We Need One Another

By Brian Smith

To live fully, grow in freedom and bring life to others, a human being needs another person who recognizes her as unique, and who will encourage her to grow and to become herself. Without this, she will close in on herself, become defensive, or seek to prove herself. In order to develop their full potential, human beings need a milieu of communion, trust and friendship. Sometimes the kind of communion and friendship which awaken the human heart are to be found in the most unexpected surroundings: In prisons or psychiatric hospitals, among beggars or street children and women who have fallen victim to prostitution. Amongst those who are poor and broken, there can sometimes be a beautiful solidarity of love.

- Jean Vanier, Our Journey Home, p. 147