On The Journey Towards Hope

Recently, I saw the Denys Arcand film Barbarian Invasions, which won the Oscar for best foreign film in 2003. I won't give away the plot, but the film reminded me that each one of us, as we contemplate our own end, has a hope that our life had meaning, that we made a difference in our world and in the lives of others. This is a fundamental, human hope, nurtured by God.
Arcand's films confront the human condition and the sometimes painful, sometimes crazy or crass reality in which we find ourselves as human beings. In the midst of that reality, he seems to say that God can be found.
I live in a L'Arche community, and sometimes I reflect on the hope that L'Arche people who live with serious disabilities seem to find in their lives. What does someone hope for who cannot do anything for themselves? Henri Nouwen used to speak of the peace he received from being with Adam, a man who could do nothing for himself. It seems to me that many L'Arche men and women have arrived early at wisdom, perhaps even because of having relatively few choices in life: they seem to intuit that in loving relationships where they are simply present to another person they can give life, and that their lives assume meaning and can even be transformative for those who take the time to enter into the relationship.

- Beth Porter