Former house assistant at L’Arche Tahoma Hope in Tacoma, Washington, 2004-2005

The story of Noah’s Ark is about a group of people and animals who gathered together to share lives while it rained outside every day for 40 days and nights. After these creatures packed into the ark, they watched helplessly as the water came up and washed away their homes, villages, and forests.

This can be a reality experienced by people in L’Arche. When people enter the L’Arche community for the first time, they experience fear as they watch their familiar surroundings or expectations wash away.

When I came to L’Arche as a Jesuit Volunteer, I felt confident in my ability to survive on a boat with other disabled people. I had, after all, learned to pilot my own boat as a deaf person in a hearing world. I was encouraged by society to be independent and self-reliant by mainstreaming in hearing schools and taking speech therapy. I learned to avoid those situations, such as large groups of hearing people, which made me weak and vulnerable, or in other words, “rocked my boat.” I felt inadequate or incompetent at times simply because I was not able to do everything to fit in the hearing world. My family and friends blessed me with the support and encouragement to make it as far as I did.

The people and animals on Noah’s ark were very different from each other but the one thing they did all share in common was their faith in God. God would nourish and protect them in spite of the high seas. God asked me to put my faith in him when I entered the L’Arche community.

I gave up control over my small boat gradually and put my trust in God. My weaknesses as a deaf person and a wounded human turned out to be strengths for the community because it drew us together as we worked to keep the boat steady. In those situations where I could not understand other people, L’Arche gave me patience and support. In those situations where I could not love enough, L’Arche filled the empty space in my heart. In those situations where I could not be strong, L’Arche gave me the strength to go on.

At L’Arche, we are called to trust God, even if that means having to watch our surroundings wash away or having to put up with the rocking back and forth of the boat. There are times in community life where we do not know where our homes are, who we are, or when the rain is going to come to an end. We wonder why we signed up for what was supposed to be a relaxing cruise when it feels more like a fishing boat caught in an Alaskan storm. As we struggle and work together to keep the ark upright, we learn not only about our own weaknesses, but also about how those weaknesses can become strengths for the community.