“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10
It seems to me helpful to begin today with a reminder of why we are here. About ten days ago, a tragic accident took the life of a beloved son, brother, uncle, and friend. The end of Keith’s life came way too soon, and way too fast.
We are not here to explain why it happened – either on a human level or on a cosmic level, although we can correct some misunderstandings.
As is often the case in events like this, some of the facts about what happened Tuesday became muddled as the story was retold. It’s not true that Keith was dangerously hopping from one third story roof to another while being chased by police. Don’t get me wrong – Keith did love pushing the edge of risk for the accompanying rush, but this was not one of those times. It was a freak accident of the variety that any one of us is at risk for every day of our lives.
On a cosmic level, we are not here to explain or defend God. It’s natural to ask the question, “Why did God let this happen?” But I need to tell you that I don’t have the answer, and that anyone who offers a trite or simplistic answer to why bad stuff happens, or a specific bad thing happened, is not thinking biblically.
There’s a whole book of the Bible called Job written to remind us that we know very little of what goes on behind the scenes in the mind and plan of God, and that human efforts at explaining the why of tragedies are generally way off base and unhelpful.
God is God and we are not. We struggle and get mad and blame and grieve, and I am so glad God is not offended by any of that. He knows the depth of our pain, he loves us, and he sends his comfort in the form of a hug or a sunrise or a casserole or an autumn blaze of glory in the maple tree or w warm memory or a word of Scripture or just the passing of time. He finds ways to let us know he’s there, but for whatever reason he does not explain why some lives are lost way too soon, and way too fast.
What we are here to do is to celebrate life, and one life in particular. Life is a gift from God. It’s a miracle. The fact that we can breathe and think and see and touch and love and laugh and believe – or choose not to – is something we all take for granted, although maybe a little less so after Keith’s death.
So what I’d like to do for the next few minutes is to change the subject from Keith’s death to his life. I’m not trying to ignore the pain of losing him. I’m trying to honor his family’s wish that today we spend most of our time and energy giving thanks for Keith Townley. His life was God’s gift to us.
Keith’s sister, Tracey, chose the Scripture text from John 10 for this service, precisely because of its emphasis on life. Jesus said, “I am come that they may have life, and may have it to the full.” More traditional Bibles translate this phrase, “I am come that they may life, and have it abundantly.” The New Living Translation says, “a rich and satisfying life.”
Keith Townley loved life, and wanted to enjoy every minute of it. So I thought it was appropriate for us to use an acrostic with the word “LIFE” to celebrate his.
L could stand for a variety of words connected to Keith – Love (obviously) or Laurinburg (where he was born and where he returned for Governor’s School), or London (where he lived and worked for four years). The “L” word I chose was Lawyer, Keith’s chosen profession.
This past June Keith wrote an e-mail to his friend, Camilla, in which he himself a “crap lawyer.” What he meant by that was that the practice of law was not his passion. In his own words, “I hated my job. The moderate excitement I got from doing something interesting at work was quickly undermined by the infinite pleasure I got from a good bit of vacation or doing something naughty.”
But the identity of a lawyer far exceeds what a person does from 9 to 5. To be a lawyer, you have to be smart, you have to be a thinker, and you have to be a good communicator. Keith was all of that and more.
He graduated from Carolina summa cum laude, with a 100.6 average. He was a Phi Beta Kappa and majored in Speech Communications. While Keith was in college, he changed his name from Horowitz to Townley. The paternal grandfather of Tracey, Keith, and Scott was born into a Townley family. But his mother died in childbirth, and it was the custom in those days to put an infant up for adoption if he didn’t have a mother to care for him. The family that adopted Bob Horowitz’ father was a non-practicing Jewish family, but he never fit in and ran away from home as a teenager. He was later reunited with his older sister, a Townley. Bob Horowitz considered changing his name to Townley but never did. Keith decided to do so as a young man to honor his biological heritage.
After Carolina, Keith was accepted into four law schools – Stanford, Georgetown, Chicago, and Harvard. He chose Harvard.
