I typically enjoy any occasion to share a poem I’ve written, though this one is certainly bittersweet. This is to honour another Grandfather who’s gone ahead to glory, and to serve as evidence of what life can look like as in faithful service to the Author of life.

“He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist.”

Acts 17:25-28

He was all crinkly-eyed grins, 
Hearty laughs streaming down cheeks, 
Even when breaking things in. 

“Praise God anyway!” decorated his lips, 
His hands held high, ever-offered to Jesus. 
He lived tightly, safely in His Saviour’s grip.

That faith slathered him with spiritual sight, 
And though his pupils were muddy from Earth, 
His heart was set somewhere much more bright. 

Y’know, he had an eye for engines galore;
He would hold a project up to his light, squint 
After peering close, and mutter, “What’s the score?” 

He tinkered, patched, and experimented, 
Clad in his grease-adorned coveralls; 
He fixed and toiled, unrelented. 

With blueberry-stained fingers, he loved.
With a warm, firm grip and words to match, 
He made others feel ever so belov’d. 

So faithfully he moved and breathed Jesus, 
Even on days the reflection he saw
Felt creaky and crusty and then some thus.

Even so, in the manner of a captain, 
He’d say, “Let’s pray,” before anchors went aweigh. 
Before any road trips or goodbyes happened, 
Alec had to pray to send you on your way. 

Now, that’s a legacy charted and sailed, 
Rushing to life within us, his descendants; 
This happens when you seek Him who’s unveiled.

Passionately sharing the truths I’ve learned
Is an attitude Grandpa helped impart.
Like riding a bike, in my brain it’s burned. 

 ……..

That guy, he was made for heaven, 
As we all are, I know he’d say, 
Though he knew it more keenly, I reckon. 

His heart thudded with a simple, yet strong beat, 
That even right now, matches Jesus’ perfectly.
Taking that to my heart, though, is bittersweet. 

I saw him off at the station, 
And knew God gave him his ticket.
I know, come my own emigration, 
He’ll be one I meet in spirit. 

Until then, we will gladly rejoice with Grandpa; 
Each Sunday morning, we’ll sing in the same choir. 
Together, we give him our own joyous hurrah, 
Honouring him for what he was: a magnifier. 

May 26th, 2021