here is love

i think easter in the northeast (or any cold place) is that much weightier. it comes at a time where it can still be cold or a time when life is bursting anew from the earth. the resident of colder climes welcomes (even yearns for) any sign that the weather is turning for the warmer. we eagerly watch for the crocuses and robins. much attention is paid to every budding tree. it's almost as if every citizen wants to scream out "You are my joy!" but most of them don't know whom to praise for the annual rebirth. so easter comes. some notice and others do not.

i did my usual sunny sunday walk this morning to grab some coffee and a bagel. the time gives me space to think, pray, and observe my neighborhood. the sun was bright, the trees budding with crayola 'spring green', growing flower stems reaching for the sky, and the breeze blowing cold to remind us all it's not quite summer. more people than usual were dressed in their best. neighbors next door honored an elderly neighbor with an easter lily. the resurrection is present in each of those moments. my prayer for today is to be thankful and grateful for rebirth, but remember the stinging breeze points to the cost of that rebirth.
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Here is love, vast as the ocean
Lovingkindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout Heav'n's eternal days

On the mount of crucifixion
Fountains opened deep and wide
Through the floodgates of God's mercy
Flowed a vast a gracious tide
Grace and love, like mighty rivers
Poured incessant from above
And Heav'n's peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love

Chorus:
No love is higher, no love is wider
No love is deeper, no love is truer
No love is higher, no love is wider
No love is like Your love, o Lord