One of his missions at Harvard was to assault the sense of Yankee superiority and southern backwardness. He did so not only by his performance but by his personality. His Law School friend, Debbie, said he was “flat out one of the nicest people” she’s ever known. He was gentle and determined, and loved by his peers because he was never competitive or judgmental or harsh.
One way he made himself stand out with students and professors alike at Harvard was his to wear khaki shorts – year-round. If those Yankees thought southerners are wimps in the cold weather, he would show them up on their own frozen tundra. Professors would wager whether Keith would wear shorts on the coldest days, and whoever bet no lost. Even a Massachusetts blizzard would find Keith in his trademark orange fleece, hiking boots, and khaki shorts.
Having earned his J.D. in 2000, Keith lived and worked in San Francisco while preparing for the bar. He had expected to stay there, but the bottom fell out in the Silicon Valley after 9-11. As was often the case for Keith, at the right moment a job opened up – this one with Herbert Smith in London. Four years later he went to work for Linklaters, a global firm with offices in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Keith joined the team in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Last December, when the company wanted to transfer him to their New York office, he resigned to pursue a passion for writing a book. He stayed in Brazil, and was back in the States last week to renew his visa.
Whether or not Keith was practicing law, you never doubted he was an attorney. He thought deeply and argued passionately if he needed to make his case, sometimes embarrassing his niece, Carlie, in public places. L is for Lawyer.
I is for impulsiveness. Actually, I prefer the synonym “spontaneity,” but it doesn’t start with “I.” Keith lived in the moment and for the moment. That was what he didn’t like about practicing law - too restrictive, too regimented. Keith loved adventure, loved risk, loved a sunrise or a sunset, loved a lake, loved the mountains, loved fun, and loved parties. He and some friends once dressed up for a costume party only to arrive and find out it wasn’t really a costume party. In fact, it was a rather dull party. Keith’s remark was, “We can’t make this fun and enough,” so he and friends left and created their own party. Impulsiveness.
What happened a week ago Tuesday was that he had a chance to glimpse an uncommon view from a San Francisco rooftop. And if Keith Townley had the chance to go somewhere few people go and see something not everyone sees, and if it came up all of a sudden and he was with friends to enjoy it, there wasn’t any doubt as to what he would do. Keith loved the moment. Dangerous or not, if Keith were to choose what he would be doing when he died, it would be something impulsively fun with people he loves.
His brother-in-law David says this is the most important lesson we need to take from Keith’s life. We all need a little more spontaneity, a little more awareness that life is short and God designed it to be lived to the full. I is for impulsiveness.
F is another letter hard to narrow down. I could have chosen fun, fate, faith, or family. But none of the other words beginning with F could match “friends” for its importance in describing Keith Townley. Chubby and socially awkward as a kid, Keith discovered the joy of people as a young adult. F is for friends.
Last Saturday in San Francisco, Keith’s friends gathered to celebrate his life. Some shared their own stories of how Keith had touched their lives. Others who could not come e-mailed their thoughts. The dominant theme was Keith as friend.
Debbie: “He laughed at everyone’s jokes – you always felt like you were hilarious and entertaining and interesting when you were with him.”
Chia: “He shone with his warm, open heart and genuine interest in others.”
James: “I’m so honoured to have shared the moments I did with you, my friend.”
Boris: “To become your friend, nothing else was needed than to give unconditional love and have an open mind.”
Ami: “I think back to the first day I met you. I was a total wreck – and you had the biggest, most welcoming smile on your face and the offer of unconditional friendship.”
Tracey said the day she heard about the fall and went to the airport with Ann, she realized in the terminal as she was churning inside with anger, fear, and sadness how often people say “How are you?” and don’t really want to know. If Keith asked that question, he wanted to know.
He was a people magnet. He loved to hear and tell a story. He cherished his friends and never wanted to lose touch with them. He knew the details of their lives and made the effort to listen and follow up when others didn’t.
Family starts with F as well, and Keith was also a friend to his family. He was the surprise third child for a family that planned two. Tracey and Scott would ask their Mom for a baby brother, and she would answer, “Only from Sears.” His older siblings told him he was an alien and convinced him he was adopted.
