Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Arise. Shine. Your soul is light.
Your face glows with the Beloved's gaze.
The world is draped in black.
People live in darkness like black paint.
But the Lover dawns in you;
you radiate her beauty.
God's presence in you will be light for others.
Even those who have it all will be grateful.
Open your eyes. Be aware.
The Divine Presence gathers people.
We are bound by this umbilical light.
It makes us family, even strangers.
Your eyes take in glory, and shine with glory.
Let this give you joy.
Receive the gifts this life has to offer.
Accept the world's abundance.
Let the world kneel at your feet
and bring you gold and frankincense.
This giving and receiving
is holy praise.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Journey of the magi
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."
— Matthew 2.1-2
God is in the world. And there are wanderers in our heart seeking God, not satisfied with the surface of things alone, not wanting to be distracted by all the fads and fancies of the world, but hungry for what's deeper and more life-giving, desiring connection with the Beloved. Our spirit of wisdom and curiosity seeks expanded awareness of the Holy: of a truth, a dimension, a reality that exists beyond and yet within the visible world. It's a journey of consciousness. If we are wise, we go with the magi.
We leave our familiar surroundings, even our religious trappings, and venture into the foreign and unknown, into the darkness. We are pilgrims. We feel our way along a strange path and an uncertain way. We ask directions, and, trusting, we are willing to be led. We learn to find God in the world, to see the Divine Presence in our daily lives. Some people only ever see what everyone says they are supposed to see. They pass by the humble stable without suspecting. But some see the Holy Child, the light of God, the Word made Flesh. Because they are looking, some see.
Take time to acknowledge the magi within, and give thanks for them. Give them what they need for their journey. Commit to going with them. Seek God in this world. Seek Christ in your daily life. Keep your eye on the star that shines in your heart, the promise that God wants to be found, that God is in fact leading you. Look through the surface of this world, to the child in the manger. Each moment you are asking, “Where is the child....?” And each breath you breathe you are getting closer.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."
— Matthew 2.1-2
God is in the world. And there are wanderers in our heart seeking God, not satisfied with the surface of things alone, not wanting to be distracted by all the fads and fancies of the world, but hungry for what's deeper and more life-giving, desiring connection with the Beloved. Our spirit of wisdom and curiosity seeks expanded awareness of the Holy: of a truth, a dimension, a reality that exists beyond and yet within the visible world. It's a journey of consciousness. If we are wise, we go with the magi.
We leave our familiar surroundings, even our religious trappings, and venture into the foreign and unknown, into the darkness. We are pilgrims. We feel our way along a strange path and an uncertain way. We ask directions, and, trusting, we are willing to be led. We learn to find God in the world, to see the Divine Presence in our daily lives. Some people only ever see what everyone says they are supposed to see. They pass by the humble stable without suspecting. But some see the Holy Child, the light of God, the Word made Flesh. Because they are looking, some see.
Take time to acknowledge the magi within, and give thanks for them. Give them what they need for their journey. Commit to going with them. Seek God in this world. Seek Christ in your daily life. Keep your eye on the star that shines in your heart, the promise that God wants to be found, that God is in fact leading you. Look through the surface of this world, to the child in the manger. Each moment you are asking, “Where is the child....?” And each breath you breathe you are getting closer.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Your star
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
They set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising.
—Matthew 2.9
Head lights, foot lights, spotlights, street lights,
little LED indicators that are always on,
blinking your busyness, connectedness, being on,
a million things to do and ways to go ——
ignore them.
Close your eyes.
Within shines a star,
a small one, gentle,
that you can see only in darkness,
in solitude, in mystery,
sometimes in unknowing,
confusion and even pain.
Real darkness.
Beyond within you shines your star,
your pioneer, always going ahead,
always guiding you,
always silent,
but reaching out its hand.
It knows where the Holy Child is.
It is set there by God,
a Word, a promise, a hint, a Presence.
What would you have to lose to follow?
What would you have to be willing to find?
When will you set out?
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
They set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising.
—Matthew 2.9
Head lights, foot lights, spotlights, street lights,
little LED indicators that are always on,
blinking your busyness, connectedness, being on,
a million things to do and ways to go ——
ignore them.
Close your eyes.
Within shines a star,
a small one, gentle,
that you can see only in darkness,
in solitude, in mystery,
sometimes in unknowing,
confusion and even pain.
Real darkness.
Beyond within you shines your star,
your pioneer, always going ahead,
always guiding you,
always silent,
but reaching out its hand.
It knows where the Holy Child is.
It is set there by God,
a Word, a promise, a hint, a Presence.
What would you have to lose to follow?
What would you have to be willing to find?
When will you set out?
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, December 27, 2010
Three French hens
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
It may be startling news to anyone who lives at a mall, but Christmas is not over. It's just begun. The secular world thinks Christmas runs from Thanksgiving to December 25, but it actually begins the 25th and goes for twelve days. Today is the third day. Three French hens.
Christians may object to the commercialization of Christmas, but we seldom do anything else with it ourselves, do we? I mean, my gosh, what are we supposed to do with the next eleven days, after we've pretty much blown our wad on the first one?
We use the twelve days to practice a faith of the Incarnation. Practice beholding the mystery that God's Word of love is made flesh among us, in Jesus of Nazareth and in one another. Practice giving thanks that God does not just watch us, but accompanies us, lives within us. Practice looking for God.
Practice sustaining the love and peace you felt on Christmas Eve for another twelve days. Practice seeing the light in people's faces as if they're sitting in a beautiful sanctuary singing songs, with a candle in their hand. Practice seeing the divine child within each of us. Practice sensing that this particular time, this present moment is holy.
Practice the anticipation of knowing that you are about to receive gifts. Practice the joy of seeing others receive your gifts. Practice generosity. Practice getting a kick out of making a special effort for someone. Practice noticing the poor, lonely and hungry more than usual, and reaching out to them with joy rather than obligation. Practice treating people with blessing. Practice thinking of all humanity as family.
Practice attending to the mystery that God is present in poor and ordinary things and people. Practice awe and reverence. Practice hope, joy, peace and love. Faith is not an accident, a product of a certain event or season. It's a choice. It's a practice. Keep it going. If you can do it for one night, you can do it for twelve days; and if for twelve days, you can do it for eternal life.
Merry Christmas!
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
It may be startling news to anyone who lives at a mall, but Christmas is not over. It's just begun. The secular world thinks Christmas runs from Thanksgiving to December 25, but it actually begins the 25th and goes for twelve days. Today is the third day. Three French hens.
Christians may object to the commercialization of Christmas, but we seldom do anything else with it ourselves, do we? I mean, my gosh, what are we supposed to do with the next eleven days, after we've pretty much blown our wad on the first one?
We use the twelve days to practice a faith of the Incarnation. Practice beholding the mystery that God's Word of love is made flesh among us, in Jesus of Nazareth and in one another. Practice giving thanks that God does not just watch us, but accompanies us, lives within us. Practice looking for God.
Practice sustaining the love and peace you felt on Christmas Eve for another twelve days. Practice seeing the light in people's faces as if they're sitting in a beautiful sanctuary singing songs, with a candle in their hand. Practice seeing the divine child within each of us. Practice sensing that this particular time, this present moment is holy.
Practice the anticipation of knowing that you are about to receive gifts. Practice the joy of seeing others receive your gifts. Practice generosity. Practice getting a kick out of making a special effort for someone. Practice noticing the poor, lonely and hungry more than usual, and reaching out to them with joy rather than obligation. Practice treating people with blessing. Practice thinking of all humanity as family.
Practice attending to the mystery that God is present in poor and ordinary things and people. Practice awe and reverence. Practice hope, joy, peace and love. Faith is not an accident, a product of a certain event or season. It's a choice. It's a practice. Keep it going. If you can do it for one night, you can do it for twelve days; and if for twelve days, you can do it for eternal life.
Merry Christmas!
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, December 24, 2010
A psalm of the Nativity
For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor ,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
—Isaiah 9.6
Holy One, Loving Mystery,
Mother of Life, Eternal Companion,
you have come to us.
You have come to save us,
to heal us, to set us free,
to bring us into your Realm of light.
You have begun something great among us,
hidden in the life of a child,
tendered to us from among the poor.
You have come to us as our little brother,
and made us all sisters and brothers.
Our salvation will unfold
in the life of this child,
in his words, his deeds, his love,
and even in his death.
It will take time, and require of us
patience and trust.
But already, even in winter
the bud has opened.
Already, even in the darkness,
even in our doubt and unworthiness,
we are saved,
for you are with us in grace.
In awe and wonder we kneel.
In silence we bow.
In tender love we reach for the child.
In gentle devotion we hold him.
In our arms, in our hearts,
in our neighbors, we hold him.
