From the fairy godmother’s pumpkin coach to Herr Drossel-meyer’s nutcracker, godparents have long been associated with good gifts. In The Character of Virtue theologian and ethicist Stanley Hauerwas offers his real-life godson something far more precious than toys or trinkets—the gift of hard-won wisdom on life and the process of maturing.

In each of fourteen letters—sent on the occasion of Laurence Wells’s baptism and every year thereafter—Hauerwas contem­plates a specific virtue and its meaning for a child growing year by year in the Christian faith. Writing on kindness, courage, humility, joy, and more, Hauerwas distills centuries of religious thinking and decades of self-reflection into heartfelt personal epistles packed with wit and punch. 

An introduction by Samuel Wells—Laurence’s father and Hauer­was’s friend—tells the story behind these letters and offers sage insight into what a godparent is and can be.