From The Hauerwas Reader
Is there a particular point in people's lives when they decide to accept or reject the Christian story?
I resist the notion that conversion is a sudden change at a particular point in one's life. Now, people clearly have had overwhelming religious experiences of which I stand in awe. But conversion is the name for the lifelong process of discovering that one's life has been constituted by a good God in ways one could never have imagined. Read Saint Teresa of Avila; Teresa never had any sudden conversion. She was just born knowing God and knowing that God knew her.
If find these comments to be inspiring. That is, filled with a sense of the working of the Holy Spirit that is beyond any box in which we might want to put the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God, hovers over creation as in the beginning of time and the Spirit continues to transform all things each day. Therefore, today I am invited to step beyond what was and enter what is taking shape as the Spirit blows life into this day. Over the many years I have been in the ordained ministry and the many years I have been a Christian, the Story of God For Us keeps knocking me off my horse and pulling me into a new view of the glorious reign of God. What I see today is much different from what once was. The constant in all these years....has been the God who keeps calling me and inviting me to trust what God has done and is doing and already has completed out at the end of all things.
Connection: When asked about your conversion...the when and the where...simply say....God keeps opening up my eyes and ears so that I can keep seeing and hearing all things through the promise of life in Christ, Jesus.
God your faithfulness has been the power for new life when we enter times in which we cannot see how we will make it through to the other end. Knowing that you will be with us is a fountain of hope and encouragement. Lift us up and inspire us to trust in you alone. Amen.
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