But Darkness Did Not Overcome It

Recently, the feed in my YouTube channel brought up a podcast on the revelations regarding the actions of Jean Vanier who founded the L’Arche communities for developmentally challenged people.  A report released in 2020 into allegations of sexual abuse by Vanier and Thomas Philippe, a Catholic priest who was Vanier’s spiritual mentor concluded:

The key finding in the report: That Vanier’s founding story about the creation of L’Arche was false. Vanier often said he started L’Arche in response to hearing a “cry” from God and seeing the inhumane conditions prevalent in mental institutions. In reality, the creation of L’Arche provided a means for Vanier to reconstitute a sect Philippe had led earlier but that had been broken up by the Catholic Church.

This news sent shockwaves through the religious and spiritual world and shocked the countless number of people who held Vanier to be a modern saint.  Vanier’s impact has been and continues to be almost immeasurable on those who have been positively impacted by the many L’Arche communities in so many countries and by the writing in the prolific books by Vanier.  Fortunately, one positive aspect of the terrible situation was that the report concluded that the abuse by Vanier and Philippe, “did not involve any of the members or residents that the organization served there or elsewhere.”  They involved vulnerable adults who came under the influence of the specter of holiness enabled by the L’Arche communities. 

I was introduced to the work of L’Arche communities during my theological studies at Huron University College.  I was blessed with the opportunity to experience the wonderful work that is done there when I was able one reading week to live with the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario.  The life of that community and their wonderful acceptance and upholding of all the members of the community as well as the respect and support for each member has left a lasting impression on me.  In revisiting the exploration of the tragedy, I wanted to see if I could better understand how someone who seemed to be so saintly could be what can only be described as evil at his essence.

I decided to reread one of the books by Jean Vanier which I had on the shelf in my office - Becoming Human.  I reread the book with the awareness of the revelations of the actions of Vanier and the realization he had founded L’Arche as a means to carry out his perverted theology which, “Vanier and Phillipe were fully committed to a spiritual deviance that they fully believed in themselves.” 

I have very mixed emotions rereading Becoming Human.  I found Vanier to be very insightful in understanding the need for love, need for community, and the need for security that is at the heart of human existence.  Vanier shows this in statements such as, “We do not discover who we are, we do not reach true humanness, in a solitary state; we discover it through mutual dependency, in weakness, in learning through belonging.”  Statements confirm that Vanier had a deep understanding of the human condition, “To be human is to be bonded together, each with our weaknesses and strengths, because we need each other.”

Vanier was able to use this knowledge and insight to prey on that very weakness to accomplish his wicked and perverted goals.  The paradox of Vanier is that, in founding L’Arche he has been the source of great goodness for so many and at the same time, he caused great suffering to the victims of Vanier and Phillip’s evil actions. 

All this is a huge red flag warning about placing individuals on saintly pedestals that can cloud the need for discernment and safeguards by institutions and individuals in how and who we place our trust.  The L’Arche organization set an example for how such revelations should be handled once they come to light.  L’Arche funded the investigation in the actions of Vanier and Phillippe and were open and transparent about the findings. 

One small but significant question that is raised for me is what should I do with the book in my possession and what should become of the many copies of the works Vanier has authored?  Should they be destroyed?  Book burning is not a great idea under any circumstance that I can imagine.  There is great truth and even wisdom in what Vanier has written.  Unfortunately, it was not reflected in who Vanier was.  Perhaps there should be a warning label pasted in every copy.  I will include a copy of this edition of my blog within the covers of my book. 

Let this be a cautionary tail for us on our journey.  

Jean Vanier: Fallen Saint

There are those moments when you always remember when you hear the news.  The first one that I remember is the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  I was being driven home from school by my brother.    There was also the first moon landing.  I was listening to the radio in bed laid low by some bug or other.  I’m sure you all have your own memorable moments in your life.

I experienced another moment which I am sure will be added to that category on Saturday.  I picked up a copy of the Saturday Globe and Mail as is my routine.  There at the top of the front page was the headline: Jean Vanier Implicated in sexual abuse of women.  The founder of the L’Arche movement with the saintly appearance and life and work came crashing down to earth from that very high pedestal which the world had placed him.  I read the account of this tragic fall to earth and the devastating effect that Jean Vanier’s action had on women under his spiritual influence.  It was an account which literally brought tears to my eyes. 

My personal connection and introduction to L’Arche happened when I sent a reading week in my theological studies at Huron University College.  I was invited to spend the time in residence at L’Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill, Ontario.  My time there was a memorable one in which I had to opportunity to live and worship with the core members of the community and the staff.  I was and am profoundly moved by a place where all are people are treated as deserving of respect and are given the opportunity to live lives in which their humanity is fully recognized and lived out as fully as possible.

