Jean Vanier’s Essential Narratives A genogram by Robert Mundle robertmundle.com At age 13 Vanier told his father that he was going off to join the Royal Navy. ~ His father’s response? “I trust you.” His inspiration for founding L’Arche in 1964? ~ Fr. Thomas Phillipe, his spiritual father. Vanier’s “essential vocation in life”? ~ “To discover who I am and what Jesus wants of me.” Rarely mentioned are Vanier’s mother and siblings. Trust Inspiration L'Arche, an international organization which creates communities where people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them share life together, live and work, recognize one another’s unique value and gifts. Son of Georges Vanier Canadian Governor General (1959-1967) Devout RC: “My essential vocation in life is to discover who I am and what Jesus wants of me.” If you were to sum up your life in a single sentence, what would you say your “essential vocation” is? “I trust you.” "I went to a small community founded by Fr. Thomas near Paris. His presence changed my life -- or rather orientated my life in a new way. I knew very quickly that I was called to become his disciple, or spiritual son.“ Genograms are not the same as genealogies / family trees: Rather they represent a narrative “snapshot” portraying our “story” as it is derived from our basic biographical data Jean Vanier