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Ti-Françoise - L'Arche Carrefour |
You have to see her, happy as a fish in water. The first musical notes have barely been struck; the first voices have just begun to be heard, and a smile has taken up residence between her chin and her nose, joining up, among other things, her ears, and parallel to her eyes the colour of candy. Out of the simplicity of purity, offered as it must be by the most lovely, smiling Françoise that I know. The most striking element of this image of Ti-Françoise (“Little” Françoise) at Mass is this gentle, calm way she has of listening to what is going on around her, at the very moment it is happening – of being in the moment.
How often each day do we live in our heads rather than in the reality of the moment? We are at Mass, and we’re thinking about work. We’re at work, and we’re thinking about our vacation. On holiday, we fear the end of the pleasure. We eat and think about the dishes, then we do the dishes and think about our next meal.
One of the gifts (I say “one” of them, for there are many) of people affected by intellectual disabilities is to lead us inexorably toward the present moment, which can be so sweet. What is more, living in the present moment is truly the heart of "joie de vivre" - the zest for life that permits us not only to appreciate life but to respond more effectively to its crises. (Do you understand this, you big shots out there?) When we see what is in front of us, when we hear about the real needs, we react more appropriately to a catastrophe.
I believe it in the depths of my guts - people “lacking” in intelligence call out of our beings a new humanity, which helps Francoise’s heart grow the way a sunflower does in the sun, and which builds more just societies, in the North as in the South.
| Our life, like dust of the universe Lived the wrong way round in this place Where our right to life Becomes king Without which we might believe ourselves only just Greater than the just men What are we, when there is no longer a “here”? |
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Yes
Certainly
Sometimes good news is disguised as bad,
And
Bad news is disguised as good ...
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Road Trip
Nancy told me something with her eyes today, while I was admiring the countryside of her country, as we sat in the car that was taking us to Chantal.
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“To be generous, loving, real – it isn’t about giving what we have, it’s about giving what we are.” |
This was a magical road trip – Marie-Pier, Nancy, and me. The women will visit the Chantal community and its new residents. For the simple pleasure of sharing a meal, a prayer, a workbench, a snippet of the community life that we have lived, so truly and fully, for so many years, at L’Arche.
You should have seen us, with our M & Ms and our pink Tampico soft drink, flavoured with the sugar of the Antilles. Children happy as a pope in front of ultimate Truth. Hair blowing in the wind, smiles on our lips, sporting sunglasses, we hummed the chorus of the theme song of the great Creator – what joy!
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Marie-Pier took the wheel - my feet, needing some air, rested comfortably on the windowsill. Sometimes, the call to live freely comes to us, so we take to the road and head off for parts unknown. The whole community was ready to welcome us with arms open wide and supper already hot ...
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