People sometimes ask me how I came to be an Assistant at L’Arche, a Christian community centered on the lives of people with disabilities (I served there from Dec 2005 - Feb 2007). This is the story I tell them:
A couple of years ago my friend Ashley was an Assistant at L’Arche, and one day she invited me to the house for supper. Although I had heard of L’Arche, I had never visited before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was a little bit nervous sitting around that great big table with so many new people; but because I was sitting next to a warm and wonderful Core Member named Becky, I started to feel right at home (at L’Arche, Core Members are people with special needs; they are called Core Members because they are at the very core of the community).
I remember it was about half way through supper when I began to talk more with Becky. I asked her a few questions about herself and how long had she lived at L’Arche. And after getting to know her a bit, I asked the big question: “Becky, what do you like about L’Arche?” That’s when Becky, who has an intellectual disability and was legally blind, turned to my friend Ashley, sitting across from us, and said: “The people. I love the people here, and I love my friend Ashley!”
It is hard for me to capture Ashley’s reaction, but I will try. The best I can say it is that it was like Becky shot an arrow of love directly into Ashley’s heart. Ashley’s face became flooded with color and emotion, and her eyes became wet with joy.
Seeing this made me understand what a special place L’Arche was. I realized then the true meaning of my favorite Taize song: Ubi caritas et amour, ubi caritas Deus ubi es. [Where there is charity and love, God is truly there.] And I will always be grateful for Becky, as it was through her love for my friend Ashley that she showed me that God was truly alive in this humble little community. It also brought the words of Deitrich Bonhoffer to life for me: “The one who has found Jesus on the cross knows how wondrously God hides in this world and how he is just there, closest, where we expect him to be furthest.”
That’s why a couple of years later when I’d finished my theological studies, I thought of how special that dinner was, which helped me make up my mind to apply to L’Arche. Looking back, I truly believe that it is ultimately God who calls us to places like L’Arche. But now I also believe that God uses special people like Becky to deliver the message.
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