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Sam Rauschenberg's avatar

Beautiful tribute. Thank you for reflecting and sharing.

About 6ish years ago (I struggle with the same challenge of knowing just how long ago), my wife and I were walking down a street in downtown Charleston, SC during a weekend getaway. As we passed one of the many historic mainline churches downtown--Lutheran I believe--as its evening service released. Among the first people exiting looked to be Dr. Keller and his wife, Kathy. We paused and wondered whether it was actually them or not (especially since it wasn’t a Presbyterian church) and whether we should bother them if so (it was one of those awkward, “should we say anything or just play it cool and keep walking” moment.

We decided to ask to confirm, and as soon as he turned to answer, we knew it was him. We thanked him for his ministry and shared a few sentences about how his teaching and books had influenced us. We expected a brief interaction, but he paused to thank us and then asked us questions about ourselves (where we lived, what church we were a part of, etc). We realized we both were staying at the same nearby beach, Folly, and chatted about what we both liked about it. It was almost as if he viewed even that passing interaction--while he too was on vacation--as a pastoral moment.

We returned to our evening stroll with a more humanized picture of the Kellers. And, looking back, I realize that his attending a church outside his ecclesial tradition while on vacation was emblematic of his ministry--holding firm to convictions but eschewing a tribal loyalty that prevents learning from others with differing theological convictions and cultures. I’m grateful for that example.

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Steve Wilson's avatar

"But our stories are our stories. No one has a right to silence them or force us to speak about them. In the end, the decision to share must come through an inner dialogue to determine what seems like the path of authenticity." Your mention of stories and the significance of those words is understated. Thank you for sharing yours. I too have a story around the two sons, but I'll keep my comments short this time.

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