Last Sunday was Ascension Day in the Church Calendar. I love the calendar, it keeps us on track. This morning I read a great poem from A. S. Worsley about the Ascension:
The Ascension of Christ
By A. S. Worsley
Nothing now is left to do.
All the labour is gone through.
Christ has bought us with his blood,
Proved the work and found it good,
Sealed and writ with iron pen,
The unutterable Amen.
Only by a chosen few
Who believe his promise true,
Eat his bread and drink his cup,
He is seen as he goes up,
Till the cloud, which waiting lies,
Veils him from their yearning eyes.
On the pure lips, before he passed,
Words of blessing were the last.
His receding hands, outspread,
Pour redemption on their head,
But the cloud comes in between,
And the Form is no more seen.
Spake beside them in their sight
Two men robed in shining white –
Why in wonder thus do ye
Gaze, O men of Galilee?
Go now, nor from the work refrain,
Till your Christ shall come again.
Then into the world they fare,
And his love goes with them there.
To life’s daily tasks they turn,
And his secret Presence learn,
While they do his gracious will,
All is good and nothing ill.
***
Now let us new comfort draw
From the vision that they saw,
And ourselves example take
From the words those angels spake,
Nor from the good work refrain,
Till our Christ shall come again.
Shortened from Worsley’s poem (3 stanzas omitted). Minor updates.
Posted on the Sunday after Ascension Day, May 28 2017 in the Year of Our Lord