Praise! Sing hallelujah!
Go ahead and wake the baby!
He too will sing for joy,
for God has married her people.
God has given birth to us again!
God has created the earth anew!
Christ is born!
Let there be light!
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Christmas prayer
Infinite One,
depth of night,
breath of galaxies:
come to me.
Holiness within,
gestating heaven,
revealing yourself:
let me see.
Tender One,
not afraid of my death,
gentle amidst the storm:
enfold me.
Holy Presence,
womb-warmth,
life-pulse:
enter me.
Heavenly Lover,
journeying with me,
bearing my life:
marry me.
Child from heaven,
come out
and share my world.
Let me hold you.
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
An inside job
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
The story of the Nativity of Christ is not just a lovely, starlit moment of precious magic and calm adoration. It's the story of God's subversion of the world, through no power at all except love. Read the stories (one in Matthew, one in Luke) without romanticizing and you see a story of God's vulnerable presence amidst poverty, oppression and danger. The manger is not a cute image. It's about a family that is homeless, at risk, and coping. The magi work knowingly around political and military repression. The family escapes death squads and becomes refugees. And where is God in all this? In a baby.
This is the story of God's incursion into our power structures, to transform them from the inside out with nothing but radical presence and compassion. God does not act as a king or a warrior, but comes as a vulnerable, powerless child, who makes rough shepherds tender, who draws kings to worship on their knees, who threatens Herod and reorganizes society. God does not impose laws for us to follow: God gives us love to fall into.
The festival of the Nativity of Christ is the celebration of God's radical presence with us, among us and within us, with nothing but love. God changes the rough world into a world of gentleness, from among the vulnerable and marginalized. It's an inside job. And God enlists us to join the movement. God invites us to live in the world with this spirit of presence and compassion, to be gentle in a rough world, to be loving when it is a risk, to exercise the power of powerlessness, to trust grace. God extends this invitation by coming into the rough and lowly places in our own hearts, and living there with healing power, with nothing but love.
This Christmas may you be more deeply inspired to embody God's love and emboldened to bear it into this sometimes dark and rough world. May God's Word become flesh. May Christ be born in you this holy season, and throughout the new year.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
The story of the Nativity of Christ is not just a lovely, starlit moment of precious magic and calm adoration. It's the story of God's subversion of the world, through no power at all except love. Read the stories (one in Matthew, one in Luke) without romanticizing and you see a story of God's vulnerable presence amidst poverty, oppression and danger. The manger is not a cute image. It's about a family that is homeless, at risk, and coping. The magi work knowingly around political and military repression. The family escapes death squads and becomes refugees. And where is God in all this? In a baby.
This is the story of God's incursion into our power structures, to transform them from the inside out with nothing but radical presence and compassion. God does not act as a king or a warrior, but comes as a vulnerable, powerless child, who makes rough shepherds tender, who draws kings to worship on their knees, who threatens Herod and reorganizes society. God does not impose laws for us to follow: God gives us love to fall into.
The festival of the Nativity of Christ is the celebration of God's radical presence with us, among us and within us, with nothing but love. God changes the rough world into a world of gentleness, from among the vulnerable and marginalized. It's an inside job. And God enlists us to join the movement. God invites us to live in the world with this spirit of presence and compassion, to be gentle in a rough world, to be loving when it is a risk, to exercise the power of powerlessness, to trust grace. God extends this invitation by coming into the rough and lowly places in our own hearts, and living there with healing power, with nothing but love.
This Christmas may you be more deeply inspired to embody God's love and emboldened to bear it into this sometimes dark and rough world. May God's Word become flesh. May Christ be born in you this holy season, and throughout the new year.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
CHristmas darkness
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
I'm writing this while staying up late, watching the lunar eclipse with Jonathan. The moon, lightly veiled by clouds, but still visible, is slowly swallowed by darkness. Life is sometimes like that.
I'm keeping vigil. Not that the moon needs me to make it through the darkness, just that it feels right to keep it company and bless its darkness.
It's the winter solstice. Not since 1638, 465 years ago, has an eclipse come on the winter solstice. (A fascinating aside: scientists don't know the next time this will happen. They're in the dark.) This is the year's shortest day, the day of the most darkness. From now on, the days are getting longer. The darkness is slowly swallowed by light.
Dualistic thinkers see here a battle between good and evil. But darkness is not evil. It's just a place where we can't see, that's all. And it's not a battle. It's a dance. They both surge in and out, back and forth, turning around each other. The darkness shines in the light, and the light cannot overcome it.
