Ascension Art and Reflection

He is gone, above the sun ascended,

His body risen to beyond our eyes,

Our years together on earth have ended,

We look with longing out on empty skies.

To baptize disciples of all nations,

Preaching his word to strange and hostile lands,

To rise against our old hesitations,

To be our Saviour’s pair of earthly hands.

We shall not be lonely, the Spirit nears,

Breathing love through us to be passed on,

The past confusion as debris clears,

Building up Christ’s body now he has gone.

Though our hearts may tremble and tears deceive,

We must let go in order to receive.

—© Christopher Villiers, 2015

This sonnet for Ascension comes from the collection Sonnets from the Spirit, Hope and Life Press, 2015.

Bonnie Van Voorst works towards creating abstract art that is accessible, through composition, color, and shared visual language—to tell a story, to make people pause and think for a while, to peel back a layer of truth. See her paintings at bonnievanvoorst.com.

Christopher Villiers is a British theologian and freelance writer who has written about religious matters for a wide variety of publications, both academic and popular. He holds the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Theology from Durham University, United Kingdom, with a specialization in the history of Christian doctrine. You can follow Christopher’s poetry at bit.ly/385a9n9.