ENCOUNTERING 'THE OTHER'

In this timely book, Jean Vanier provides a spiritual roadmap toward peace and understanding among people from different religious, ethnic, cultural, and economic backgrounds; with diverse gifts and disabilities. For Vanier the whole question of peacemaking is centered on trust. He points out that peace cannot be imposed by politicians or churches, to endure it must grow within each person. Therefore, Vanier urges that we come together to encounter, explore, and celebrate our differences. He shows that what we encounter we come to know and, thereby, understand. And when we understand healing; peace can truly follow. Our society can only be healed when each person in it is healed. And that healing comes not from avoidance or separation, but from encountering. The fundamental principle of peace is a belief that each person is important. For Vanier, "the glory of human beings is not the power to control someone else; the glory of human beings is his ability to let what is deepest within us grow."