Letters from Vanier

Scroll down for links to the Globe and Mail's published letters between Jean Vanier and Ian Brown, and articles about Vanier, as well as

information about books by Vanier in our church library.

Ian Brown is an award-winning writer, broadcaster, and book author. He has also been called a “master of personal journalism”. None of his work has been more personal than the articles published in The Globe and Mail called “The Boy in the Moon”. They are deeply honest and heart-rending stories of his son, Walker, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder that severely impairs him mentally and physically.

Jean Vanier is the well-known Canadian founder of l’Arche, an international organization of communities for the developmentally disabled. Last year, Brown met with Vanier, and then began a correspondence with him about everything from the issues he faced with his son, to fears about aging , disease and death. These letters have been published on a regular basis in The Globe and Mail. They are a touching and honest exchange. Brown freely states, “I am not religious”, and that when it comes to faith, he agrees with the English novelist E.M. Forster who said, “I dislike the stuff.” Vanier responds with comfort and warmth, and his faith, identifying in Brown a place of loneliness, while also gently asserting his beliefs (and correcting the views of E.M. Forster).

These letters do not need to be read all at once, or even in order. But they open up conflicts with which many people struggle, and provide Vanier’s words of wisdom and inspiration for all.

The links also include an article about Vanier when he was awarded the Globe’s 2008 Nation Builder of the Year as well as an editorial about his work.

• The Vanier Letters, Part I: Doing the work of the heart
• Part II: 'Your questions come, I sense, from your loneliness'
• Part III: After Morgentaler, Jean Vanier kept his Order of Canada. Why?
• http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090221.wvanier21/BNStory/National/(Vanier on death Feb. 21, 2009)
• Nation Builder, 2008: 'Vulnerability brings us together'
• Globe editorial: A great Canadian citizen of the world

To access the links, simply put your mouse over the line, then click.

In our library: The Kingsway-Lambton library has two books by Jean Vanier.

Becoming Human – Call number: 28 Van

Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus Through the Gospel of John Call number: 226.5 Van