today is to forget that and to think that they are the centre; that everyone else is there for them. People must die to this form of destructive egoism and be reborn in love, where they learn to receive from others and to give to them.[Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, page 17]
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Sunday, 4 December 2016 "Community as Caring"
Community means caring: caring for people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer1 says: "He who loves community destroys community; he who loves the brethren builds community." A community is not an abstract ideal. We are not striving for perfect community. Community is not an ideal; it is people. It is you and I. In community we are called to love people just as they are with their wounds and their gifts, not as we would want them to be. Community means giving them space, helping them to grow. It means also receiving from them so that we too can grow. It is giving each other freedom; it is giving each other trust; it is confirming but also challenging each other. We give dignity to each other by the way we listen to each other, in a spirit of trust and of dying to oneself so that the other may live, grow and give[Jean Vanier, From Brokeness to Community, page 35-36]
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Saturday, 3 December 2016 "Community as Caring"
We can give people the gift of their dignity. We can help others just by the way we listen to them and speak with them. We can show them by our own trust that what they have to say is important and good. Community is caring for people, but of course as soon as we start caring for people, we know that there are some people who will just drive us up the wall. Some we will really like, because they think like us. Then we risk falling into a world of mutual flattery. We are all so much in need of affection that when somebody gives it to us we want to hold onto it.
...But flattery doesn't help anyone to grow. It doesn't bring freedom but rather closes people up in themselves. We are attracted to certain people, and others put us off. We don't get on well with them. They trigger off our anguish....Some people threaten us, others flatter us. Some meetings are joyful, and others are painful. When we begin talking about caring for people, then we begin to see how difficult it can be. In community we are called to care for each member of the community. We can choose our friends but we do not choose our brothers and sisters; they are given to us whether in family or in community.[Jean Vanier, From Brokeness to Community, page 37-38]
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"#AsIAm – Beyond the Wall (Episode 7, Côte d'Ivoire)" from L'Arche International for Friday, 2 December 2016 "L’Arche International’s Web Series is an invitation to imagine the world differently."
Web Series #AsIAm
Beyond the Wall
When wars break out, many heroes go unnoticed. On the International Day of People with Disability, L’Arche celebrates these unnoticed heroes everywhere, of every ability.
In this episode, we share the story of Colonel N'Da from L’Arche Ivory Coast and his decision to break down the walls that divide us.
Imagine the world differently.
Watch the video
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France
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Friday, 2 December 2016 "The Human Heart"
Love can never be static. A human heart is either progressing or regressing. If it is not becoming more open, it is closing and withering spiritually.[Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, page 267]
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Thursday, 1 December 2016 "Welcome"
Welcome is one of the signs that a community is alive. To invite others to live with us is a sign that we aren't afraid, that we have a treasure of truth and of peace to share. If community is closing its doors, that is a sign that we are closing our hearts as well.[Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, page 266]
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Wednesday, 30 November 2016 "The Gift of Creating Unity"
It is the most insignificant members who are at the heart of a community and who carry in their hearts those people who are blocked towards each other and who have different ideas concerning the community. It is the love of the hidden people which keeps the community united. The leader brings unity through justice, but these loving people are creators of unity just by being who they are.[Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, page 263]
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Tuesday, 29 November 2016 "The Gift of the Poor"
The people with the best sense of what is essential to a community, of what gives and maintains its spirit, are often doing very humble, manual tasks. It is often the poorest person - the one who has a handicap or who is ill or old - who is the most prophetic. People who carry responsibility must be close to them and know what they think, because it is often they who are free enough to see with the greatest clarity the needs, beauty and pain of the community.[Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, page 262]
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