Ascension Day

“God has gone up
with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of
a trumpet;” Psalm 47:5

so you simply slip away,
not with a holy fanfare
or 76 trombones played by angels.
after all, it is not farewell,
but grace slipped into
the pockets of our hearts.
you are not escaping,
but filling our emptiness
with promise and possibilities.
so, let us not lose ourselves
staring into space
but look around to see you
still rising –
in neighbors, in us, in me.
there in the least likely places,
where justice is on the move,
where grace is baking cookies,
where kindness plays with kids,
where peace refuses to stop ringing
even in its bell gets cracked,
where love is always louder
than all the voices of hate.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman