Lilies

Every year, they put them at the foot of the cross,

Pot after pot,

Some blooming,

Some buds not yet opened.

Every year, they put them at the foot of the cross,

Pure and white,

These symbols of new life -

New life.

They put them at the foot of the cross.

As I bend down,

Sit on the floor beneath the wood,

Lay down to get the lens beneath the petals,

I wonder -

These symbols for new life?

Maybe they're at the foot of the cross

Because that's where life is.

Reasons 3522-3698 today,

Because this is where life is,

Because He is life -

Because He is.

Counting:

3522. He has founded His city (Psalm 87:1)
3523. He has founded His city on the holy mountain (Psalm 87:1)
3524. He loves the gates of Zion (Psalm 87:2)
3525. He loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob (Psalm 87:2)
3526. Glorious things are said of His city (Psalm 87:3)
3527. He Himself will establish Zion (Psalm 87:5)
3528. He will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” (Psalm 87:6)
3529. He is the God who saves His people (Psalm 87:1)
3530. He puts people in the lowest pit (Psalm 88:6)
3531. He puts people in the darkest depths (Psalm 88:6)
3532. His wrath lies heavily on people (Psalm 88:7)
3533. He overwhelms people (Psalm 88:7)
3534. He overwhelms people with all His waves (Psalm 88:7)
3535. He takes people from their closest friends (Psalm 88:8)
3536. He takes people from their closest friends and makes them repulsive to their friends (Psalm 88:8)
3537. In the morning His people's prayers come before Him (Psalm 88:13)
3538. He rejects people (Psalm 88:14)
3539. He hides His face from people (Psalm 88:14)
3540. His wrath sweeps over people (Psalm 88:16)
3541. His terrors destroy people (Psalm 88:16)
3542. He takes people from friend and neighbor (Psalm 88:18)
3543. His love stands firm forever (Psalm 89:2)
3544. He has established His faithfulness in heaven itself (Psalm 89:2)
3545. He has made a covenant with His chosen one (Psalm 89:3)
3546. He has made a covenant with His chosen one to establish his line forever (Psalm 89:3-4)
3547. He has made a covenant with His chosen one to make his throne firm through all generations (Psalm 89:3-4)
3548. The heavens praise His wonders (Psalm 89:5)
3549. The heavens praise His faithfulness (Psalm 89:5)
3550. The heavens praise His faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones (Psalm 89:5)
3551. No one in the skies above can compare with Him (Psalm 89:6)
3552. No one is like Him among the heavenly beings (Psalm 89:6)
3553. He is greatly feared in the council of the holy ones (Psalm 89:7)
3554. He is greatly feared in the council of the holy ones; He is more awesome than all who surround Him (Psalm 89:7)
3555. His faithfulness surrounds Him (Psalm 89:8)
3556. He is mighty and His faithfulness surrounds Him (Psalm 89:8)
3557. He rules over the surging sea (Psalm 89:9)
3558. When the waves of the surging sea mount up, He stills them (Psalm 89:9)
3559. He crushed Rahab like one of the slain (Psalm 89:10)
3560. With His strong arm He scattered His enemies (Psalm 89:10)
3561. He has founded the world and all that is in it (Psalm 89:11)
3562. He created the north and the south (Psalm 89:12)
3563. Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at His Name (Psalm 89:12)
3564. His arm is endowed with power (Psalm 89:13)
3565. His hand is strong (Psalm 89:13)
3566. His right hand is exalted (Psalm 89:13)
3567. Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of His throne (Psalm 89:14)
3568. Love and faithfulness go before Him (Psalm 89:14)
3569. By His favor He exalts His people's horn (Psalm 89:17)
3570. His people's shield belongs to Him (Psalm 89:18)
3571. His people's king belongs to Him (Psalm 89:18)
3572. He spoke in a vision (Psalm 89:19)
3573. He spoke in a vision to His faithful people (Psalm 89:19)
3574. He has bestowed strength on a warrior (Psalm 89:19)
3575. He has raised up a young man from among the people (Psalm 89:19)
3576. He has found His servant (Psalm 89:20)
3577. He has anointed His servant with sacred oil (Psalm 89:20)
3578. His hand will sustain His servant (Psalm 89:21)
3579. His arm will surely strengthen His servant (Psalm 89:21)
3580. He will crush His servant's foes before him (Psalm 89:23)
3581. He will strike down His servant's adversaries (Psalm 89:23)
3582. His faithful love will be with His people (Psalm 89:24)
3583. Through His name His servant's horn will be exalted (Psalm 89:24)
