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Shape a More huMan SocietyGrowing as Servant Leaders
Bubble of the Month–Shape a More Human SocietyMarch 2013
The next bubbles to be explored are Nurture our Gifts & Growth–April and Embrace the Identity & Mission–May.
Welcome from Amy and JanetWelcome to the third Bubble of the Month! We hear that com-munities are finding ideas in these newsletters that are helpful in bringing to life the values of L’Arche.
Please share your stories, photos and suggestions with us at [email protected].
Be out and about in your neighbour-hood together: take an evening stroll - smile and wave – participate at church – garden in the front yard – random acts of kindness -– hold a bake sale on the lawn – go to Tim’s or Starbucks for coffee – share the fruits and vegetables from the garden – meet people with a big smile and a big hello – have a booth at the farmers market – hold a garage sale - find new friends at the Pub – have a L’Arche float in a parade – go out for brunch/lunch/dinner – shop for grocer-ies together – go to library – go bowling – go swimming
Give back to our neighbours & others: donate clothes to charities – visit peo-
ple in hospital – walk the neighbour’s dog – greet people at church – bake and sell bread to raise money – visit a nursing home – participate in local charity walk (all night!)to raise money for cancer – send prayers out to the world – drop off bread and have a chat each week with a neighbour – partner with community college to host a coffee house to raise money for Solidarity – pass on extra bread to neighbouring agency – learn about and support other organizations that are trying to shape a more human society – fundraising BBQ – volunteer with Meals on Wheels
Announce L’Arche: present the L’Arche story and vision at high schools, churches, universities – host students in educational retreats - write lettersWelcome friends and neighbours to L’Arche: come for supper – Christmas open house – host block BBQ – invite people to monthly “tea & coffee” open house – weekly prayer night in the home with all welcome – host local
college group – invite to annual an-niversary celebration with BBQ and fun & games – invite to monthly gathering with pizza, singing and celebration.
Movies I Am - How are we all con-nected?Pay it Forward - Can one act change the world?
Gandhi - “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching” ~ Ghandi What does Ghandi practice?
What are two things you can do in your home or program this month to Shape a More Human Society?
Thanks to the many homes and programs across the country who shared their stories with us.
Stephenson House out picking pumpkins.
Martin - LeTournesol, L’Arche Ottawa
What are the people in the homes and programs of L’Arche Canada are doing to Shape a More Human Society?Imagine people in homes and programs from coast to coast engaged in all of the activities below and more!Can we make a difference?
House and Community Gatherings
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Movies ... Trisomie 21- Le défi Pérou - How did the characters help each other achieve their goals?The Man Who Planted Trees (30 min-ute You tube video) How did Elzéard change his environment?
Our Neighbourhood Map – draw a big map of your neighbourhood … draw in the members of your home at the places where you meet and share L’Arche with others. How creative can you get with your artwork? Or mark these spots with jelly beans and Smart-ies!
Charades –Teams take turns act-ing out the many ways homes across Canada shape a more human society.
Sharing – A time when I met someone in the neighbourhood and helped them learn about me and L’Arche …
Share Your Story – The new Canadi-an Museum for Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg will officially open in 2014 to “engage Canadians in a dialogue on a variety of Human Rights topics.”
They have a web presence and are looking for stories to share (photos, written, audio, video). Does someone in
your home want to share their story? http://humanrightsmuseum.ca/home
2014 will mark the 50th an-niversary of the founding of L’Arche, and preparations for the celebration are now well underway in Canada. Our 50th Anniversary theme—which will be officially unveiled at our upcoming National General Assembly—is now captured in the simple phrase, “Discover L’Arche.” Canada’s 50th anniver-sary celebrations will provide opportunities for many people to get involved, and for many others to come to know L’Arche for the first time. They will also be an opportunity for L’Arche to give thanks for all that has been given. In ad-dition to local celebrations to mark the anniversary, the plan calls for a major na-tional campaign aimed at raising public awareness of L’Arche across the country, sparking interest among those who don’t
know about L’Arche – yet! The plan also calls for a national event that will encour-age broad participation and bring L’Arche into the media limelight on a big scale. Together, the national celebration, along with our “Discover L’Arche Campaign”, will be a colorful and multi-dimensional happening that will empower community members and friends to share the radi-ance of L’Arche with the broader society.
