Friday, June 12, 2009
Saturday, June 06, 2009
In school I was very fortunate to be introduced to a man named Jean Vanier. Jean is the founder of L’Arche, a Catholic community of mentally handicapped people. In 1964 he invited two men with Down’s syndrome to leave the institution & live with him. This community has grown to over 100 residential homes throughout the world. He is a practitioner & a prophet. His words carry a great deal of authority because he is simply describing his life; he describes a lifestyle he is committed. In our culture, where we create social juveniles & as a church we are more often a group of strangers who meet once a week than a fellowship; Jean’s life is like a sunbeam shining through stormy clouds.
Here are some quotes from his book: From Brokenness to Community (Two lectures given at Harvard.)
“If they choose to follow Jesus, they receive a gift of love & communion, but at the same time they must say “no” to the ways of the world & accept loss; they must own their choice.”
“Community is a wonderful place, it is life-giving; but it is also a place of pain because it is a place of truth & of growth—the revelation of our pride, our fear, & our brokenness.”
“I have discovered that even though a person may have severe brain damage, that is not the source of his greatest pain. The greatest pain is rejection, the feeling that nobody really wants you “like that.”
“But this communion is not fusion. Fusion leads to confusion. In a relationship of communion, you are you & I am I; I have my identity & you have yours. I must be myself & you must be yourself. We are called to grow together, each one becoming more fully himself or herself.”
“That I think, was what caused me the most pain: to discover who I really am, & to realize that maybe I did not want to know who I really was! I did not want to admit all the garbage inside me. And then I had to decide whether I would just continue to pretend that I was okay & throw myself into hyperactivity, projects where I could forget all the garbage & prove to others how good I was. Elitism is the sickness of us all.”
“(Volunteers find…) God is not just present in their capacity to heal but rather in their need to be healed.”
“This healing power in us will not come from our capacities & our riches, but in & through our poverty. We are called to discover that God can bring peace, compassion & love through our wounds.”
“Community is the place where are revealed all the darkness & anger, jealousies & rivalry hidden in our hearts.”
“In struggling to ‘win’ at any price, members of the family lose a sense of community. More & more people are seeking the individual prize. In richer countries, this desire to win is instilled in children from an early age. I remember visiting a school in Canada where there was a big poster: ‘It is a crime not to excel.’”
“In community we are called to love people just as they are with their wounds & their gifts, not as we would want them to be.”
“Growth will come as we come closer to people who are different from us & as we learn to welcome & listen even to those who trigger off our pain.”
“People will come to L’Arche attracted by the community; they like our community. They like it, & it’s great—for a few days! When somebody says to me, ‘I find it very painful to live in this community, but I’m here because God has called me here,’ then I know that person has made a passage from dream to reality.”
“We must learn to celebrate.”
“TV can be a kind of death.”
“But the community only keeps its meaning if it remains open to mission.”
“Trusting people are vulnerable & can be easily crushed, as Jesus was crushed. A community which trusts in God rather than in the righteousness of its ‘cause’ can always be crushed, but from that crushing will come resurrection.”
Here are some quotes from his book: From Brokenness to Community (Two lectures given at Harvard.)
“If they choose to follow Jesus, they receive a gift of love & communion, but at the same time they must say “no” to the ways of the world & accept loss; they must own their choice.”
“Community is a wonderful place, it is life-giving; but it is also a place of pain because it is a place of truth & of growth—the revelation of our pride, our fear, & our brokenness.”
“I have discovered that even though a person may have severe brain damage, that is not the source of his greatest pain. The greatest pain is rejection, the feeling that nobody really wants you “like that.”
“But this communion is not fusion. Fusion leads to confusion. In a relationship of communion, you are you & I am I; I have my identity & you have yours. I must be myself & you must be yourself. We are called to grow together, each one becoming more fully himself or herself.”
“That I think, was what caused me the most pain: to discover who I really am, & to realize that maybe I did not want to know who I really was! I did not want to admit all the garbage inside me. And then I had to decide whether I would just continue to pretend that I was okay & throw myself into hyperactivity, projects where I could forget all the garbage & prove to others how good I was. Elitism is the sickness of us all.”
“(Volunteers find…) God is not just present in their capacity to heal but rather in their need to be healed.”
“This healing power in us will not come from our capacities & our riches, but in & through our poverty. We are called to discover that God can bring peace, compassion & love through our wounds.”
“Community is the place where are revealed all the darkness & anger, jealousies & rivalry hidden in our hearts.”
“In struggling to ‘win’ at any price, members of the family lose a sense of community. More & more people are seeking the individual prize. In richer countries, this desire to win is instilled in children from an early age. I remember visiting a school in Canada where there was a big poster: ‘It is a crime not to excel.’”
“In community we are called to love people just as they are with their wounds & their gifts, not as we would want them to be.”
“Growth will come as we come closer to people who are different from us & as we learn to welcome & listen even to those who trigger off our pain.”
“People will come to L’Arche attracted by the community; they like our community. They like it, & it’s great—for a few days! When somebody says to me, ‘I find it very painful to live in this community, but I’m here because God has called me here,’ then I know that person has made a passage from dream to reality.”
“We must learn to celebrate.”
“TV can be a kind of death.”
“But the community only keeps its meaning if it remains open to mission.”
“Trusting people are vulnerable & can be easily crushed, as Jesus was crushed. A community which trusts in God rather than in the righteousness of its ‘cause’ can always be crushed, but from that crushing will come resurrection.”
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Our men's retreat was a blast.
8 men from our church went to Henry Coe State Park & had a great time with God. Although we could have had more guys participate I intentionally chose to make the distance long enough so that whoever did go would have to commit to the whole weekend & not just a part of it. This is important for a couple of reasons. First, Saturday is the prime day, all day. Friday night was kinda' like a detox from all the business we pile on ourselves. I commented a couple of times, "Wow, it's quite;" when in fact, it's just that my life is filled with noise (by my own design!). So, to go to part of the retreat was to miss a large part of the retreat. Retreat! Too, by making it a bit too far for the "if it's convienent for me" crowd, we effectively brought those who desire to grow. I'm always amazed that many people walked away from Jesus because he qualified discipleship as something centered upon God & not the individual. Too, I'm often amazed that so many today cater to this very group of people in the church. "Let's go to the nicest retreat center possible. Therefore, the most people will go." This isn't bad, but it's not great. The cult of customer service has wreaked havoc on our culture! So, it was a short drive & there were no showers, but there was a whole lot of God!
Simple Times:
On Sat. we had two hours of solitude & silence where each man was sent of into the wilderness armed with a journal. We came back & each man had a wonderful story about how God has spoken to them: "Return to me." "I'm consistent." "Get this tattoo." "Play with me!" Laben then climbed a tree with God!! "Love your wife." This was a powerful experience.
Then we played Risk for 4hrs, which, as any one of the guys would tell you, a wonderful time with God! As I mentioned to one of the guys: "When did play stop being worship?"
One of the most powerful things God has been showing me through our church is this: We don't fit together. Without Jesus none of us would normally connect as friends. Hippies, Ph.D, Homeless, Preppy, Cuban, Gay, Pentecostal, Drunk; these are the words I would use to describe some of the folks in our community. As my wife mentioned the other day: "We aren't a Christian clique." & we aren't. Our group is diverse. As Dietrich would say: "Community is a gift, not a given."
Laben is holding the gallon of milk the raccoons stole from us. Too, Matt looks pretty happy even though we put half a cooked fish & dog food next to his bed in hopes that the raccoons would battle next to him during the night! Sadly only the Blue Jays descended upon him in the morning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)