Born: July 5, 1818, Dunmow, Essex, England.
Died: May 9, 1871, Camden Town, Middlesex, England. His last words: Now I am going to begin to live.
Buried: Abney Park Cemetery, London, England.
Thomas was the son of surgeon John Burke Lynch.
A minister, he served pastorates at Highgate, Mortimer Street, Grafton Street, and Fitzroy Square, London (1849–56). He was then incapacitated by illness for three years.
But starting in 1860, and for the rest of his life, he served on Gower Street and in Hampstead Road, London.
I have looked above me,
Saying as I stood,
Shall I ever love Thee
Even as I would?
Hands together clasping
Prayer to Thee I urge;
Like a swimmer gasping
In the ocean surge.
I for love endeavor
As for breath of life;
Must I seek it ever
With a painful strife?
I on waves of thinking
Foothold cannot keep;
Downward I am sinking,
Over me they sweep.
Lord, Thou art above me,
Silent and serene;
Surely I could love Thee
If I once had seen
Christ as Savior ready
Fearful hearts to save;
Giving footsteps steady
Even on the wave.
Is He coming near me?
Will He by me stand?
Will He speak and cheer me,
Take me by the hand?
May the humble-minded
See Him on His way,
Though the proud are blinded
By the fretful spray?
O, if I but know Thee
In Thy human form;
O, if Thou but show me
Jesus in the storm;
Perils never counting,
In love’s air I’ll breathe;
Hugest doubts surmounting,
Though they cry and seethe.
Thomas Toke Lynch
The Rivulet, 1868