July 18, 2010
L’Arche has often been called a good model for how people can live together. My talk today is centered around concepts of L’Arche that may help us in our search to find wholeness in our own lives and in our world.
Perhaps the foundation of L’Arche rests in the idea that everyone is of unique and sacred value and everyone has the same dignity and the same rights. This is carried out in many ways in L’Arche including building lovely homes for our residents, helping people to find meaningful relationships and work, and encouraging each of us to pay attention to the needs of our bodies, minds and spirits.
Eighth Day members have also taken this concept seriously and organizations such as Eve’s, Life Pathways, Ann’s Family Place, Carol’s work with the Palestinians Gail’s work with prisoners and many others offer people who have special needs new opportunities for building or for rebuilding their lives in many ways. Whenever individuals and groups of people take this concept seriously we often see astonishing results.
Another concept vital to L’Arche is centered in mutual relationships. The idea is that our deepest need is to love and be loved in a mutual way. Assistants come to L’Arche to serve and take care of people with disabilities, but they soon find out that we all need care and help and that L’Arche has much to give them. Our core people come often expecting to be taken care of because people have always done things for them rather than encouraging them to do things for themselves and for others. At L’Arche they discover that they have gifts to give also and are encouraged to become responsible members of the community.
In Eighth Day, instead of having a professional team, we are all part of the team to care for each other, our community and our world. Our mission groups emphasize sharing and accountability and using our gifts well. The idea of mutual relationships reminds us that we are called to both give and receive from each other. Can we recognize and receive the gifts that each of us has to offer?
The idea that we all have both gifts and disabilities is emphasized in L’Arche. Core people and assistants alike are encouraged to discover their gifts and use them for themselves and the community. We are also encouraged to accept that we all have disabilities. I grew up in a society where gifts were rewarded and disabilities were discouraged or punished so I learned try to hide my disabilities and pretend that I was always OK. It has been good to be in a community where I can be more honest and accepting about who I am and out of that have been better able to grow into the person I want to be. At L’Arche we have a paradox where we both accept people where they are but also encourage them to grow. We have learned that is out of this acceptance they are able to grow. What would it mean at 8th Day to really accept and enjoy each other as we are. How well do we do that? At L’Arche we also stress that weakness and vulnerability can foster union with God. As we recognize and accept our weakness, God’s liberating love is revealed. I find that a very powerful but difficult idea to accept.
One L’Arche tradition that I have always especially enjoyed is that life is to be celebrated. Two occasions that we regularly celebrate at L’Arche are birthdays and anniversaries where we acknowledge people’s gifts and share memories and stories. Sometimes our core people come from places where they were tolerated rather than celebrated, so this is an especially important event. These events are important both for the one who is being celebrated to know that they are appreciated and to remind the rest of us to say what we enjoy about each other. I believe we all need to be celebrated and to celebrate each other. I appreciate that 8th Day often finds ways to do this.
L’Arche also encourages that we welcome and respect differences. In both L’Arche and 8th Day we experience a lot of diversity including that of age, cultural differences and abilities. As we live together in L’Arche we try to find ways to both enjoy and bridge our differences. At 8th Day we are also trying to find ways to listen to each other, to use each other s gifts and ways of doing things. Our core people especially teach us the way of living from the heart instead of from the head. We are learning that growing in love and self-giving is as important as becoming independent and competent. Our society emphasizes growing in independence and competence, but somehow growing in love and self giving has not been so evident. So many of our society’s problems stem from this lack, and I am encouraged to hear of places where people are beginning to understand that growing in love and self giving is the most important thing we have to learn. I came to the Church of the Saviour primarily because of its emphasis on taking the gospel seriously and I think we do struggle with better ways to love and care for ourselves, for each other and for our world. L’Arche reminds us that God can teach us great things through those we often consider simple and foolish.
Note: Dottie also showed two videos of L’Arche, The Heart of L’Arche (a very finished documentary) and L’Arche Vacation Summer 2009. They may be found here.