“He drew a circle and shut me out – Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout;

Love and I had the wit to win – We drew a circle that took him in.”

~Edwin Markham

I have remembered my long-time dear friend and former Pastor [now Pastor Emeritus], Hershael York, quoting this little poem before in his sermons, relating it to his father, Wallace York. And then, in a recent conversation, he referenced it again.

I asked Hershael, when he had the time, to please jot down the lines of the poem and send it to me.

So, he sent me this snapshot of the poem Wallace had hand-written in one of the Bibles he used.

I enjoyed a decades-long close friendship and ministry partnership with Wallace also – and we shared between us a sweet symbiotic bonding and fellowship of our spirits. Wallace embodied the sweetness of this brotherly love expressed in the poem. He was a true ‘Barnabas,’ peacemaker, ‘man of peace’ – while, at the same time, tenaciously holding onto his own doctrinal convictions.

I, too, embrace the sentiment of the poem, and treasure this hand-written reminder of my friend’s exemplary testimony.