Jean Vanier Thoughts

Celebration Requires Learning

We must learn to celebrate. I say learn to celebrate, because celebration is not just a spontaneous event. We have to discover what celebration is. Our world doesn't know much about celebration. We know quite a bit about parties, where we are artificially stimulated with alcohol to have fun. We know what movies and distractions are. But do we know what celebration is? Do we know how to celebrate our togetherness, our being one body? Do we really know how to use all that is human and divine to celebrate together?
- Jean Vanier, From Brokeness to Community, p 45

The Gift of Laughter

Laughter is something very human. ... When human beings are too serious they become tense. Laughter is the greatest of relaxations. And there is something funny about humanity. Little as we are, poor as we are, with all our 'animal' needs, we are called to become more than angels; brothers and sisters of God the Word made flesh. It seems so ludicrous and wonderful, so crazy and yet so ecstatic. And the most rejected are called to be at the heart of the Kingdom. Everything is upside down. No wonder some people at sacred moments have the giggles.
- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, pp. 316-317
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The Harder Daily Life, the More We Need Celebration

Celebration expresses the true meaning of community in a concrete and tangible way. So it is an essential element in community life. Celebration sweeps away the irritations of daily life; we forget our little quarrels. The aspect of ecstasy in a celebration unites our hearts; a current of life goes through us all. Celebration is a moment of wonder when the joy of the body and the senses are linked to the joy of the spirit. It unites everything that is most human and most divine in community life. ... the harder and more irksome our daily life, the more our hearts need these moments of celebration and wonder. We need times when we all come together to give thanks, sing, dance, and enjoy special meals. Each community, like each people, needs its festival liturgy.
- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, p. 315

Celebration as Nourishment

Meals are daily celebrations where we meet each other around the same table to be nourished and share in joy. They are a particular delight for the body and the senses. So we shouldn't bolt our food under the pretext of having more important or more spiritual things to do than sit at table. A meal is an important community event which has to be well prepared and fully lived. It is a time when the joy of eating and drinking well merge with the joy of meeting - a marvellous human moment.
- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, p. 322

What we Learn from L'Arche Communities

Life in industrialised countries has become artificial, its patterns far from nature. Houses are full of electric gadgets; leisure activities are limited to television and the cinema; cities are noisy, stifling and polluted; people are exhausted by long hours of travel in subway, train and car - when they aren't equally exhausted by crawling through traffic jams. The films they watch and the news they listen to concentrate on violence. They cannot possibly integrate all that is happening over the world - earthquakes...famine...fighting...disruption...censorship...tyranny, torture.... It is overwhelming. And people are overwhelmed by it all. They are not equipped to assimilate all this dramatic information. That is why they latch on to new myths which announce the salvation of the world, or rigid sects which claim to have a monopoly of the truth. The more anguish people feel, the more they seek out new saviours - whether these are political, psychological, religious, or mystical. Or else they throw everything over in the race for instant stimulation, wealthy and prestige.

Communities are a sign that it is possible to live on a human scale, even in the present world. They are a sign that we do not have to be slaves to work, to inhuman economies, or to the stimulations of artificial leisure. A community is essentially a place where we learn to live at the pace of humanity and nature. We are part of the earth and we need the heat of the sun, the water of the sea, and the air we breath. We are part of nature and its laws are written in our flesh. That doesn't mean that scientific discoveries aren't useful too. But they have to be at the service of life, applied to create an environment in which human being can truly grow - whether in town or country, middle-class areas or slums.
- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, p. 310

Responsible Leadership

People with responsibility must always be concerned for the minorities in a community and those who have no voice, listening to them, and interpreting for them. The leaders must defend individuals because the interests of the individual must never be sacrificed to those of the group. A community is always built around people; people should not be shaped to suit community.
- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, p. 215

Real Relaxation Gives Renewal

I am realising more and more that there are many people who do not know how to relax. It took me a long time to learn. Obviously, people know that they must sleep, but relaxation is more than that. Sleep, moreover, can be a way of avoiding reality, an escape, a kind of depression. Real rest is the renewal of our energy so that we can struggle for peace and truth with more energy, enthusiasm and hope. So relaxation is finding new sources of energy, and being affirmed and supported in the awakening of these energies. It is rediscovering trust in our mission and what is deepest in us. It is the opposite of slumping in sadness, apathy, lack of self confidence and doubt. Real rest involves relaxing the heart with friends and family through celebration, laughing, singing, joy, humour. It means feeling well and happy in our body, house, family and community.
- Jean Vanier, Our Journey Home, p 154

Finding Balance

In order to grow towards a deeper sense of identity and to open ourselves to others, we need times of quiet and reflection, times of inner peace and relaxation. If we are preoccupied with plans and a compulsive need to succeed and be appreciated, or if we are tired, tense and stressed, it is difficult to slow down and welcome and listen to reality and to others. Our internal motor runs too fast. It is impossible to be silent and stand back from what is happening in order to consider our motives and fears. The heart's silence is blotted out by the noise of the motor. Growth demands that we are fit, well rested, and relaxed both in body and spirit. So it is important to find a healthy rhythm of life, and to know how much rest we need and the types of relaxation that give life.
- Jean Vanier, Our Journey Home, pp 153-154

Moving towards Forgiveness

To look forward, to want life, means we have to be willing to look backwards and become more conscious of all those who have hurt us, all that is broken in us and that has brought us inner deaths, hurts that we may have hidden and stifled. It means that we acknowledge the story of our origins, of our own lives, see and accept our brokenness and the times we also have hurt others. When we have accepted who we are and what we need in order to grow in compassion and peacemaking, we can move forward to give life. To forgive is a gift of God that permits us to let go of our past hurts.
- Jean Vanier, Finding Peace, page 47-48

Every Person has a Secret

Every human being has his or her secret and mystery. Some lives are long, others short. Some people seem to live through stages of growth, others do not. But I believe that every person arrives at true maturity at the moment of death. It is very easy to see the purpose of some people's lives; with others it is more difficult. But I believe that every person's life is important, whatever their limitations, poverty or gifts. There is a meaning to every life, even if we cannot see it. I believe that each person, in his or her unique beauty and worth, lives out a sacred story. For me a person exists from the moment of conception. He or she exists even if...he or she has a profound handicap.