Disability Pride Month – celebrate all year!
As Disability Pride Month comes to an end, we want to thank you for celebrating with us. This month has highlighted the unique gifts and contributions of individuals with disabilities, and we are grateful for your support.
Opinion: A Future Without the Disabled
This week I learned that the first genetically modified children were born. Chinese scientist He Jiankui made the announcement on a video that the “gene surgery” he performed on two embryos resulted in twin newborns who are immune to HIV. As this announcement washes over the news cycle my thoughts turn to my friends with disabilities with whom I shared life in L’Arche Portland, OR. L’Arche is an intentional community rooted in Jesus’ beatitudes, homes that that offer a place for people across the spectrum of disabilities to discover and share the gifts of eating, mourning, celebrating, laughing, and worshipping together. L’Arche began as a movement in France in the 1960s. Our ecumenical communities now spread across the globe from Bethlehem in the West Bank to Belfast in Northern Ireland. Erin, Ben, Marilyn, and Joni were my housemates in L’Arche, “core members” as we call them because they form the center of common life in our home. They have called me out of life of perfection and busyness, from getting ahead and climbing the corporate ladder into slowness, stillness, and into peace. This week I let myself imagine read more
As I Am: Santos and Pipe’s Story
When Santos was born, doctors described him as hemiplegic, epileptic, and intellectually disabled. By the age of 9, Santos described himself as a cowboy, magician, and innovative fisherman. If you can relate to wanting to write your own story, and wanting to not be labelled by others, check out the first chapter of a very long and unremarkable journey.
The Journey, by Boat
L’Arche means “the ark,” and I’ve discovered, in my time here, many of the ways that L’Arche is like a fantastic trip on a boat. In a recent homily I presented at one of our regular community chapel services, I asked everyone to think about a journey on a boat. Many of the responses were (excuse the nautical pun) “deeper” than they were at first glance. This seems to be a common theme at L’Arche. Most of the thoughts shared had to do with the people on the boat with us. Not everyone was happy about being cooped up on a boat in such close quarters for such a long journey. “We’ll have fun—if we don’t all kill each other first!,” one core member told me. My journey, and, I think, the journey of most people who spend time at L’Arche reflects this truth. Those we make relationships with on this “boat” do not always rub us the right way—and my time here at L’Arche was not been perfect. I arrived a basket of nerves, given responsibilities like helping people care for themselves, giving medications, cooking, cleaning, and read more
Letter from L’Arche
Dear Friend, It’s hard to imagine a life fueled by vulnerability. It seems that no place in our world is free from the drive of competition and perfection. But Joni can tell you a different story. Joni contracted encephalitis as a child. The fever led to irreversible brain damage. She was left unable to speak and finds it difficult to physically navigate her world.Because Joni lives in a L’Arche community, the limitations on her body and the way her mind works are part of her gift. When I was an assistant, living in the daily rhythms of life with Joni and the other “core members” of our home, I learned how to slow down. If we rushed through routines or meals Joni could sense my irritation. Like all of us, Joni wants a life where she is seen as beloved, not someone to rush past on my way to better things.L’Arche is a place where attention to gentleness thrives. Since its founding in 1964, L’Arche has steadily grown as a “sign of peace” around the world. From Uganda to Hebron to Northern Ireland, homes that thrive on the mutual gifts read more
