I was asked by several vestry members back in late 2005, while I had been the interim rector for only several months whether I would consider being the Rector here at All Saints. That proposition given this diocese’s tradition was unorthodox especially since the bishop had said that when I became the interim that I could not be in the selection process of finding the new Rector. In that meeting I’ll never forget Jamie Praytor saying to the bishop, “now bishop we’ll just have to keep an open mind about that, won’t we.” The vestry and I decided that rather than have a formal search process, we would just wait a year and trust that we would know whether I belonged here or not. The vestry could evaluate my work, and at the same time Katharine and I had time to evaluate whether this was the place for us, both at All Saints and Mobile.
There were many considerations that went into our thought processes, and one among them was All Saints’ relationship with L’Arche Mobile, an organization that takes care of mentally disabled people in the context of residential community. People living in community who otherwise would be institutionalized. L’Arche’s origins were in the Catholic Church, and now it is a worldwide ecumenical organization whose sole mission is to allow the so-called least of us to live in dignity, as part of the family of God. The residents of the L’Arche communities, as they are able participate in preparing meals, cleaning their rooms, all the things we able minded people do, to the extent of their capabilities. The several houses they live in are in walking distance from All Saints.
Many of you know that we provide office and meeting space for L’Arche in our buildings. We don’t so much interact or outwardly collaborate with them on a daily basis, but still there is an intimacy in our relationship. It is as if the Spirit among our coming and going with special intention binds us in some mysterious way. Mary and I from time to time celebrate the Eucharist for them. We have buried some of their dead in our garden. We provide from time to time spiritual direction for the staff, who sometimes find themselves under great pressure. I am speaking to them at a luncheon today hence this reflection. L’Arche is a messy and stressful enterprise, like life itself except more visibly heightened and amplified.
What I have learned from the L’Arche community is that in our quest to seek and know God; it is God who finds us, God who does the finding, when we are most vulnerable, when we find ourselves on life’s periphery; it is as if through the fissures of our broken hearts God’s love flows in and fills us with a renewed sense of belonging, a powerful sense of being loved. That is the dynamic of the L’Arche community. They have their inevitable family fights, but for them there are no secrets, everything above board, in your face, and sometimes that’s hard to look at. But God in God’s grace enters the fissures of vulnerability, the cracks of our brokenness and fills us with love that is real and reconciling. Notice the love with which the L’Arche staff attend to the residents, and notice the love the residents have for their care givers. It is truly a model for all of us. That we live for each other, utterly open to the vulnerability that lies within us and within our neighbor. Don’t worry about the cracks in our hearts and souls acquired over this life. There’s no sense in pretending they’re not there. Own them and know that God will find them and fill them with love brimful.
