I simply cannot get over what a surprising and wonderful life God has given me. Stanley Hauerwas More Quotes by Stanley Hauerwas More Quotes From Stanley Hauerwas The church is constituted as a new people who have been gathered from the nations to remind the world that we are in fact one people. Gathering, therefore, is an eschatological act as it is the foretaste of the unity of the communion of the saints. Stanley Hauerwas unity church people Advent is patience it's how God has made us a people of promise, in a world of impatience. Stanley Hauerwas people promise world A social order bent on producing wealth as an end in itself cannot avoid the creation of a people whose souls are superficial and whose daily life is captured by sentimentalities. They will ask questions like “why does a good God let bad things happen to good people ” such people cannot imagine that a people once existed who produced and sang the psalms. If we learn to say “God ” we will do so with the prayer “My God my God why have you forsaken me? Stanley Hauerwas prayer order people If I were a person who was non-American, I would think humanitarian intervention is just another name for United States imperialism. Stanley Hauerwas united-states names thinking The narratives of Scripture were not meant to describe our world ... but to change the world, including the one in which we now live. Stanley Hauerwas scripture our-world narrative I fear that much of the Christianity that surrounds us assumes our task is to save appearances by protecting God from Job-like anguish. But if God is the God of Jesus Christ, then God does not need our protection. What God demands is not protection, but truth. Stanley Hauerwas doe jobs jesus Christians know that Christianity is simply extended training in dying early. That is what we have always been about. Stanley Hauerwas training dying christian Gentleness is given to those who have learned that God will not have his kingdom triumph through the violence of the world, for such a triumph came through the meekness of a cross. Stanley Hauerwas triumph kingdoms world [W]e must first experience the kingdom if we are even to know what kind of freedom and what kind of equality we should desire. Christian freedom lies in service, Christian equality is equality before God, and neither can be achieved through the coercive efforts of liberal idealists who would transform the world into their image. Stanley Hauerwas effort christian lying From my perspective, 'postmodernism' merely names an interesting set of developments in the social order that is based on the presumption that God does not matter. Stanley Hauerwas names order interesting We complain of the increased tempo of our lives, but our frenetic lives are just reflection of the economic system that we have created. Stanley Hauerwas economic reflection complaining From the perspective of the one committing suicide, his or her act can be one of the most perverse forms of moral manipulation, as it abandons those left behind to their shame, guilt, and grief. Suicide is something like a metaphysical "I gotcha!" It is often an attempt to kill or wound others. Stanley Hauerwas perspective grief suicide In the Crusades, getting the Holy Land back was the goal, and any means could be used to achieve it. World War II was a crusade. The firebombing of Tokyo by Doolittle and the carpet bombing in Germany, especially by the British, showed that. Stanley Hauerwas land war mean The movement that Jesus begins is constituted by people who believe that they have all the time in the world, made possible by God’s patience, to challenge the world’s impatient violence by cross and resurrection. Stanley Hauerwas believe people jesus My father was a better bricklayer than I am a theologian. I am still in too much of a hurry. But if the work I have done in theology is of any use, it is because of what I learned on the job, that is, you can lay only one brick at a time. Stanley Hauerwas use jobs father I am a Congregationalist with Catholic sensibilities. Which probably explains how I ended up in a Episcopal church. Stanley Hauerwas sensibility catholic church To come to terms with our beginning requires a truthful story to acquire the skills to live in gratitude rather than resentment for the gift of life. Stanley Hauerwas gratitude thanksgiving skills Saints cannot exist without a community Stanley Hauerwas saint community Our hope in life beyond death is a hope made possible, not by some general sentimental belief in life after death, but by our participation in the life of Christ. Stanley Hauerwas sentimental belief christ I am often criticized, or at least questions are raised, about what appears to be the absence of the Holy Spirit in my work. Stanley Hauerwas holy spirit absence