LANDON SAUNDERS

Landon Saunders (1937-2023) was a minister and teacher. He was an early influence in my life and many others. He was a local minister to several churches and traveled extensively with his message. He is probably best known for fifty years of radio broadcasting of the gospel. As one person recently commented about him: “One of the main reasons his messages resonated with everyone was that they sensed he was authentic. There was no deception; everyone sensed that he was credible. You sensed that what he said was what he lived. He not only spoke the message, he lived the message.”

He characterized the connection between joy and human flourishing that had guided his life’s work: “Joy is love’s great ally! Joy holds no condemnation, judgment or fragility. Joy provides the atmosphere in which love grows, stays healthy and endures. Joy surrounds love, paves the way to love, evens out the bumps along the way to love. Joy steps in when love is strained; it keeps us balanced when anticipated love comes up short. In the presence of that joy, love is at its best.”

He also said: “I have made joy the default setting of my heart. No matter what happens, no matter my failure, no matter my loss, no matter my sadness, no matter the disease that now weakens my body, my heart returns to joy. Joy has room for all our disappointments, grief, tragedies, depression and fears.”

In 2023, Abilene Christian University established the Landon Saunders Center for Joy and Human Flourishing, an academic center described as dedicated to “preserving his legacy and forwarding his vision to develop generations who will learn how best to live as human beings.’ Thanks, Landon Saunders.

“I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.” Jesus