A Far Far Greater Place

Fullness of soul, satisfying need,

A feast upon His table, true eternal creed;

Earthy cares, mere tares, amidst the

fields so white; seems full, within our grasp;

Oh, blind eyes, despair;

Lungs gasp for air; we miss the point;

All-consuming, all-devouring, like darkest

signs breach our faulty dike.

Roaming through each lonely town, fed

only by what fills our prideful gown,

Awake, arise and live upon this earth,

a life, not merely gaiety and mirth.

Look up to light that was and is

and is to come; ’tis the bread of

life, sustains against all woe and

strife. One who gave us all

— the Living Well —

descended into hell,

arose from ’neath the earth behind

the stone, rejected and alone;

He serves as Lover of us all,

gives promise, and a greater call,

A far far greater place;

This poem, “A Far Far Greater Place,” emerged when I completed a large painting of the same name that was three years in the

making. I finished the painting quite late one evening, then turned on the late movie, A Tale of Two Cities. British actor Ronald

Coleman portrayed Sidney Carton, the protagonist in the story, who sacrificed his life for someone else at the guillotine; a metaphor

for Christ’s crucifixion. His last line in the story was, “It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It is a far, far greater

place I go than I have ever been.” Hence, the title of my painting and poem.

John 15:13 “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”