July 2008 – PDF – PUBLICATION from L'ARCHE latinamerica & caribbean -Versão Português - version español - francais

"Perhaps the biggest sign of God is a little child who loves"

Jean Vanier declared in a special gathering for all Latin American communities of L'Arche. From his home in Trosly-Breuil, France, he talked about love, the role that play faith in L'Arche, the wounds, the man's heart and the social situation in Latin America, among other matters.

Text and photos: María Mullen - Translation: Ale Toglia

WITH OPEN ARMS

TROSLY-BREUIL ( FRANCE )- At one side, a branch swings, and through a bush a very tall man appears. At the close of the day, with the last reflections behind, Jean Vanier, with almost 80 years old and just arrived from the Eucharistic Congress in Canada, comes alone and from the street. He does not respond to his weariness, but to his will for visiting "Le Petit Val Fleuri" home just for a moment. This is one of the many homes in the small town of Trosly, and it is where in 1964, he felt the call of God for the foundation of L'Arche . Today, the communities offer a home to people with intellectual disabilities and it is where we are trying to discover and reveal their gifts, and disclose the important role that they play in the society. L'Arche is present in five continents, with 135 communities in 35 countries, including India , Canada , Egypt , Japan , Syria , Haiti , Germany , USA , Brazil , Argentina , among many others.

With high spontaneity and simplicity, Jean Vanier approaches me with his calm and philosophic glance, a peaceful pace and a bashful smile. He is wearing a light blue shirt and his usual dark blue coat. As soon as Regina , a long term assistant, goes out, Jean sets free a jolly exclamation: "¡Ohhh..!". He stretches his arms wide open and with no concern whatsoever he gives away his most warm and tender embrace. This gesture is repeated with another friend: his fraternal hand upon his shoulder, his ear alert and his vigorous voice always ready. He spreads joy and a very strong spirit. It looks like the air is filling with light. There is no need for words: his presence confirms everything that has been written about him. Every gesture is a vivid image of the tenderness and love that he preaches. It is a reflection, perhaps, of the love of God for each one of His children.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

From his little house located in a narrow street known as “ Rue de Marillac ”, Vanier welcomes me on behalf of the Communities of L'Arche in the Latin America and Caribbean region ( Mexico , Honduras , Dominican Republic , Haiti , Brazil and Argentina ). The intense singing of the birds fills the place like a shroud of peace. Adults and youngsters in wheel chairs and with Down syndrome and other impediments come and go from the nearby homes. Some come back from a day's work at the orchards and workshops. At a walking distance, there is still the first home where L'Arche started. A modest wooden sign, like the one in a boat, indicates the place: “L´Arche”.

With so much joy, among laughter and memories of Latin America , Jean receives presents, photographs and greetings from the Latin-American communities. Later on, with his easy-going voice he begins to emphasize the most important aspects of L'Arche.

"The heart of L'Arche -says Vanier- is to discover that relations and friendship with the poor o the person with intellectual disability can change us and transform us completely… They are able to give something special when we get to know them. You see … there is a big difference between generosity and the encounter that is becoming closer and enter into the presence of the other. This is the fundamental theme of L'Arche: go from head and mind … to the encounter, the relationship. When I meet with someone, I don't judge this person anymore. On the contrary, I'm able to become his/her friend, something very different”.

What is the social situation like in Latin America ?

In Latin America the gap between rich people and poor people is very strong. I remember that during a visit to Chile , to conduct a retreat, while I was going from the airport to Santiago , the driver told me: “here is the poor area, and on that side, the rich area. But no one crosses over from one side to the other”. This is a reality that makes it hard to believe in the Gospel, in loving the enemies, in the beatitudes … When we started L'Arche in Honduras , it was our vision to create a place that became a bridge between rich and poor people. In theory it was a bridge but in reality, the members of the Board had difficulties relating with the ones living in the home. They provide and made many things but they could not enter into a relationship… Another problem which is present in Latin America is that for a long time whoever worked with poor people was also considered a communist.

You talk extensively about fragility, of the value of recognizing the wounds and finding there something positive… But first ¿how we could recognize these wounds? ¿How our fragility could be something good?

It happens. There are things that are very difficult to talk about. It is an experience. As soon as you fall in love, you begin to love, and you become vulnerable. I am very vulnerable, for example, regarding some aspects of the Catholic Church because I love it so deeply. It hurts when I find coldness. I believe in it as much as I believe in the persons with intellectual disabilities. In L'Arche people could get mad, could be violent … Many times they succeed in uncovering our own wounds. But is this acknowledgement of the wounds where communion takes place. In this experience they could teach us the way towards forgiveness, to tenderness, to love …

Where do you see this image and similarity to God, of which the Genesis talks about, in people with intellectual disabilities?

Which is the crying of the people with disabilities? Is it power and money that they long for…? Their crying is to be looked at, to be found. They cry for a friendship… When you become friends with someone, you start to love him/her (and love his/her freedom). As soon as we love, we become vulnerable. I find out that God is extremely little and vulnerable... Perhaps the main sign of God is a little child who gives love. When becoming friends with the persons with intellectual disabilities, the mystery of the Trinity is solved. The Trinity that is the love between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and a love that only takes place in a relationship. So, you ask yourself. What is essential to the human being, is it the head or is it the heart? The mystery of human beings is that we are heart. When we become old we are not able to do things or to reasoning as we used to, but we do have a heart.

Today, with all the scientific findings, there are mothers who decide to interrupt a pregnancy when their unborn children are diagnosed with a disability, What do you think about this issue? Do you imagine a world with people with no intellectual disabilities whatsoever?

There will never be a world with no disabilities. With the technology, there will be more and more people with Alzheimer. In France, one of every three people is an adult. Before, it was one out of five. Many of the people living at L'Arche were not born with a disability but they acquired one later on. Believe it or not, we all are going to die. We are going to be weak and dependant, as we used to be when we were born. There is something in our society which longs for power and control. The persons with disabilities demand time, money and human resources... But, what else the human beings need? Power or the capacity to relate to each other?

Being inter-religious, does L'Arche take a stand in the debates related to abortion or peace...?

First, and before getting into the issue of the debates, we have been summoned to live. There is a great debate around life preservation. I say yes to life. There are some people who declare themselves "anti-abortion", but at the same time, what do they do with the persons with a disability? I'm not happy when I see so many anti-abortion banners and, later on, babies are abandoned in institutions. I'm against abortion but I bring up questions. In L'Arche we celebrate life; we welcome the people with disabilities. We must create models. There will always be many people with a disability, but people who live with them? We are in a way a paradox. L'Arche is a paradox. It is not always easy.

There are people that would tell me "you are doing a good job". I did not come to L'Arche to "do a good job", I was not interested in such thing. We have many people that live here and that are no Christians but they are good people. I'd rather have good people here even if they do not believe in God but believe in the people with disabilities, that have people who believe in God but they do believe in people with disabilities. Does it mean that they are excluded? Once more, I feel vulnerable by all these questions.

…You were the first assistant in L'Arche, what issues were the most difficult you have to face with?

Daily living. There were no major difficulties because I was convinced that it was good. And whenever you are convinced, nothing is difficult. It was about a vision, a way of living for me. You have faith and go forward. Later, gradually, things became clearer. The real difficulty arose when they asked me to manage the Institute “Val Fleuri”. I was alone with thirty persons, some of them very violent… But, again, if you are persuaded that you are doing the right thing and you have been committed to a vision ... you keep on going. The importance lies in how you help people to become engaged with a vision in the future.

It is hard for young people to get involved and to be convinced...

It is very important to deliver lectures at the universities and to talk about the good life that is revealed to us through the Gospel. It is complex ... it contains religion, Gospel... I don't like to draw apart these two concepts, but the reality is there. Therefore, it is about wanting to have a Gospel experience.

Sometimes it is hard to talk about the Gospel … How can we do it to those who do not share the Christian faith?