Paradoxically, although the winter solstice promises the return of the light, it marks the beginning of winter. Even as it's getting lighter it's getting colder. Dark and light, warmth and cold balance each other, complete each other, need each other. Life is sometimes like that.
It wouldn't be the Christmas story without the darkness. An angel comes to Joseph in a dream. Magi follow a star in the night sky. The heavenly host comes to shepherds watching their flock by night. God comes to us in our darkness. God accompanies us in our darkness, and blesses it.
When you love those who suffer, you can't necessarily abolish their darkness. But you can keep vigil. You can accompany them and bless their night.
Don't be afraid to enter the darkness. Grace happens there. God is there. And there, in the darkness, you can see the light return. In the darkness, light shines.
As it turns out, clouds swallowed the eclipse. We didn't see much. But it was fun to stay up and watch together. Life is like that. And so is God.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
I'm writing this while staying up late, watching the lunar eclipse with Jonathan. The moon, lightly veiled by clouds, but still visible, is slowly swallowed by darkness. Life is sometimes like that.
I'm keeping vigil. Not that the moon needs me to make it through the darkness, just that it feels right to keep it company and bless its darkness.
It's the winter solstice. Not since 1638, 465 years ago, has an eclipse come on the winter solstice. (A fascinating aside: scientists don't know the next time this will happen. They're in the dark.) This is the year's shortest day, the day of the most darkness. From now on, the days are getting longer. The darkness is slowly swallowed by light.
Dualistic thinkers see here a battle between good and evil. But darkness is not evil. It's just a place where we can't see, that's all. And it's not a battle. It's a dance. They both surge in and out, back and forth, turning around each other. The darkness shines in the light, and the light cannot overcome it.
Paradoxically, although the winter solstice promises the return of the light, it marks the beginning of winter. Even as it's getting lighter it's getting colder. Dark and light, warmth and cold balance each other, complete each other, need each other. Life is sometimes like that.
It wouldn't be the Christmas story without the darkness. An angel comes to Joseph in a dream. Magi follow a star in the night sky. The heavenly host comes to shepherds watching their flock by night. God comes to us in our darkness. God accompanies us in our darkness, and blesses it.
When you love those who suffer, you can't necessarily abolish their darkness. But you can keep vigil. You can accompany them and bless their night.
Don't be afraid to enter the darkness. Grace happens there. God is there. And there, in the darkness, you can see the light return. In the darkness, light shines.
As it turns out, clouds swallowed the eclipse. We didn't see much. But it was fun to stay up and watch together. Life is like that. And so is God.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Chritmas lights
Christmas Lights
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
— Isaiah 9.2
Little lights they are, mostly,
strung in trees and tacked along eaves:
small lights that couldn't light a room,
and yet they brighten the street
and beautify the whole neighborhood.
A small light you may be,
but be a light anyway,
an Advent candle,
a radiant sign of the coming of Christ,
shining Christ's grace.
Someone walking in deep darkness
will see, and give thanks.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
— Isaiah 9.2
Little lights they are, mostly,
strung in trees and tacked along eaves:
small lights that couldn't light a room,
and yet they brighten the street
and beautify the whole neighborhood.
A small light you may be,
but be a light anyway,
an Advent candle,
a radiant sign of the coming of Christ,
shining Christ's grace.
Someone walking in deep darkness
will see, and give thanks.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, December 17, 2010
Baby God
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
A little child shall lead them...
and they will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain.
•
Christ did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
but in self-emptying took the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
•
Blessed are the gentle,
for they shall inherit the earth.
•
Love is patient; love is kind.
•
Love your enemies.
•
You must become as a child
to enter the Realm of God.
•
You shall find a child,
wrapped in swaddling cloths,
lying in a manger.
•
God comes as a baby
to draw out our tenderness.
Hold the child gently
in all that you do.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
A little child shall lead them...
and they will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain.
•
Christ did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
but in self-emptying took the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
•
Blessed are the gentle,
for they shall inherit the earth.
•
Love is patient; love is kind.
•
Love your enemies.
•
You must become as a child
to enter the Realm of God.
•
You shall find a child,
wrapped in swaddling cloths,
lying in a manger.
•
God comes as a baby
to draw out our tenderness.
Hold the child gently
in all that you do.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Joseph's dream
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,
for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”
— Matthew 1.21
Joseph.
