An End and a New Beginning

By Daphne Dahl

"Everything that has a beginning also has an end. Make peace with that, and everything will be fine."

This quote crossed my path a few days after December 21, 2024. On that beautiful Saturday, we came together to honor and celebrate the old and the new. More than 80 people gathered in the hall of the Fraterhuis on the Westerhelling. Many familiar faces, but also new friends.

Voices of brothers, staff, and guests could be heard. Their words still resonate pleasantly within me. Below is an impression.

All who found their way to this place shared the same quest, searching for meaning, whether connected to a church or not, religious or not: What does it mean to be human? How do I serve life?

Everyone felt welcome here, the brothers hospitable to anyone. That the above saying comes from Buddhism is therefore not surprising. It was always about the experience first, the attentive presence. The values were more important than the church.

Now, I may be writing in the past tense, but the mission to help young people in their search for a meaningful life does not end; it only changes form. The house (fraterhuis) is being sold, but we share its soul—one that is not for sale.

On this December 21, the shortest day of the year with the longest night ahead, one might have mistaken the closing of the House of Stillness as a retreat place and the transfer of the villa (fraterhuis) as something that would bring darkness. However, anyone who has been touched by the light on the Leerhuis Westerhelling carries it within them; it lives on in every guest and is never lost.

The richness of being a seeker, we take with us. That is how we find our way to ourselves. And this richness, we can both receive and pass on, especially by listening well. When you truly listen to another, you help that person listen to themselves.

Let Champagnat, who pursued his calling against all odds, be a source of inspiration. Let us live as a response, for that is what the world needs.

And know: you may be who you are—that is always enough.