When it comes to ministering to the intellectually disabled, who is ministering to whom?<\/p>\n
In March, the Templeton Foundation announced that this year\u2019s winner of the Templeton Prize is philosopher Jean Vanier. The Templeton Prize is given to those who make an \u201cexceptional contribution to affirming life\u2019s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanier joins the likes of Mother Theresa, physicist-turned-theologian John Polkinghorne and, yes, Chuck Colson, as Templeton Laureates.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to imagine a more deserving recipient than Vanier.<\/p>\n
After serving in the British Royal Navy during World War II, Vanier felt called to study philosophy and became a Catholic lay leader.<\/p>\n
In 1964, through his friend, Father Thomas Phillippe, Vanier \u201cbecame aware of the plight of thousands of people institutionalized with developmental disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanier invited two institutionalized men to come and live with him in Trosly-Breuil, France. This invitation became the start of a worldwide federation of communities that came to be called L\u2019Arche, which is French for \u201cThe Ark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today there are 147 of these communities in 35 countries on 5 continents. All of them subscribe to a \u201cStatement of Identity and Mission\u201d which states: \u201cWe are people, with and without developmental disabilities, sharing life in communities … Mutual relationships and trust in God are at the heart of our journey together. We celebrate the unique value of every person and recognize our need of one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
Please note that the relationship between the non-disabled and the disabled is not that of caretaker to those being taken care of. Instead, it\u2019s that of shared lives and journeys. For that to happen, the nondisabled must believe that the disabled have something to offer in return.<\/p>\n
What is that \u201csomething?\u201d A fuller understanding of what it means to be human.<\/p>\n
Historically, Vanier tells us, \u201cthe value of human beings resided so often in their qualities of strength, of competence, of efficiency and of knowledge … It was power and competence that defined the identity of someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obviously, \u201cpeople with intellectual disabilities are not able to assume important roles of power and of efficacy.\u201d So their identity and value comes from something else. What Vanier and L\u2019Arche have discovered is the intellectually disabled are \u201cessentially people of the heart. When they meet others they do not have a hidden agenda for power or for success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, we\u2019re all called to be \u201cpeople of the heart.\u201d As Vanier puts it, \u201cAt the heart of who you are, you\u2019re someone also crying out, \u2018Does somebody love me?\u2019 not just for what I can do, but for who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
The intellectually-disabled don\u2019t pretend otherwise. That\u2019s their gift to us. They remind us that the Kingdom does not belong to the powerful and efficacious \u2014 it belongs, as Jesus told us, to those who are like little children \u2014 vulnerable, dependent, and open to the gifts that God has in store for those who don\u2019t pretend otherwise.<\/p>\n
L\u2019Arche is, to borrow a phrase from Luke\u2019s gospel, a \u201csign of contradiction.\u201d It\u2019s a reminder that the world is oh-so-very-wrong about the source of human dignity and worth. It\u2019s a reminder that when God intervened decisively in human history, he took on our frailty, not our pretense to omnipotence.<\/p>\n
After watching Vanier talk about what it means to be human, Rod Dreher described Vanier as \u201cluminous\u201d and added, \u201cI don\u2019t know that I\u2019ve ever seen anyone who looks so sure of himself, but also so vulnerable, so open, so humble, so illimitably kind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanier would tell us that it\u2019s a function of the company he keeps, Jesus and his very special and beautifully human brethren.<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
Copyright (c) 2015 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. “BreakPoint” is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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