Dear Reader,

In a world that pulls our gaze downward—toward glittering distractions, fading treasures, and passing shadows—I offer these lines as a quiet invitation to look higher. May this sonnet stir your heart to fix its deepest affections where they truly belong: upon Christ, who sits enthroned above, and upon the eternal realities that outshine every earthly glory. Let these words be a compass when the dust of daily life threatens to cloud your vision.

With prayer and poetic affection,

The Poet

Colossians 3:2

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

(King James Version)

Set not thy gaze upon the dust that gleams

In fleeting gold beneath the sinking sun,

Nor chase the moth-winged dreams that burst in seams

Of smoke and shadow when the chase is done.

Lift up thy heart where crystal rivers wind

Through fields of living light no eye hath seen,

Where crowns of amethyst and sapphire shine

On brows that death’s cold fingers never glean.

There, thrones of sapphire flame and seraphs’ wings

Beat hymns that shake the everlasting hills;

Here, earthly anchors rust and siren-sings

Fade like spent embers on forsaken sills.

O fix thy compass on the heights above—

Where Christ is seated, there alone is love.