The profound good that was evident in that community has been multiplied many times over in the many L’Arche communities in many different countries.  The profound good that was begun and carried on by Jean Vanier in his writing and public speaking was acknowledged in many awards and honours including the Order of Canada and the naming of public buildings and general recognition and acclaim that was given by so many different sources, secular and religious. 

And yet, here we have the other, darker side of that person revealed in devastating detail.  We can only wonder how a man who did such good in the world that benefited so many also do the terrible acts which caused such harm?

This is a case which is more than someone believing the honours that were given him.  Here is someone who attained saint-like status in the world and was tempted to believe that he was a saint and consequently could do no wrong.  He is reported to have said, “But Jesus and myself, this is not two, but we are one.”   There is the implication that Jean Vanier was led astray by a “spiritual father “, Pere Thomas Phillippe.  Jean Vanier has died so he is no longer ale to give his account of events so we have to depend on the conclusions of the independent report commissioned by the L’Arche Foundation.

To look at what led to this most unfortunate situation we can see a man who became identified with God in the person of Jesus Christ.  In Jungian terms his ego became undifferentiated from the Image of God, the Self which is part of everyone.    It is a case in which the person believes that God is in service of the person and not the person in service of God.  When this happens, the consequences can be devastating as it was and is in this case.

The reality of who Jean Vanier apparently was should not take away from the great good that was begun by him and continues in the many L’Arche communities.  However, it is also a warning that when we place someone on a pedestal, we may find that it is too high for the person to remained grounded in the world as a child of God. 

Blessing on your journey. 

Sermon July 31, 2016 10th Sunday after Trinity

What a bunch of losers!  I hope that didn’t shock you too much.  It may have gotten your attention but it probably didn’t make you more open to my message this morning.  Perhaps I was channeling Donald Trump on his show The Apprentice.  Well you’re not fired.  Let me put it a different way that may work better.  Congratulations you are all losers.  Did that work any better?  Well let me try again.  Congratulations you are all human—we are all human.  We are God’s greatest creation, created in the image of God. 

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God the Father.  Do you know what that means?  He is fully divine and fully human.  The church tends to down play the human part of that formula.  They qualify his humanity.  He may have been fully human but he was without sin.  Given that, it is surprizing that he was baptized by John in the Jordan who was baptizing for the forgiveness of sin. 

Jesus was fully human.  In that he had all the attributes of a human being.  He must have had all the emotions and feelings that humans experience.  I really appreciate the parts of scripture that give us a glimpse into that aspect of Jesus.  Today’s Gospel is one of those accounts.  The Gospel passage begins with Jesus weeping over Jerusalem.  That is a truly human reaction. 

Jesus is foretelling the coming destruction which will befall this beautiful city that he has been travelling to ever since his public ministry began.  I was fortunate to participate with fellow clergy from the Diocese of Huron on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land about ten years ago.  When we arrived in Jerusalem we participated in a ceremony for pilgrims who arrive at that Holiest of cities and given bread and wine. 

We were told of a Jewish saying about Jerusalem, ‘God gave ten portions of beauty to the earth.  Nine of them were given to Jerusalem’.  Jerusalem is a truly beautiful city and wonderful in many ways.  It is a very human reaction to weep over its coming destruction.

The Gospel passage ends with Jesus casting out the money changers from the Temple.  He could see that the House of God had become den of thieves.  Again this is a very human reaction.  It does seem go against what he had taught—turning the other cheek; loving your enemy; doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.  But here he has a very human reaction.  Apparently he is overwhelmed with righteous anger and takes action to cast out those who are desecrating this holy place.

So what does it mean then to be human if Jesus is fully human? It means most of all for me that I am not perfect.  I certainly at times wish that I was and for many years I had a desire to be perfect.  When I made mistakes I did not wat to admit it to myself much less to others. I found it humiliating if that mistake became known to others.  Indeed as hard as I try I still find it hard sometimes to admit I made a mistake or I was wrong—especially on things that truly matter to me—things that are essential to my self-image. 

However, being human does mean that we are not perfect.  We will make mistakes.  As we confess in our service, “we confess our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed”.  It does not say any sins that we might have committed; It say those we have committed.  It is part of our human condition.

We are going to make mistakes.  We are going to be losers.  That is our human condition, thank God.  I thank God because it is through our mistakes—our sins—those things which we do and do not do which separate us from God that we will learn to be more fully the people that God intends us to be.  We learn much more from our mistakes than from our successes. 

