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All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir QUOTES

All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir QUOTES

1 " On one level, a roomful of men is always a dangerous thing. Competition is usually in the air, so the potential for violence is always nearby. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

2 " But if I've learned anything about the world of grace, it's that failure is always a chance for a do-over. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

3 " For Foucauld and the Little Brothers, life in the desert was not a flight from the world but rather a school of love and prayer to learn to enter more deeply into humanity. Their goal was to shout the gospel not so much with their mouths as with their lives. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

4 " Drinking gave me a rush of confidence, and for a boy hounded by feelings of inadequacy, the buzz was a welcome relief. What was impossible to realize at the time was that I was shooting myself in the head in some strange time warp where the bullet takes many years to finally reach its target. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

5 " God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

6 " Do you believe that the God of Jesus loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness, beyond fidelity and infidelity—that he loves you in the morning sun and in the evening rain—that he loves you when your intellect denies it, your emotions refuse it, your whole being rejects it. Do you believe that God loves without condition or reservation and loves you this moment as you are and not as you should be. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

7 " My message, unchanged for more than fifty years, is this: God loves
you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because
nobody is as they should be. It is the message of grace…A grace
that pays the eager beaver who works all day long the same wages
as the grinning drunk who shows up at ten till five…A grace that
hikes up the robe and runs breakneck toward the prodigal reeking
of sin and wraps him up and decides to throw a party no ifs, ands,
or buts…This grace is indiscriminate compassion. It works without
asking anything of us…Grace is sufficient even though we huff and
puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot
cover. Grace is enough…Jesus is enough. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

8 " If asked whether I am finally letting God love me, just as I am, I would answer, 'No, but I'm trying. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

9 " Richard Rohr said, “If we don’t learn to transform the pain, we’ll transfer it. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

10 " This vulgar grace is indiscriminate compassion. It works without asking anything of us. It's not cheap. It's free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the Orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility. Grace is sufficient even though we huff and puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot cover. Grace is enough. He is enough. Jesus is enough.

John, the disciple Jesus loved, ended his first letter with this line: "Children, be on your guard against false gods." In other words, steer clear of any God you can comprehend. Abba will's love cannot be comprehended. I'll say it again: Abba's love cannot be comprehended. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

11 " Grace is sufficient even though we huff and puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot cover. Grace is enough. He is enough. Jesus is enough. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

12 " The Trappist monk Thomas Keating once said, “The cross Jesus asked you to carry is yourself. It’s all the pain inflicted on you in your past and all the pain you’ve inflicted on others.” I believe that’s true. My cross suddenly "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

13 " it is better to live naked in truth than clothed in fantasy. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

14 " One of my realizations in such an earthy atmosphere was that many of the burning theological issues in the church were neither burning nor theological. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

15 " A Word Before All Is Grace was written in a certain frame of mind—that of a ragamuffin. Therefore, This book is by the one who thought he’d be farther along by now, but he’s not. It is by the inmate who promised the parole board he’d be good, but he wasn’t. It is by the dim-eyed who showed the path to others but kept losing his way. It is by the wet-brained who believed if a little wine is good for the stomach, then a lot is great. It is by the liar, tramp, and thief; otherwise known as the priest, speaker, and author. It is by the disciple whose cheese slid off his cracker so many times he said “to hell with cheese ’n’ crackers.” It is by the young at heart but old of bone who is led these days in a way he’d rather not go. But, This book is also for the gentle ones who’ve lived among wolves. It is for those who’ve broken free of collar to romp in fields of love and marriage and divorce. It is for those who mourn, who’ve been mourning most of their lives, yet they hang on to shall be comforted. It is for those who’ve dreamed of entertaining angels but found instead a few friends of great price. It is for the younger and elder prodigals who’ve come to their senses again, and again, and again, and again. It is for those who strain at pious piffle because they’ve been swallowed by Mercy itself. This book is for myself and those who have been around the block enough times that we dare to whisper the ragamuffin’s rumor— all is grace. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

16 " Shame--what happened when my mother, the dragon, huffed and puffed and blew my self down. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

17 " All that is not the love of God has no meaning for me. I can truthfully say that I have no interest in anything but the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. If God wants it to, my life will be useful through my word and witness. If He wants it to, my life will bear fruit through my prayers and sacrifices. But the usefulness of my life is His concern, not mine. It would be indecent of me to worry about that. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

18 " Those were days of learning the reality behind the phrase I’ve often used, “ruthless trust.” It’s something easy to say but much harder to live. But I have learned in my life that grace often gestates, like an unborn child. And when the expectant mother grabs the hospital-prepared suitcase and screams, “Let’s go!” then you’d better go. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

19 " If you asked me whether what I have done in my life defines my life, I would answer, "No." That's not to diminish my sins or humble-bumble my successes. It is simply to affirm a grace often realized only in the winter of life. The winter is stark but also comforting. I am, and have always been, more than the sum of my deeds. Thank God.

If asked whether I have fulfilled my calling as an evangelist, I would answer, "No." That answer is not guilt-ridden or shame-faced. It is to witness to a larger truth, again more clearly seen in my later days. My calling is, and always has been, to a life filled with family and friends and alcohol and Jesus and Roslyn and notoriously good sinners.

If asked whether I am going gently into old age, I would answer, "No." That's just plain honest. It is true that when you are old, you are often led where you would rather not go. In a wisdom that some days I admit feels foolish, God has ordained the later days of our lives to look shockingly similar to that of our earliest: as dependent children.

If asked whether I am finally letting God love me, just as I am, I would answer, "No, but I'm trying. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir

20 " A trusting heart is forgiven and, in turn, forgives. "

― Brennan Manning , All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir