You may not have heard of Jean Vanier so let me introduce him to you. He is a breath of fresh air in a world that could use some.
Vanier was just awarded the Templeton Prize in recognition of his labor of love called L’Arche International.
Today L’Arche consists of intentional communities all around the world that bring together abled and disabled persons to form real communities. Former Yale professor and prolific writer on spirituality, Henri Nouwen, chose to spend the last ten years of his life at Daybreak, a L’Arche community in Toronto.
The son of a Canadian diplomat who was ambassador to France before World War II, Vanier left his service in the British Royal Navy in 1950 to study philosophy at the University of Paris.
After receiving his Ph.D. he remained unsure of what path to follow in life. A priest who was his spiritual director suggested he visit people with disabilities living in psychiatric hospitals and other institutions. So moved by the experience he invited two men – Raphael Simi and Philippe Seux – with developmental disabilities to share a house with him in Trosly-Breuil, near Paris.
That was the beginning of L’Arche.
I have admired Vanier for a very long time. His books are inspiring, especially Community and Growth, written with unparalleled insight into the content and character of genuine community born of wisdom not given to most of us.
A few years ago Joy and I had the privilege of meeting and hearing him speak. Never have I met a more gentle giant, all six feet seven of him. It was a moment never to be forgotten. We left knowing we had been in the presence of God incarnate, as dramatic as that may sound.
I have believed for years that Jean Vanier deserves the Noble Prize for Peace. He is a bridge builder between people very different from one another, but who share a common humanity they need only to recognize.
His own words tell what he has been about all these years: “We must start to meet: people must meet people; we are all human beings. Before being Christians or Jews or Muslims, before being Americans or Russians or Africans, before being generals or priests, rabbis or imams, before having visible or invisible disabilities, we are all human beings with hearts capable of loving.”
I believe howling at the moon, as I often do, in protest of the kind of low level politics and religion prevalent today has a place, but Jean Vanier does so much more. He lifts people’s spirits and inspires them to trust in the power of good and the influence one person can have on others.
In the lecture we heard he said he actually left the British Navy to follow Jesus. When I heard that I was stuck by the fact that he didn’t say he decided to become a “believer.” No, he decided to “follow” Jesus.
His life has been a living example of what he understood that decision to mean.
There are a lot of Christians I don’t want to be like, but Jean Vanier is not one of them. On the contrary, I believe he is everything the word “Christian” should mean.
The world is a better place because Jean Vanier is in it. Would that this were true of all of us.
linnposts.com 
Thanks for the introduction to Jean Vanier. He sounds like a person that I would like to learn more about. His book is on my reading list.
I believe this is my favorite of all of your blogs, Jan. So nice to learn about the good in people.
I do know Jean Vanier. I love what that community does.
Louise Ragland
Louise, you all would definitely know how important it is for society to grasp the gift people with disabilities are to the rest of us that is the primary focus of the L’Arche communities. Thank you for saying so.
Jan, I had not hear of Vanier, so thanks for introducing me. I am much impressed with his distinction between being a believe and being a “follower” of Jesus. It is a distinction betwen being “churched” and being “religious.”
Cheerz!