(DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
By: Luca Badetti, Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies Program
How to believe in ourselves and the other? To believe means to trust. "I Believe in You" is about trusting who we really are, learning to relate to ourselves and others beyond masks and projections.
The book, grounded in stories from L'Arche communities in which people with and without intellectual disabilities live inclusively, brings together psychological and spiritual insights for anyone who wants to live authentically.
What’s the most surprising thing you learned while writing this book?
(Image courtesy of New City Press)
Although it may seem like an oxymoron, I learned something I already knew: how much transformation can happen when we encounter ourselves and others, particularly those at the margins. This is not something only learned once, but is a reality that can be continuously learned and experienced throughout life, becoming an ever "new" discovery.
What inspired you to write this book?
My community experience with people who have intellectual disabilities. For years I have been involved with L'Arche, interfaith communities of shared life between people with and without disabilities, which promote human transformation through inclusive belonging.
The title of the book was inspired by a friend with Down syndrome, who is an outgoing, cheerful and spiritual woman. As I was talking to her after a community event about faith and belief in God, looking for a word of wisdom, she looked at me directly from behind her glasses and, before I finished my sentence, repeated to me twice with a profound tone: “I believe in you. I believe in you.”
What does it mean to believe in who we are and in others? That's the question I focus on in this book.
About the author:
Luca Badetti teaches in DePaul's Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies program. He is a doctor in disability studies, with degrees in clinical psychology and theology, and has been a fellow in psychoanalysis. He has been involved with L'Arche communities internationally, including as community consultant at L'Arche Chicago. Through his work, he promotes personal wholeness and social transformation through the encounter with disability.
Publisher, publication date, length:
New City Press, November 2018, 114 pages
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