3584. He will set His servant's hand over the sea (Psalm 89:25)
3585. He will set His servant's right hand over the rivers (Psalm 89:25)
3586. He will appoint His servant to be His firstborn (Psalm 89:27)
3587. He will appoint His servant to be His firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth (Psalm 89:27)
3588. He will maintain His love to His servant forever (Psalm 89:28)
3589. His covenant with His servant will never fail (Psalm 89:28)
3590. He will establish His servant's line forever (Psalm 89:29)
3591. He will establish His servant's throne as long as the heavens endure (Psalm 89:29)
3592. If His servant's sons forsake His law, He will punish their sin with the rod (Psalm 89:30-32)
3593. If His servant's sons forsake His law, He will punish their iniquity with flogging (Psalm 89:30-32)
3594. If His servant's sons do not follow His statutes, He will punish their sin with the rod (Psalm 89:30-32)
3595. If His servant's sons do not follow His statutes, He will punish their iniquity with flogging (Psalm 89:30-32)
3596. If His servant's sons violate His decrees, He will punish their sin with the rod (Psalm 89:30-32)
3597. If His servant's sons violate His decrees, He will punish their iniquity with flogging (Psalm 89:30-32)
3598. If His servant's sons fail to keep His commands, He will punish their sin with the rod (Psalm 89:30-32)
3599. If His servant's sons fail to keep His commands, He will punish their iniquity with flogging (Psalm 89:30-32)
3600. He will not take His love from His servant (Psalm 89:33)
3601. He will never betray His faithfulness (Psalm 89:33)
3602. He will not violate His covenant (Psalm 89:34)
3603. He will not alter what His lips have uttered (Psalm 89:34)
3604. He swears by His holiness (Psalm 89:35)
3605. He will not lie to His servant (Psalm 89:35)
3606. Once and for all, He has sworn by His holiness, that His servant's line will continue forever (Psalm 89:35-36)
3607. Once and for all, He has sworn by His holiness, that His servant's throne will endure before Him like the sun (Psalm 89:35-36)
3608. Once and for all, He has sworn by His holiness, that His servant's line will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky (Psalm 89:35-37)
3609. Once and for all, He has sworn by His holiness, that His servant's throne will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky (Psalm 89:35-37)
3610. He has rejected (Psalm 89:38)
3611. He has spurned (Psalm 89:38)
3612. He has been very angry with His anointed one (Psalm 89:38)
3613. He has renounced the covenant with His servant (Psalm 89:39)
3614. He has defiled His servant's crown in the dust (Psalm 89:39)
3615. He has broken through all His servant's walls (Psalm 89:40)
3616. He has reduced His servant's strongholds to ruins (Psalm 89:40)
3617. He has exalted the right hand of His servant's foes (Psalm 89:42)
3618. He has made all His servant's enemies rejoice (Psalm 89:42)
3619. He has turned back the edge of His sword and not supported His servant in battle (Psalm 89:43)
3620. He has put an end to His servant's splendor (Psalm 89:44)
3621. He has cast His servant's throne to the ground (Psalm 89:44)
3622. He has cut short the days of His servant's youth (Psalm 89:45)
3623. He has covered His servant with a mantle of shame (Psalm 89:45)
3624. He hides Himself (Psalm 89:46)
3625. His wrath burns like fire (Psalm 89:46)
3626. He has been His people's dwelling place (Psalm 90:1)
3627. He has been His people's dwelling place throughout all generations (Psalm 90:1)
3628. Before the mountains were born, He is God (Psalm 90:2)
3629. Before He brought forth the world, He is God (Psalm 90:2)
3630. From everlasting to everlasting He is God (Psalm 90:2)
3631. He turns people back to dust (Psalm 90:3)
3632. He turns people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” (Psalm 90:3)
3633. A thousand years in His sight are like a day that has just gone by (Psalm 90:4)
3634. A thousand years in His sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night (Psalm 90:4)
3635. He sweeps people away in the sleep of death (Psalm 90:5)
3636. He sweeps people away in the sleep of death – they are like the new grass of the morning: in the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered (Psalm 90:5-6)
3637. His people are consumed by His anger (Psalm 90:7)
3638. His people are terrified by His indignation (Psalm 90:7)
3639. He has set His people's iniquities before Him (Psalm 90:8)
