Check out this story about a man named Dominique. He lived his life with no concern of its usefulness. He had complete faith and confidence that his life would have meaning and purpose, and it would flow directly from his personal relationship with Christ. This confidence allowed him to live his life accepting others for who they are, not who they should've become. Lord, guide me into becoming more like Dominique. More like Jesus.
"Dominique Voillaume has influenced my life as few people ever have. He learned at age fifty-four that he was dying of an inoperable cancer. With the community's permission he moved to a poor neighborhood in Paris and took a job as night watchman at a factory. Returning home every morning at 8:00 a.m., he would go directly to a little park across the street from where he lived and sit down on a wooden bench. Hanging around the park where marginal people- drifters, winos, "has-beens," dirty old men who ogled the girls passing by.
Dominique never criticized, scolded, or reprimanded them. He laughed, told stories, shared his candy, accepted them just as they were. From living so long out of the inner sanctuary, he gave off a peace, a serene sense of self and hospitality of heart that caused cynical young men and defeated old men to gravitate towards him like bacon toward eggs. His simple witness lay in accepting others as they were without questions and allowing them to make themselves at home in his heart. Dominique was the most nonjudgmental person I have ever known. He loved with the heart of Jesus.
One day, when the ragtag group of rejects asked him to talk about himself, he gave them a thumbnail description of his life. Then he told them with quiet conviction that God loved them tenderly and stubbornly, that Jesus had come for rejects and outcasts just like themselves. His witness was credible because the Word was enfleshed on his bones. Soon after, the dirty jokes, vulgar language, and leering at women just stopped.
One morning, Dominique failed to appear at the park bench. The men grew concerned. Few hours later, he was found dead on his apartment floor. He died in the obscurity of a Parisian slum.
Dominique never tried to impress anybody, never wondered if his life was useful or his witness meaningful. He never felt he had to do something great for God. He did keep a journal. His last entry was one of the most astonishing things I've ever read:
'All that is not the love of God has no meaning for me. I can truthfully say that I have no interest in anything but the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. If God wants it to, my life WILL be useful through my word and witness. If He wants it to, my life WILL bear fruit through my prayers and sacrifice. But the usefulness of my life is His concern, not mine. It would be indecent of me to worry about that.'
In Dominique Voillaume I saw the reality of a life lived entirely for God and others. After an all night prayer vigil by his friends, he was buried in an unadorned pine box in the backyard of an old church. A simple wooden cross over his grave that read, 'a witness to Jesus Christ' said it all. More than seven thousand people gathered from all over Europe to attend his funeral."
"A life of love lived unpretentiously for others flowing out of a life lived for God is the imitation of Christ and the only authentic discipleship. A life of service through unglamorous, unpublicized works of mercy is a life marked by the signature of Jesus."
Quotes by: Brennan Manning, "The Signature of Jesus"
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