He Has Risen

Look,
a radiant Light shines forth
from behind the dark Cloud.

See,
the Cloud is breaking,
its darkness fading.

Watch,
the Light is expanding,
its radiance increasing.

Behold,
The Light of Resurrection
once for all conquers
The Cloud of Death!

Rejoice!
He has risen!  

Love

Love

LORD JESUS,

Give me to love thee, to embrace thee,
though I once took lust and sin in my arms.
Thou didst love me before I loved thee,
an enemy, a sinner, a loathsome worm.
Thou didst own me when I disclaimed myself;
Thou doest love me as a son,
and weep over me as over Jerusalem.
Love brought thee from heaven to earth,
from earth to the cross,
from the cross to the grave.
Love caused thee to be
weary, hungry, tempted,
scorned, scourged,
buffeted, spat upon,
crucified, and pierced.
Love led thee to bow thy head in death.
My salvation is the point where
perfect created love
and the most perfect uncreated love
meet together;
for thou dost welcome me,
not like Joseph and his brother,
loving and sorrowing, but loving and rejoicing.
This love is not intermittent, cold, changeable;
it does not cease to abate for all my enmity.

Holiness is a spark from thy love
kindled to a flame in my heart by thy Spirit,
and so it ever turns to the place
from which it comes.
Let me see thy love everywhere,
not only in the cross,
but in the fellowship of believers
and in the world around me.
When I feel the warmth of the sun
may I praise thee who art the Sun of righteousness
with healing power.
When I feel the tender rain
may I think of the gospel showers
that water my soul.
When I walk by the river side
may I praise thee for that stream that makes
the eternal city glad, and washes white my robes
that I may have the right to the tree of life.
Thy infinite love is a mystery of mysteries,
and my eternal rest lies
in the eternal enjoyment of it.

—From The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions