The beauty of the Lord

Though he was in the form of God, … [he] emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. (Philippians 2:6a,7a)

I’ve kept a curled, yellow news clipping on my desk for years. It’s an obituary for Kenneth Ignatius Neff. I never met him and know nothing more about him than what his obit says.

He had been a monk in Iowa but left the monastery to start his own monastic community in Illinois. Moving to Palestine, Texas, he lived as a hermit for 18 years, before pouring himself into volunteer work to protect children, abused women and hospital patients. He also worked in a crisis center and taught prison inmates in a rehab program.

He requested no funeral service, wanting only to be remembered as having ‘lived a simple life of reflection, prayer and service.’

I don’t wonder about his motives. They’re obvious. His heart was totally given, surrendered to the high and holy purpose of loving the world the way Christ Jesus loves the world.

I remember weeping when my eyes first fell upon his contented smile in the photo that accompanied his obit. It was like looking into the face of Jesus and feeling the love that you always wanted … and always wanted to be.

David L. Miller