Joseph, awake.
Wake from your sleep of knowing everything, your dream of not having to look.
Instead, look anew. I have hidden blessing in your life, wonder concealed in what you reject, glory waiting on the path you resist.
I know, you want to understand, and to control things, and this is beyond those.
You are afraid of what others will think. But that is not real. This is real: I am asking you to be faithful without proof, loving without assurance, humble without protection. I am asking you to trust.
Learn to listen in a way that the world can't teach you. Learn to know in a way that is not how the world knows. Learn to follow a path the world can't see.
Mary is on a quest, discovering the blessing and wonder that I have created in her. Do the same for yourself. Look within. Listen to your dreams. Give your heart a voice. Trust the magnificence of what I desire for you. Never mind people's expectations. Follow my delight. Do not be afraid to change your plans, to risk, to sacrifice, to commit.
Joseph, never mind being right. Commit to love. Marry blessing and faithfulness. Marry your doubts. Marry wonder. Marry unknowing. Marry not being afraid.
Joseph, awake. I have hidden blessing in your life. Take it as your own, and know my joy.
Shalom.
When Joseph awoke from sleep,
he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.
— Mt. 1.21
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,
for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”
— Matthew 1.21
Joseph.
Joseph, awake.
Wake from your sleep of knowing everything, your dream of not having to look.
Instead, look anew. I have hidden blessing in your life, wonder concealed in what you reject, glory waiting on the path you resist.
I know, you want to understand, and to control things, and this is beyond those.
You are afraid of what others will think. But that is not real. This is real: I am asking you to be faithful without proof, loving without assurance, humble without protection. I am asking you to trust.
Learn to listen in a way that the world can't teach you. Learn to know in a way that is not how the world knows. Learn to follow a path the world can't see.
Mary is on a quest, discovering the blessing and wonder that I have created in her. Do the same for yourself. Look within. Listen to your dreams. Give your heart a voice. Trust the magnificence of what I desire for you. Never mind people's expectations. Follow my delight. Do not be afraid to change your plans, to risk, to sacrifice, to commit.
Joseph, never mind being right. Commit to love. Marry blessing and faithfulness. Marry your doubts. Marry wonder. Marry unknowing. Marry not being afraid.
Joseph, awake. I have hidden blessing in your life. Take it as your own, and know my joy.
Shalom.
When Joseph awoke from sleep,
he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.
— Mt. 1.21
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Pageant
O Christmas saints, come gather here
in my Bethlehem:
let the miracle unfold in me.
Come, Gabriel, interrupting angel,
and tell the innocent Virgin within me
that she shall bear holiness into the world.
Come, dreams, and haunt me with the courage
to marry the blessing I would spurn.
Come, tender Joseph, and walk with me
along this road of not knowing.
Come, natal star, build your nest in my darkness,
and guide me to seek, and keep seeking.
Mark my life with your promise
that beauty may be found here.
Come, magi, from your wanderings,
and teach me to follow;
teach me to behold.
Come heavenly choir, breathing wonder:
Astonish my routine. Awaken me.
Send me into this village
looking, looking.
Come, shepherds and all who are shabby and shady,
and show me how to recognize glory
swaddled in the mundane.
Come, Holy Child, and be alive in me,
wordlessly, helplessly
drawing out all my love.
O Christmas miracle,
come to the the little shed of my life;
enfold me in your strangeness
and make me a house of wonder.
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
in my Bethlehem:
let the miracle unfold in me.
Come, Gabriel, interrupting angel,
and tell the innocent Virgin within me
that she shall bear holiness into the world.
Come, dreams, and haunt me with the courage
to marry the blessing I would spurn.
Come, tender Joseph, and walk with me
along this road of not knowing.
Come, natal star, build your nest in my darkness,
and guide me to seek, and keep seeking.
Mark my life with your promise
that beauty may be found here.
Come, magi, from your wanderings,
and teach me to follow;
teach me to behold.
Come heavenly choir, breathing wonder:
Astonish my routine. Awaken me.
Send me into this village
looking, looking.
Come, shepherds and all who are shabby and shady,
and show me how to recognize glory
swaddled in the mundane.
Come, Holy Child, and be alive in me,
wordlessly, helplessly
drawing out all my love.
O Christmas miracle,
come to the the little shed of my life;
enfold me in your strangeness
and make me a house of wonder.
