God of measured metre, rhythm
rising from the iron, soaring down the fairway
pulsing through the drill, healing places of decay
pounding the pavement, a liturgy of cadenced paces.
See here your servant, Paddy
full of life, connection, relatedness.
May you be to him all that is light
streaming into being
as dawn rolls back the night.
May all signs of your dark side
be invisible to your friend.
For enough is enough
he is long past the travails of persecution.
Be to him now more than the open door.
Be the welcoming embrace,
the love that knows no trussed up, tied down limitations.
God of measured metre, rhythm
see here your servant Paddy.
Amen
Paddy died on 27 December 2023. Over the 20 years I’ve known him our best conversations were about what we thought God was or wasn’t, with no clear conclusions. After one of those conversations, I must have written this prayer for his birthday, 15 May 2005 and found it whilst talking with Liz after Paddy’s death. If we feel anything after death, my hope is that Paddy is experiencing a welcoming embrace in the same way as he always welcomed others without judgement or expectation. RIP Paddy.
