Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche communities for people with severe mental and physical disabilities, recently offered an interview with Krista Tippett on her show, On Being. Vanier, one of those few hidden, great Christ-followers, is now 85 years old. The following are, in his own words, a few rich insights from that interview. I invite you to read them slowly and prayerfully. 1. The deepest desire for us all is to be appreciated, to be loved, and to be seen as someone of value. 2. Martin Luther King Jr. rightly said that we will continue to despise people until we have loved and accepted what is despicable in ourselves. 3. We need to love people, not because they are beautiful, but because they are human. 4. Those considered marginalized and disabled can restore balance to the world as to what is important, i.e. love and tenderness. 5. The goal of L’Arche is not to change the world. We can’t change the world, but I can change. 6. The big thing is to love reality, and to love God who is present in reality – not to live what could have been. 7. Death is a passage that will be an extraordinary discovery. You will fall asleep and wake up in such joy and peace. It is going to be exciting and wonderful. 8. What is important is to become a little friend of Jesus.
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Sep