Richard Rohr speaks of this very aptly:

The only perfection available to us humans is the ability to include and forgive our imperfection. But the ego doesn't want to believe that. The ego doesn't want to surrender to its inherent brokenness and poverty. Yet the truth is, realizing your imperfection is the beginning of freedom and grace. There is such freedom in no longer pretending to be something we're not.

So I say to you again, congratulations, we are all losers.  We do not want to admit our humanness—our imperfection but that is what we are called to do as Christian.  We are followers of Jesus Christ who was fully human.  He showed us what it means to be human.  Jesus was by the world standards a loser who died a horrible death on the cross with his closest followers betraying him, denying him and abandoning him. 

I will close with a quote from Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche communities for the mentally challenged:

I will tell you a true story, he said.  “A young man with disabilities wanted to win the 100-metre race. And he got to the finals.  And he was running like crazy to get that gold medal, and somebody in the next lane tripped and fell.  And he stopped, picked this guy up, and they ran together, and both of them were last”.

“That’s a true story,” Mr. Vanier confirmed.  It’s the deepest lesson the disabled have to teach.  “It’s not that they can become like us—but how can we become like them and have fun together.  And lift up the chap who has fallen on the other lane, and come in last.  There’s in us all an ego we have to conquer.  You kill the ego so that the real person may rise up.  And the real person is the one who’s learning to love.”

That is what it means to be losers in the eyes of the world.  It is where Jesus calls us where we are called to lose in seeking to follow Christ.  We are called to the place where we will learn to love one another as he loves us. 

We can follow him as best we can, knowing that we will stumble and fall at times—we will fall into sin.  Thank God we can pick ourselves up; we can repent and turn around and attempt to follow Jesus as our Saviour and Redeemer.  Thanks be to God.  

Meeting the "Other"

My sermon on July 31st yesterday focused on what it means to be fully human.  For me it means that we are not perfect; we are going to make mistakes; we are going to fall into sin.  I started out by calling everyone losers.  I think that got their attention and it may not have made them as receptive to my message but I think I redeemed myself and made the point that as Christians we are followers of someone who the world viewed as a loser.  Jesus was by the world standards a loser who died a horrible death on the cross with his closest followers betraying him, denying him and abandoning him. 

I won’t repeat much of my sermon here—a copy is posted if you would like to read it.  However, I want to repeat a quote from Jean Vanier the founder of the L’Arche communities: 

I will tell you a true story, he said.  “A young man with disabilities wanted to win the 100-metre race. And he got to the finals.  And he was running like crazy to get that gold medal, and somebody in the next lane tripped and fell.  And he stopped, picked this guy up, and they ran together, and both of them were last”.

“That’s a true story,” Mr. Vanier confirmed.  It’s the deepest lesson the disabled have to teach.  “It’s not that they can become like us—but how can we become like them and have fun together.  And lift up the chap who has fallen on the other lane, and come in last.  There’s in us all an ego we have to conquer.  You kill the ego so that the real person may rise up.  And the real person is the one who’s learning to love.”

I want to reflect further on the on the “other” in our society—those people who are inconvenient and embarrassing and who many if not most people believe society would be better off without.  A Facts and Argument column in last Friday’s Globe and Mail written by Ann Auld,  the mother of a Down’s syndrome child spoke eloquently about the joys and challenges she had experienced.  She expressed the fear that in the future science will make her experience and people like her children extinct, “Of the numerous lessons I have learned the one I never figured out is that I would be raising an endangered species.”  She ended the article eloquently with the poignant expression of the joys and challenges, “Within a few moments, she will break my heart and patch it back up again.”

Lorna and I also watched on our antiquated VHS player and 20” portable TV, I Am Sam starring Sean Penn.  It is a poignant and moving story of a mentally challenged man who fights to raise his “normal” intelligent daughter.  It is not idealistic or sentimental or fantasy like Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks.  It does not sugar coat the realities of the disabled in this world.  It does have a Hollywood happy ending but it is definitely worthwhile watching.

These experiences encouraged me to reflect on the reality of the “other” in God’s world.  I do not know what I would have done if I had been faced with the choice of bringing a disabled child into the world.  Ann Auld notes that she does not know what she would have done if amniocentesis had been available to her, “would I have continued the pregnancy knowing what was to come.”  She believes that she also, “contributed to the notion that being different is somehow wrong, not okay, not acceptable.”

How then do I react and respond and relate to the “others” in this world—those who are different and do not fit the idea and ideal of being normal or above normal?  How do I keep aware of my prejudices towards many “others” in this world?  There are many more questions than answers about who the “others” are and what God’s plan is.  However, the bottom line is “It’s not that they can become like us, but how can we become like them and have fun together” and live as God intends us to—in relationship.   Blessings