Recently, I found out that a man that I greatly admire and respect has passed away. His name was John Oden, and he was one of the most kind and faithful men of God I have ever known.

He was a steady stalwart and a friendly face at Room in the Inn for around 20 years. His was the face you could always trust and everything about him reflected Jesus to everyone he ever met.

I found this old Wordsworth poem that seems appropriate for the occasion:

“And O ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves,  
Forebode not any severing of our loves!  
Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might;  
I only have relinquish’d one delight  
To live beneath your more habitual sway.  
I love the brooks which down their channels fret,  
Even more than when I tripp’d lightly as they;  
The innocent brightness of a new-born Day  
Is lovely yet;  
The clouds that gather round the setting sun  
Do take a sober colouring from an eye  
That hath kept watch o’er man’s mortality;  
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.  
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,  
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,  
To me the meanest flower that blows can give  
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears” (William Wordsworth).