Tuesday 30 October 2012

Quote of the day

"People who are weak and vulnerable can also awaken in us what is most dark and ugly.  Their cry, their provocations, their constant demands and their depression can unmask our own anguish and violence.  But isn't it true that in order to grow in our humanity, we need to recognise the voilence and the power of hatred within our own heart, all that we consider shameful and try to hide?  In L'Arche, we are gradually learning how to manage these fears and energies in a positive way and how to free ourselves from the powers of destruction within us."

- Jean Vanier (The Scandal of Service: Jesus Washes our Feet, page 2-3)

I first came across the L'Arche community in Henri Nouwen's book "Adam" where the able bodied and specially abled live, work and pray together in a community located somewhere in France.  Singapore hosts a similar church-based community, however all return home to their families at the end of the day.

"Adam" held a powerful idea that the weak could help the strong.  That is soooo not the concept that Singapore as a country adopts... The weak are to be helped to become strong.

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