Jim Elliot once said, “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
Life has a way of giving and blessing us with amazing and precious gifts. Every day is a treasure unfolding. A glimpse of the sun rising welcomes us to another day to live, to love and to explore the wonders of a world teaming with God’s presence. The day begins with a gentle whisper of God’s invitation to embrace the moment. For once it’s gone, it will never come again.
As the sun rises, the routine and noise from the pursuit of more often overtakes the holy appeal, exchanged to chase the temporary, swapping our birthright for plunder. But God’s voice still summons yet for those who choose to hear – and follow.
Those who hear are few, and those who hear and rally others are fewer still. They walk among us as if they can see what we have forgotten and hear the music from a far distant land. They are gifts, given by God to awaken our soul to the eternal.
Kennan Burch is one of those. Although gone from us, he is now far more alive than we know.
Kennan is one in a million. When others drain, Kennan fills. When others beat you down, Kennan picks you up. When others race towards having, Kennan points towards being. A being found in gentleness, kindness, joyfulness, peace-loving, patience, loving and true.
The grace of Jesus meanders through the life and words of a man who loved dreams. Those dreams, a deposit of God in the souls of man, became his rallying cry. For Kennan, the pursuit of God-sized dreams is a call on every man and woman – to know the dreams God has dreamed for us and to run for those shores. Dreams abandoned, lost, and misplaced would find their way home through the eyes of a man selflessly dedicated to championing the waterfall of grace.
Let there be…
Kennan is one in a million. His love for God would translate into a life given to others. God would deposit an ember of hope into the hearts of men who walked with
Kennan and learned to dream again. Learned to hope again. Learned to hear and see visions of a life filled with the grace of God.
Kennan could see that the universe and all creation is the grand symphony of God. The wonder and majesty of God’s glory on full display. To delight in God and be captured in breathless awe is the heartbeat of Kennan. To point the way and guide the applause of man toward the King was Kennan’s dream.
Let there be…
The roaring flow of the waterfall of grace was a constant in Kennan’s life. He loved deeply. His highest call as a Husband and Father would bring His highest joy. His children knew the steadfast devotion of a faithful man of God. His wife knew a devoted companion who gave tirelessly, loved generously, and remained true to his word.
Kennan is one in a million. It is such a man who God sometimes summons home.
Just over the rise, there’s something far greater. Far better than any can think or imagine. The sounds of a kingdom where joy is eternal and pain is banished. The shores of a distant land, made for us, sometimes calls to us.
As his body began to fade, the dream builder could hear the symphony rise and beckon him home.
A waterfall of peace.
A waterfall of wonder.
The waterfall of the domain of the living God.
And the last leg of Kennan’s journey would have a companion. One who he knew well. A voice that commanded the universe into existence and calmed the sea.
Jesus.
As Kennan made that final journey just over the rise, the grand dream builder himself would usher him home. The beauty and awe of a place beyond comparison came into view. And what a welcome he would have as Jesus said…
“Let there be…”
As dreams go…this dream will never end. For the dream was a vision, and this vision lives on in the hearts of all who pursue the waterfall of grace.
For it is Jesus! In Jesus and through Jesus! He alone is the dream builder. And one day soon, we’ll join Kennan in the song of the eternal glory of God!
Thank you Kennan!
Thank you Jesus!
Until we see you again on those distant shores.
Let there be…