Take time to discuss with others in your home, pro-
gram, office, or meeting some ideas about what you and/or your community might do to celebrate the 50th anniver-
sary of L’Arche. What kind of activity, gathering, or event could be planned locally to
inspire people about L’Arche’s commitment to shape a more
human society? What are some of the key messages of
L’Arche that you would like to see com-municated locally and nationally dur-ing our 50th anniversary celebrations? Send your ideas to John O’Donnell at
L’Arche Canada’s 50th Anniversary Commit-tee is composed of John O’Donnell, Peggy Ke-aney, Marni Davis, Amy Demoulin, Lawrence MacIsaac, and Carl MacMillan
House and Community Gatherings...continued
SPECIAL SECTION: Celebrating 50 Years of L’Arche!
We are so busy being L’Arche. How do we make time to open up to the world? What are we doing
to carry the Identity & Mission beyond our community?
How can the recruiting of new assis-tants be a path to Shape a More Human Society? If we are not recruiting locally are we missing the chance to spread the story and mission of L’Arche locally?
How does the 50th Anniversary of L’Arche offer your community an op-portunity to share the story and mission of L’Arche?
Leadership and Team Meetings
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Jean Vanier calls us to build a more human and lov-ing world: http://www.larche.ca/en/education/new_jean_vanier_video_clips_for_canadian_schoolsHow we can make our World a Better Place (English – 2 minutes) – 2nd videoJean Vanier nous parle d’Appartance (French – 3 minutes) – 5th video
As does the conclusion of the Identity and Mis-sion Statement …working together toward a more human society
As does the Conclusion of the Charter of L’Arche L’Arche is deeply concerned by the distress of people who suffer injustice and rejection because they are handicapped. This concern should impel the communities of L’Arche to do all they can to defend the rights of people with a mental handicap, to support the creation of places of welcome for them and to call our society to become more just and respectful towards them.
As do Jean’s words about Servant Leadership “We need to become humble servant-leaders in order
to help others grow in knowledge, wisdom, freedom, and re-sponsibility, so that they may become, in the depth of their beings, more human.” Jean Vanier, Finding Peace, p. 69
Why is it that Shaping a More Human Society is an essential aspect of our Mission?
1. Legislating compassion does not work “During the heady period of deinstitutionalization and normal-ization for people with intellectual disability, Jean Vanier was one of the few people who held that simply transferring people from institutions to community homes would not be enough unless we could also change the public’s hearts and minds about the value of these people to our society. Fifty years on, we have seen many changes in the disability field, but it remains the case that in spite of closing institu-tions and legislating more rights, the general public still feels a deep ambivalence towards disability and in particular intellectual disability. … Vanier’s insight has always been that you cannot legislate compassion towards a group of people: the important and lasting work has to do with crafting a better representation for the public such that helps them learn how to imagine disability in a new, more positive way.” Jean Vanier – Becoming Human website – http://www.jean-vanier.org/en
2. We want to model and help others to discover the values of the heart “The values of efficiency, power, money and pleasure have become all-important in our world today. They tend to eliminate the values of com-passion, humility and presence to the powerless. The mass media nourish and encourage this vision rooted in force, in which exteriority and appearance are more important than interiority and being. We constantly need people to remind us of where true inner freedom and peace are to be found.” Jean Vanier, An Ark for the Poor, p.101
3. Core Members together with assistants and other members of community are the best teachers!
To explore this topic further:Visit the Jean Vanier: Becoming Human Website at
http://www.jean-vanier.org/enRead Becoming Human by Jean Vanier
Read Finding Peace by Jean VanierRead the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtmlRead the UN Declaration on the Rights of Disabled
Persons http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/con-ventionfull.shtml
• What is the Board’s role in Shaping a More Human Society? What are we doing to carry the Iden-tity and Mission beyond our L’Arche community? How could our outreach activities have more impact in our local area?
• How can fundraising be a path to Shape a More Human Society? How are you offering those who share their financial gifts with L’Arche the chance to participate in L’Arche’s vision and mission?
Read A Spirituality of Fundraising, by Henri Nouwen for inspiration.
Board Meetings
An Intellectual Engagement – Training, Team Meetings, Leadership Meetings
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PrayersPrayer of Saint Francis of AssisiLord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
ScripturesIsaiah 58:6-10 - Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the
hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.If you do away with the yoke of oppres-sion, with the pointing finger and mali-cious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the op-pressed, then your light will rise in the dark-ness, and your night will become like the noonday
John 15:14-16 You are my friends if you do what I com-mand. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for every-thing that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and ap-pointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give youLuke 10:1-3After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolvesBuddhaThere are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
Services
January 2013; Month in Review LIVE IN JOY
(above) L’Arche Toronto(right) Sarah, L’Arche Hamilton
“L’Arche Lives in Joy!! - Growing in the Mis-sion retreat group, L’Arche Ontario
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