Living Gently in a Violent World

I'm not sure anymore how I got the book, but it was on one of my piles at the office or at home and I decided to read it, knowing expectations were appropriate when the authors names are Jean Vanier and Stanley Hauerwas. What made me curious however, was the fact that these two names were on the same book cover.

I love the book. It points in a direction which is for a good part opposite of current Christian corporate culture.

Jean Vanier's simplicity and honesty; his ease with and attention to basics in life, laughter, crazyness, people who are labelled as disabled yet are beautiful in their capacity to laugh, love, cry, be angry or celebrate.

Stanley Hauerwas' writing is somewhat more complex - he's a theologian. Marked strongly by John Howard Yoder's thinking and challenges, Hauerwas has a capacity and passion to challenge the church and that's good.

A quote by Vanier that struck me: "I'm not interested in doing a good job. I'm interested in an ecclesial vision for community..."

Living Gently in a Violent World; The Prophetic Witness of Weakness; Stanley Hauerwas & Jean Vanier; IVP Books, Downer's Grove, IL 2008