Scott told me this week he regrets missing out on much of his brother’s life the last few years, but the memories he will cherish are the times they spent together in Wilmington and Chapel Hill. He couldn’t be prouder of Keith’s personality, education, and accomplishments.
Keith had two nephews and a niece to whom he was maybe more friend than uncle. Tracey called him a “dream uncle” – fun, generous, and carefree. The kind of uncle who gives you ice cream for breakfast and milkshakes after school. He took Flynn and his teenage friends “bar hopping” (no booze, right, Flynn?) in Charlotte. He gave Wade a limo ride for his birthday. He bought an “American Girl” bed set for Carlie. He bought the kids Play Station III the day it came out. The picture on the front of his celebration of life service program last Saturday was of Keith with Flynn, Wade, and Carlie.
F is for friends, and Keith Townley had them from Hickory to San Francisco to London to Sao Paulo.
E is for eternity. It’s an appropriate last letter for the word “life,” because life doesn’t end with our last breath on earth. Jesus Christ made it possible for us to enjoy life forever. He said, “I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved.”
I think it’s important in a service like this one to be honest. I wouldn’t want to say things about Keith’s faith that he wouldn’t say or that wouldn’t ring true to those who knew him best. Keith, like many in his generation, was turned off to what his mother called “the trappings of religion.”
But he was baptized into the church family, raised to believe, and held on to the core of that faith. Let me read to you an excerpt from an e-mail written to Keith’s family by a college friend named Joy:
Given our passionate and often intense spiritual discussions, Keith would expect me to take this opportunity to plea the case of the life-saving power of Jesus Christ….You see, when we first met, Keith was a volunteer leader with a teenage ministry called Young Life. Young Life’s mission is “to bring the good news of Jesus Christ into the lives of adolescents with an approach that is respectful of who kids are and hopeful about who they can be.” Even though our discussion of beliefs became heated at times, I’m amazed by how much Keith’s life philosophy resonated with that of Young Life. Keith respected who people were but was hopeful about who they could be as well.
This past November, Keith wrote me from Brazil and reflected on a time that sealed our connection, the college months and years when he grieved the sudden loss of his own father. He thanked me for my support during a time that he hit rock bottom — but was clear to make one caveat. He wrote: “I cannot say that you saved me, because in the recesses of my soul, I know that I would have saved myself, and if not me, God would have intervened.”
This past week, Keith could not save himself and I am trusting that, as Keith predicted, God has intervened. Yesterday, one of his friends wrote on Keith’s Facebook wall: “If there is a better place for us after we leave this world, you’re there – and you’re smiling.”
Joy goes on to speak of God’s gift of Jesus Christ, whose life (there’s our word again), death, and resurrection are the way that God has provided for seeking, restless, broken sinners to be restored to fellowship with our Creator in this life and the life to come.
Ann saw other evidences of faith in her son. She said he never saw a sunrise or sunset or waterfall without giving credit to the Creator. She asked for Psalm 19 to open this service as an expression of Keith’s love for nature. Ann said Keith told her he would often take his Bible on trips and pray about important decisions, and she has no doubts he is with the Lord.
Ann and Tracey also spoke of Keith’s generosity as an imprint of God’s character in his life. He put his Brazilian maid through school because he saw potential in her. He shared his home with a Mexican man living in London who otherwise would have been homeless. Keith made sure the man not only had a bed, but money for the Tube and for English classes.
E is for eternity, where through Jesus Christ we will enjoy the presence of the Lord and a reunion with our loved ones in Christ forever.
Lawyer, Impulsiveness, Friends, Eternity. Keith Townley was all about LIFE.
I have one closing thought. The final Scripture reading, James 4:13-17, was my suggestion. It speaks of the frailty and brevity of life. None of us should presume we have tomorrow. Keith had no idea when he was hiking last Tuesday during the day or climbing up a ladder in the evening for a spectacular view of the city that October 9 would be his last day on earth.
James says in light of life’s frailty and brevity we should take the days we have and do as much good with them as we can. To do otherwise is sin. That’s a great lesson from Keith Townley for all of us. Seize the moment. Invest life in friendships. Seek God. Do it this day. You don’t know how many you have left. Amen.