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Within us
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
— Matthew 1.23
God does not live in outer space. The wonder of the Holy Trinity is that God is not only infinite but also incarnate. God, who is pure love, lives within all loving souls. The birth of Jesus reveals God in human flesh, in human love, in human presence. And Jesus is not an exception. God is fully present in all of us in love. “The Realm of God is among you.”
Imagine God, present and loving, within you. God lives and reigns in your heart. Your soul is the manger in which the Christ child lies, from which he looks upon the world. Your heart is the throne from which God reigns with unconquerable gentleness and infinitely deep compassion.
As you go through your day today, the whole glory of heaven radiates from within you. The presence of God gives you life; it is your pulse, your breath, your awareness. Live in harmony with God's presence within you. Act and speak in harmony with God's delight in you. Let every breath be God praying in you.
As you prepare for the coming of Christ, don't think that it's going to be just a sweet baby born one night long ago. It's God's incarnation—God's inhabitation—in Jesus, and also in us.
How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given;
so God imparts to human hearts the wonders of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.
O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.
— O Little Town of Bethlehem
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
— Matthew 1.23
God does not live in outer space. The wonder of the Holy Trinity is that God is not only infinite but also incarnate. God, who is pure love, lives within all loving souls. The birth of Jesus reveals God in human flesh, in human love, in human presence. And Jesus is not an exception. God is fully present in all of us in love. “The Realm of God is among you.”
Imagine God, present and loving, within you. God lives and reigns in your heart. Your soul is the manger in which the Christ child lies, from which he looks upon the world. Your heart is the throne from which God reigns with unconquerable gentleness and infinitely deep compassion.
As you go through your day today, the whole glory of heaven radiates from within you. The presence of God gives you life; it is your pulse, your breath, your awareness. Live in harmony with God's presence within you. Act and speak in harmony with God's delight in you. Let every breath be God praying in you.
As you prepare for the coming of Christ, don't think that it's going to be just a sweet baby born one night long ago. It's God's incarnation—God's inhabitation—in Jesus, and also in us.
How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given;
so God imparts to human hearts the wonders of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.
O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.
— O Little Town of Bethlehem
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
With us
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
— Matthew 1.23
God is not against us,
but with us.
For us.
God is not above us,
but with us.
Among us.
God is not separate from us
but with us.
Within us.
We will not find the Divine
by gazing into heaven
but by attending to our lives,
our hearts, our relationships—
looking to the human mystery
and the wild love married to us,
the delighted presence
even now walking hand in hand
with us.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
— Matthew 1.23
God is not against us,
but with us.
For us.
God is not above us,
but with us.
Among us.
God is not separate from us
but with us.
Within us.
We will not find the Divine
by gazing into heaven
but by attending to our lives,
our hearts, our relationships—
looking to the human mystery
and the wild love married to us,
the delighted presence
even now walking hand in hand
with us.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, December 10, 2010
Advent prayer
O Coming One,
give me a steadfast spirit
to wait for you with grace.
Give me patience to listen
for your breathing
in the breath of your people.
Give me courage to trust
your continually blossoming presence
even in the unseeing darkness.
Give me wisdom to see
your manger in rough places,
your star in dark nights.
Give me gentleness
to receive you as a child
amidst the shouting of kings and warriors.
O Blossoming One, you are the love
with which I wait tenderly
for the coming of your love.
O Holy Child, come to me
that I may fall in love with you,
and become wholly yours,
in faith, in love, in steadfast hope.
Amen.
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Patience
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
— James 5.7
The great scandal of incarnation is than in choosing to live in us, God assents to our vulnerability, suffering and finitude. God does not come in a palace, powerful and safe, but in a shoddy stable, in a lowly manger, poor and at risk. God willingly, lovingly lives in all that is not well in us. God lives in our hurt and our failure. Our pain and weakness, our anger and bewilderment, our lack of faith, this is the manger where Christ comes. God takes up a dwelling in our lives with great love, with tender delight and unflappable patience.
In entering into the heart of all that is, God enters as well all that is not yet. God is in all that is not right, not just, not healed, not yet finished. Mary sings of the transformation of our society, when the hungry are fed. Isaiah sees the desert blossom and all the exiles return. This has not happened yet. But God comes already anyway, and waits with us as grace unfolds among and within us.
In Advent we enter into God's great patience. We enter into the healing of the world and we wait with God, who waits with us. We enter into the pain and the not knowing, the loneliness and the despair, and because God is there, we find hope and tenderness. We trust that what we await will surely come, and that even in our waiting God is already present.
