Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Chris Mitchell tributes

I've now written a slightly more formal tribute to Chris Mitchell, which has just been posted at the Wheaton College site. Here's the link. The entries are arranged alphabetically (after the first two, by Wheaton College's president and by Chris's predecessor as Director of the Wade, Lyle Dorsett), so just scroll down to find my contribution.

http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/News-and-Events/Christopher%20Mitchell/Tributes

Having read through these, I'm struck with how many of them make the same points: a good indicator that Chris was the same with people he met and fell into conversation with, not different men in different contexts.  Oddly enough, I think it was Warnie Lewis, as quoted by Diana Pavlac Glyer, who really captured the moment. Writing about the sudden death of Charles Williams, Warnie put it like this:


“Well, goodbye, see you on Tuesday Charles” one says
 — and you have in fact though you don't know it, 
said goodbye forever. He passes up the lamplit street, 
and passes out of your life forever. And so vanishes 
one of the best and nicest men it has ever been 
my good fortune to meet. May God receive him 
into His everlasting happiness.’



--John R.

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