Talking about L'Arche is not easy, that's why we have to experience it: to come and live here, laugh, sing and dance. There, people are taken by surprise. Here they find happy people, more relaxed.

Which role plays faith in L'Arche?

Basically we believe in love. Everybody believes in love. Jesus came to announce the good news for the poor, and to announce the good news is to say “I love you and I want to live with you”. This is the mystery of the Incarnation. The Word made flesh, He said that he wanted to live with us; He did not just tell us what to do...

Recently, nineteen future priests came to live in L'Arche. When the period came to an end, they all said that they felt transformed after the experience. I asked myself how these persons, who were becoming priests, said that after living one month with us (we are considered some kind of crazy people) they felt transformed. ¿What was it that transformed them? Well, they just went from the ideas ... from the value of the ideas, from the value of the success or the value of achieving a master's degree or a doctorate ... to the value of a relationship. When we relate to others, when we begin to love others, we begin to feel worried for them, to listen to their pain... The relationship turned them into vulnerable human beings. You see, when you listen to your head, there is no danger involved. But when you look down (to your heart) and have a relationship, this might be “dangerous”. It is like the Good Samaritan parable...

You have asked me about faith and to answer to that faith is to believe in love and the commitment of love. It is about believing in the message of the Gospel, although you do not know what it is. Since the message of the Gospel says that every person is important. And also it says that in order to renew the society, you have to start by the poor. Although many people do not understand this.

Since you were young and while you studied, you always wondered about happiness and the road towards it. Actually, once you declared that you have chosen this road just to be happy, not due to charity ... What can you tells us about happiness?

Happiness only comes while life flows. You can put money, power and things in front of me , but happiness is ... to give life. The mystery of human beings is that they give life (during generations each specie gives life to another). Happiness is to give and receive life. And that is also a relationship. I believe that eternal happiness will be similar. Life in a continuous movement. Happiness is not only found in knowledge, it is within the life that flows. The beauty lies in celebrating life together.

After L'Arche your relation with God has changed? What was it like before, and now..?

¡This is a question that comprises all my life...! When I was a little boy I only went to Mass on Sundays... When I was in the Navy, I started to develop a higher interest in God... Now, I don't use too many words. I rest. I believe in the presence and in the tenderness of Jesus... I have difficulties to pray, sing or even read since I lack energy. My relationship now is quieter, more in silence. Sure, it was not always like this ... Now, it has to do with my age but also with the fact that Father Thomas taught me to be in communion, to be open ...

You are a layman, do you think that laymen's vocation have a greater responsibility within the Catholic Church ?

I think that all vocations are important. But it draws my attention when I'm told to “pray for the vocations”, referring exclusively to religious vocations. Sure I agree that nuns and priests are essential for the Church, but ¿what about the persons with disabilities?. They also have a vocation in the church, just like the others.

Which is for you the main “disability” in the today's society?

Competition. It is the unrestrained search for winning and the division of the world into winners and losers; not allowing some people the chance to lose. We should move from a society of competition to a society of human relationships.

How can we achieve our mission being so small? L'Arche is small, I know. But it has nothing to do with a pleasant place where people with disabilities are taken care of. We know that we are not the solution to all the people with intellectual disabilities but we want to be a sign for the society. A sign that every person is a sacred story and that he or she can be happy, they can love and reach peace in spite of the differences and their weaknesses. L'Arche is a very fragile reality because we are summoned to live with fragile persons. We would like to be strong, to have a lot of money, many assistants, plenty of this and that. But we have to live with fragility... And although we are small as a drop of water leaking from a faucet… barely a small drop in front of a river of power, rivalry and money. You only have to walk through a poor neighborhood or in a psychiatric institution and you will find yourself with so many questions ... that you will understand the vision of L'Arche.

 

Interview made by María Mullen
Responsible of communication for L'Arche in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
More information: comunicacion@arcalatina.org

 

www.arcalatina.org / www.jean-vanier.org / www.larche.org