Be patient and wait. Know that God is waiting with us with patience as well, and with great love and unimaginable power.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
— James 5.7
The great scandal of incarnation is than in choosing to live in us, God assents to our vulnerability, suffering and finitude. God does not come in a palace, powerful and safe, but in a shoddy stable, in a lowly manger, poor and at risk. God willingly, lovingly lives in all that is not well in us. God lives in our hurt and our failure. Our pain and weakness, our anger and bewilderment, our lack of faith, this is the manger where Christ comes. God takes up a dwelling in our lives with great love, with tender delight and unflappable patience.
In entering into the heart of all that is, God enters as well all that is not yet. God is in all that is not right, not just, not healed, not yet finished. Mary sings of the transformation of our society, when the hungry are fed. Isaiah sees the desert blossom and all the exiles return. This has not happened yet. But God comes already anyway, and waits with us as grace unfolds among and within us.
In Advent we enter into God's great patience. We enter into the healing of the world and we wait with God, who waits with us. We enter into the pain and the not knowing, the loneliness and the despair, and because God is there, we find hope and tenderness. We trust that what we await will surely come, and that even in our waiting God is already present.
Be patient and wait. Know that God is waiting with us with patience as well, and with great love and unimaginable power.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Magnificat
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
who has looked with favor on me in my lowliness.
The Mighty One has scattered the proud
in the thoughts of their hearts.
God has has brought down
the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
God has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.”
— from Luke 1. 46-55
Mary is not singing about some metaphor. She is singing about us. We adore heroes and powerful people. We love to pretend that the Bible says (though it doesn't) that “God helps those who helps themselves.” We cut benefits for the unemployed and give tax breaks to the rich. The cost to end hunger throughout the world is estimated at somewhere around $200 billion a year. Americans will spend $500 billion on Christmas. Yeah, that's us she's talking about.
The Magnificat is no sweet lullaby. It is a fierce revolutionary cry against our fear and selfishness, and the political and economic structures that are built on money, power and coercion. And it's not just a promise of better times for the underdogs. God not only lifts up the lowly but brings down the powerful. And, most radical of all, it is not a dream, a wish, a hope for the future. It's already been done; it's an accomplished fact. God has brought down the powerful and fed the hungry.
Oh, yeah? It sure looks like the hungry are still hungry and the powerful are still powerful. —But that's where we're wrong. The promise of Christmas is that God comes among us in a revolutionary, life-changing way that transforms both our souls and our society—and that most of the world either will resist it or won't get it at all. But Advent invites us to see what's already here but unseen, to receive what's already been given but not received. Mary invites us to see God's favor for the poor, to see God's presence in the lowly, and to see how the selfishly rich and powerful have condemned themselves to lives of emptiness and grief without knowing it. Advent invites us to join contemplation and justice in that mystery we call incarnation: God's real presence among us in human flesh, the flesh of our companions on this earth: in a poor homeless peasant child laid in a feeding bin, a refugee family fleeing violence, a child among soldiers.
Jesus says, “Go and tell what you see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Mt. 11.5). In Advent we who are blind to God's presence learn to see; we who are deaf to the good news begin to hear; we who think we understand have something new brought to us. God breaks in like a birth, like a death, and changes everything. God reverses the ways of the world.
This Advent contemplate this mystery: that what is done is hidden in what is not yet, that God's blessing is hidden in powerlessness, that God's judgment is masked by riches and power, that God's presence is embodied among the lowly, that God's Christ is born among the poor. This Advent contemplate the birth of the Prince of Peace, the Servant of Justice among us, whom we cannot see, but who is already here, reigning in the great power of his mercy.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
who has looked with favor on me in my lowliness.
The Mighty One has scattered the proud
in the thoughts of their hearts.
God has has brought down
the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
God has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.”
— from Luke 1. 46-55
Mary is not singing about some metaphor. She is singing about us. We adore heroes and powerful people. We love to pretend that the Bible says (though it doesn't) that “God helps those who helps themselves.” We cut benefits for the unemployed and give tax breaks to the rich. The cost to end hunger throughout the world is estimated at somewhere around $200 billion a year. Americans will spend $500 billion on Christmas. Yeah, that's us she's talking about.
