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By Root 535 0

It was a great adventure to let alcohol go and trust that happiness could exist without it. Now, on the other side, I see how our friendship strengthened me. I now know that joy is what happens when we “let go.” Joy is indeed our true, natural state. And like everything, joy is a gift.

Since it is impossible for me to put into words what our companionship has meant, I will simply say thank you!

Your friend,

Paul

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

John Irving’s brilliant novel A Prayer for Owen Meany contains this first-page line: “I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.” If there be any brilliance in these pages, I must write a similar line: I am a writer because of:

Rick Christian, my agent at Alive Communications, has been a patient prodder to “finish the story.” Dan Rich, Don Pape, and the entire creative team at David C Cook have amazed me with the acquisition of, continued faith in, and bringing to completion of these pages. Ken Gire’s initial interview sessions were essential help in completing this memoir.

Paul Sheldon, Fil Anderson, Ed and Hillery Moise, and Roslyn graciously stirred up memories of the furiously flawed good times and have loved me like I didn’t deserve. The Notorious men, who know who they are, have made me a better sinner.

And my friend John.

Me with my friend John Blase

“There are many reasons why I delayed writing this book, one of them being that I wrestled with why anyone would want to read a book about my life. I recently asked my friend (and cowriter) John this very question, and his reply was ‘Brennan, you trust that the crumb of grace will fall.’ I smiled because that line is from one of my favorite books—The Diary of a Country Priest. After more than seventy years of walking on this earth and a good forty of those spent as a vagabond evangelist, I can truly say yes, that is my claim. It’s not that I hold that belief so much as that belief holds me.”

Brennan Manning has spent the past forty years helping others experience the reality of God’s love and grace. It’s at the heart of everything he’s written and done. A recovering alcoholic and former Franciscan priest, he has walked a spiritual journey that has taken him down a variety of paths. He has taught seminarians, spoken to packed arenas, lived in a cave while laboring with the poor in Spain, and ministered to shrimpers in Alabama. Brennan is best known as the author of the contemporary classics The Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba’s Child, Ruthless Trust, The Importance of Being Foolish, Patched Together, and The Furious Longing of God.

Table of Contents

Cover

Endorsements

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Foreword

Reader Testimonies

Epigraph

A Word Before

Introduction

Part 1-Richard

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Part 2-Brennan

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Part 3-Me

18

19

20

A Word After

Poem

Photo Gallery

Letters

Letters-1

Letters-2

Letters-3

Letters-4

Letters-5

Letters-6

Letters-7

Acknowledgments

Extras