“Communities are truly communities when they are open to others, when they remain vulnerable and humble; when the members are growing in love, in compassion, in humility. Communities cease to be such when members close in upon themselves with the certitude that they alone have wisdom and truth and expect everyone to be like them and learn from them…In community, people let down barriers; appearances and masks disappear. But this is not easy. Many people have built up their personalities precisely by hiding their wounded hearts behind the barriers of independence and of the attitude, ‘I know, you don’t’. They are highly active and their activity is based on a need to assert, to succeed, to control, to do projects and to be recognized. Others have constructed around their hearts a mask of depression, or of timidity or submission to others; they do not dare allow their true person to rise up inside them.”
Jean Vanier, author of Community and Growth
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment