Antonia

“There are three activities that are absolutely vital in the creation of community. The first is eating together around the same table. The second is praying together. And the third is celebrating together.”
― Stanley Hauerwas, Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness

“Transformation has to do with the way the walls separating us from others and from our deepest self begin to disappear. Between all of us fragile human beings stand walls built on loneliness and the absence of God, walls built on fear fear that becomes depression or a compulsion to prove that we are special.”
― Stanley Hauerwas, Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness

“Do not let the possibilities of laughter pass you by. Become lighter hearted; let go of too serious a vein. Laughter costs nothing, and can make others as well as yourself feel relaxed, feel companionable, feel good. To feel good is of more value than a room full of expensive possessions. “The more we lose the power to live,” writes Ivan Illich, “the greater we depend upon the goods we acquire.” The power to live exuberantly is inherent in a light-hearted touch which doesn’t take everything, however serious, too seriously.”
― John Lane, Timeless Simplicity: Creative Living in a Consumer Society

“Our joy is the simple willingness to live with the assurance of God’s redemption. … joy is the disposition that comes from our readiness always to be surprised; or put even more strongly, joy is the disposition that comes from our realization that we can trust in surprises for the sustaining of our lives.”
― Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer In Christian Ethics