3640. He has set His people's sins in the light of His presence (Psalm 90:8)
3641. All His people's days pass away under His wrath (Psalm 90:9)
3642. All His people's days pass away under His wrath; they finish their years with a moan (Psalm 90:9)
3643. If only His people knew the power of His anger! (Psalm 90:11)
3644. His wrath is as great as the fear that is His due (Psalm 90:11)
3645. Whoever dwells in His shelter will rest in His shadow (Psalm 91:1)
3646. He will surely save His people (Psalm 91:3)
3647. He will surely save His people from the fowler's snare (Psalm 91:3)
3648. He will surely save His people from the deadly pestilence (Psalm 91:3)
3649. He will cover His people with His feathers (Psalm 91:4)
3650. Under His wings His people will find refuge (Psalm 91:4)
3651. His faithfulness will be His people's shield (Psalm 91:4)
3652. His faithfulness will be His people's rampart (Psalm 91:4)
3653. His people will not fear the terror of the night (Psalm 91:5)
3654. His people will not fear the arrow that flies by day (Psalm 91:5)
3655. His people will not fear the pestilence that stalks in the darkness (Psalm 91:5-6)
3656. His people will not fear the plague that destroys at midday (Psalm 91:5-6)
3657. A thousand may fall at His people's side, but it will not come near His people (Psalm 91:7)
3658. Ten thousand may fall at His people's right hand, but it will not come near His people (Psalm 91:7)
3659. His people will only observe with their eyes and see the punishment of the wicked (Psalm 91:8)
3660. If people say, “The LORD is my refuge”, no harm will overtake them (Psalm 91:9-10)
3661. If people make Him their dwelling, no harm will overtake them (Psalm 91:9-10)
3662. If people say, “The LORD is my refuge”, no disaster will come near their tent (Psalm 91:9-10)
3663. If people make Him their dwelling, no disaster will come near their tent (Psalm 91:9-10)
3664. He will command His angels concerning His people (Psalm 91:11)
3665. He will command His angels concerning His people, to guard them in all their ways (Psalm 91:11)
3666. His angels will lift His people up in their hands (Psalm 91:11-12)
3667. His angels will lift His people up in their hands, so that His people will not strike their foot against a stone (Psalm 91:11-12)
3668. His people will tread on the lion (Psalm 91:11-13)
3669. His people will tread on the cobra (Psalm 91:11-13)
3670. His people will trample the great lion (Psalm 91:11-13)
3671. His people will trample the serpent (Psalm 91:11-13)
3672. He rescues His people (Psalm 91:14)
3673. He rescues His people because they love Him (Psalm 91:14)
3674. He protects His people (Psalm 91:14)
3675. He protects His people, for they acknowledge His Name (Psalm 91:14)
3676. His people call on Him, and He answers them (Psalm 91:15)
3677. He will be with His people in trouble (Psalm 91:15)
3678. He will deliver His people (Psalm 91:15)
3679. He will honor His people (Psalm 91:15)
3680. He will satisfy His people with long life (Psalm 91:16)
3681. He will show His people His salvation (Psalm 91:16)
3682. He makes His people glad by His deeds (Psalm 92:4)
3683. His people sing for joy at what His hands have done (Psalm 92:4)
3684. His works are great (Psalm 92:5)
3685. His thoughts are profound (Psalm 92:5)
3686. He is forever exalted (Psalm 92:8)
3687. His enemies surely will perish (Psalm 92:9)
3688. He has exalted His people's horn like that of a wild ox (Psalm 92:10)
3689. There is no wickedness in Him (Psalm 92:15)
3690. He is robed in majesty (Psalm 93:1)
3691. He is armed with strength (Psalm 93:1)
3692. His throne was established long ago (Psalm 93:2)
3693. He is from all eternity (Psalm 93:2)
3694. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters – He is mighty (Psalm 93:4)
3695. Mightier than the breakers of the sea – He is mighty (Psalm 93:4)
3696. He is the LORD on high (Psalm 93:4)
3697. His statutes stand firm (Psalm 93:5)
3698. Holiness adorns His house for endless days (Psalm 93:5)

Still a busy couple of weeks,

Working on some big papers.

Sincere apologies that I haven't had time to visit you

And read

And breathe

And be with you in this world -

Even if only for a moment?

Soon, I hope.

In the meantime . . .

Happy Easter!

Counting 10,000 Reasons to worship Him: 

(Sylvia's already made it to - past - 10,000!  So amazing to think of who He is like this!)

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Counting in community: