This sonnet is for Ascension Thursday and Ascension Sunday.

The sonnet is based on Acts 1:11: “and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Why leave us below after rising, rise?
Why fly away with so much undone?
Speechless with sadness, we stare at the sky
Answers blurred by our tears as clouds, the sun.

Ascending up into heaven he takes,
Our embodied resurrection into
Unlocking the door to the Ancient of Days,
The Treasure to whom all treasure is due.

Though our Lord is now by clouds hidden
He hides us in him that nothing separate
Neither rust, nor thief, even death unbidden
May remove him from us, alienate.
And more, if he goes he will at last send
The Counselor, Fire, the Living Wind.

© Randy Edwards 2017.
This poem is for Christ’s church. If it is helpful, please feel free to copy or reprint in church bulletins, read aloud, or repost. I only ask that an attribution be cited to myself (Randall Edwards) and this blog (backwardmutters.com). Thanks.
artwork: James Tissot  (1836–1902), The Ascension; between 1886 and 1894; opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper