Wondering while Wandering…
…an artist’s limp toward finding ‘Radiance Through the Rain’
‘May the Rain of Suffering Soften Our Hearts,
Seeping Radiance to Our Thirsty Places.’
J. Douglas Thompson© 2023
Tim Keller left us his indelible mark-making. That is, through sculpting words to both his New York audiences but also the broader world, he presented the truth of Christianity as thoughtful, intellectually satisfying, well-reasoned sketches and full-out masterpieces within the context of his vast resumes of oratorial and written work. He often presented both sides of any given argument and asked us the listener or reader to engage with our minds and then based on good evidence, choose rationally the most reasoned conclusion to apply to our personal lives.
#ThankYouTimKeller
I have also linked to a couple of secular editorials by the New Yorker and the Atlantic below as to what the broader culture said about him and his ministry both in New York but to many of us over many online platforms.
His life seems short, as I am presently one year his senior as I write these words. In fact it is short but his will be very long as the years pass, as both his deep, and far reaching selection of books and lectures will carry on to future generations.
I also, personally attach today my poem, ‘Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go’ (obviously title stolen from an earlier era) as maybe a simple response to him and his ministry to me personally as he was a pointer to Jesus, the Word and the light that enhances all of his creation.
Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go
Oh love that will not let me go
Will not betray
Unlike the fray
But always stay
A light, a ray
Of warmth that soothes me
Where I lay
In desperate need
All of my day
and so
With gratitude
I yield
And do include
My body, soul
and
Interlude
Of spirits joy
To do
Your will
Of planting seed
Where er is need
Despite the path of pain
I leave to you the loss or gain
Of sunlit days or long grey rain.
And yes, the mist, the rain
That falls
On distant hills
And from them calls
Me wander to
And through its rills
Yes, shivered chills
Yet altogether thrills
And pleasure fills
My heart
To find your place
Of wonder and of space
That deep declares
Your heart to mine
Of natures call
A wonders sign
A pointer
To make full aware
Direct and through
Can’t help but stare
That in it find
Your face so kind
Which begs me meet
With you the source
The Word
Yes, full, concrete
Throughout
Creations course.
Tis here in grey and valley’s sod
The place I trod
Where mind does prod
The deeper paths
Where darkness fills
My leaden breast
You show to me
Beyond the crest
A nod
A glimpse of light
And with it sight
That ray
That all will be
Yes fully right
When all is said and finally done
Because that power, so great with might
The darkness will be overcome
And this old world will be once more
A brand new sight
That lasts forevermore.
J. Douglas Thompson
Copyright 2023
- https://www.newyorker.com/news/postscript/the-far-seeing-faith-of-tim-keller
- https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/tim-keller-pastor-obituary/674124/