Sunday, November 28, 2010

How Do You Handle Hauerwas?


Over the weekend I consumed Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir, by Stanley Hauerwas. Stanley is a Duke Divinity School professor/theologian who was, a few years ago, honored by Time magazine as the most influential theologian in the world. Well, okay. Or, as Stanley might say, "big ******** deal!"

I say I "consumed" this book because, once I began reading it, I could scarcely put it down. The memoir reads like a novel, but much of the book dealt with years when I was a Div. School student at Duke (although I was oblivious to the "political" and social circles described by Dr. Hauerwas) and not a few of my contemporaries, including some I count as colleagues and friends, are mentioned throughout.

It's an odd thing, really . . . to read a theologian's memoir. But Stanley pulls it off quite well in his down-to-earth approach and his colorful sailor language. In short, he's my kind of guy and cannot be cloned.

To be sure, there are others noted in the history that probably remember the events and details of the Notre Dame and Duke years in quite a different way, but Dr. Hauerwas pulls no punches in his reflections on people, living and dead, and what they have meant to him. His family history offers a peek into his own pain and hardships.

Reading this memoir has helped me to see that I have nothing in my life worth remembering, and that, although I am a Duke Divinity graduate, I am far more boring than interesting. I need to do more theology. I need to use more four-letter words (or study up on George Carlin). I need to write more books . . . a lot more books!

Or, perhaps, I need a better picture of myself standing in front of Duke chapel. (Perhaps on a sunny day with my shirt off?)

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