The health of any society is reflected in the vibrancy and depth of its artistic expression. For this issue we asked acclaimed Canadian author David Adams Richards to reflect on his experience as a writer. Richards emphasizes that great literature springs from what is authentically the writer’s own, unrelated to intellectual or social fads. And it ultimately will convey something about the nature of love and human life itself. As well, the much-read spiritual writer Henri Nouwen reflects on teaching van Gogh and being led, with his students, into the depths of the soul. The selection from Sandra Bryant Miller may challenge us to embrace what we think is a healthy tension between excellence and the democratic impulse to accept all creative expression, regardless of artistic merit. In L’Arche, we seek to foster inclusion in all that we do, and we also believe that it is honouring to empower individuals to produce work of the highest quality, whether this work is a performance, a liturgy, or a woven tablecloth or hand-crafted candle.