To be courageous is to stay close to the way we are made

Above: L'Arche Saint John community members pose for photo at our 20th anniversary celebration, marking two decades of shared life in the community.

“To be courageous is to seat our feelings deeply in the body and in the world: to live up to and into the necessities of relationships that often already exist, with things we find we already care deeply about: with a person, a future, a possibility in society, or with an unknown that begs us on and always has begged us on. To be courageous is to stay close to the way we are made.” - David Whyte

To be courageous is to stay close to the way we are made.

This quote from David Whyte has been sitting with me lately. It is a reminder and an invitation to listen, intently, to the inner voice of wisdom within each one of us. This is no easy task in our busy, noisy world with urgency calling our attention everywhere we turn – yet this is all the more reason to. 

Staying close to who we are is not about retreating inward, resistance to inner change or self-assertion. Rather, it is a deepening, and from that deepening comes a generosity of spirit to invite others to do the same. 

It asks us to make room at the table. It becomes a call to inclusion. 

At L’Arche Saint John, core members teach us this every day. Their authenticity invites authenticity. When someone is free to express ranges of delight, frustration and tenderness without pretending, it’s an invitation to each of us to drop the worldly facade and enter deeper into relationship. 

This is the courage we practice together. It is definitely a practice – full of trying and falling short and trying again. But in that practice is a commitment to a core belief: there is room for all of us. 

As we launch into a new year of possibilities, challenges and distractions – and especially as we witness atrocities in the news across the world – may we remember: there is room for all of us. 

Thank you for demonstrating this in ways big in small, with your continued friendship and support of L’Arche Saint John. 

With gratitude,

Rachel Vander Vennen
Community Leader & Executive Director