The Magnificat is no sweet lullaby. It is a fierce revolutionary cry against our fear and selfishness, and the political and economic structures that are built on money, power and coercion. And it's not just a promise of better times for the underdogs. God not only lifts up the lowly but brings down the powerful. And, most radical of all, it is not a dream, a wish, a hope for the future. It's already been done; it's an accomplished fact. God has brought down the powerful and fed the hungry.
Oh, yeah? It sure looks like the hungry are still hungry and the powerful are still powerful. —But that's where we're wrong. The promise of Christmas is that God comes among us in a revolutionary, life-changing way that transforms both our souls and our society—and that most of the world either will resist it or won't get it at all. But Advent invites us to see what's already here but unseen, to receive what's already been given but not received. Mary invites us to see God's favor for the poor, to see God's presence in the lowly, and to see how the selfishly rich and powerful have condemned themselves to lives of emptiness and grief without knowing it. Advent invites us to join contemplation and justice in that mystery we call incarnation: God's real presence among us in human flesh, the flesh of our companions on this earth: in a poor homeless peasant child laid in a feeding bin, a refugee family fleeing violence, a child among soldiers.
Jesus says, “Go and tell what you see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Mt. 11.5). In Advent we who are blind to God's presence learn to see; we who are deaf to the good news begin to hear; we who think we understand have something new brought to us. God breaks in like a birth, like a death, and changes everything. God reverses the ways of the world.
This Advent contemplate this mystery: that what is done is hidden in what is not yet, that God's blessing is hidden in powerlessness, that God's judgment is masked by riches and power, that God's presence is embodied among the lowly, that God's Christ is born among the poor. This Advent contemplate the birth of the Prince of Peace, the Servant of Justice among us, whom we cannot see, but who is already here, reigning in the great power of his mercy.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
New moon, Advent
Waiting
for the moon to fill
night by night
hidden sun pouring light into you
in the great deep night
of the virgin's womb
holy child
floating in darkness
waiting to learn your name
soft crescent of dawn in me
out of darkness rising
in stillness, waiting
in this empty space
a presence
umbilical
I am the holy child
the night my womb
not another season but
a new person
pale belly
beating heart
dark moon, whole and round—
ah! you are already here.
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, December 6, 2010
I prepare a place
Holy Child of mystery,
I prepare a place for you.
I remodel the inn of my heart.
I clear a room
and let go of many things.
I fashion a crib of finest wood.
I make a space that is just for you,
and open it up each day,
and in stillness I wait—
until I find that in darkness of night
beneath my knowing or waking,
in cold and poverty,
without place at all,
you have already come
and lie waiting in some
unexpected manger.
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, December 3, 2010
Child of peace
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse....
With righteousness he shall judge the poor....
The wolf shall live with the lamb....
and a little child shall lead them....
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.
— from Isaiah 11.1-11
“One who is more powerful than I is coming after me;
I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
— Matthew 3.11
Jesus is not coming to protect us from God's condemnation, nor to set up a new hoop to jump through to get to heaven. He comes to save us from our own violence: to show us how to live gently with all Creation, since such harmony is what heaven is. He saves us by drawing us into God's peace and breathing into us the fire of God's love.
In this candled, starlit season we find it easier than usual to be peaceable with one another, to love our neighbors, to extend hospitality to strangers and enemies, to give gifts to the undeserving. It's a good start. But Jesus does not come for a season, but for all eternity. He comes to change us forever. He comes as a little child, a child who will be hurt and destroyed—but he comes anyway. He comes as a lamb who lies down among us wolves, a lamb who will surely be eaten—but he comes anyway. He comes as the Gentle One to bear God's tenderness to us; as the Harmless One to save us from our fear of God; as the Loving One to set us free from the terrible weight of our desire to hurt or destroy; as the Vulnerable One to invite us into that dangerous, world-changing place of non-violent love. He comes to transform us.
This Advent, pray that you may be baptized with the Holy Spirit of compassion, that the little child might lead you into a life of holy peace. Pray that the carols you sing, the gifts you give, the candles you hold, the greetings you send may change you forever. Pray that the gifts you receive this Christmas may be gifts of courage, love and creativity. In the Spirit of Christ, may you become more deeply a Child of Peace.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse....
With righteousness he shall judge the poor....
The wolf shall live with the lamb....
and a little child shall lead them....
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.
— from Isaiah 11.1-11
“One who is more powerful than I is coming after me;
I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
— Matthew 3.11
Jesus is not coming to protect us from God's condemnation, nor to set up a new hoop to jump through to get to heaven. He comes to save us from our own violence: to show us how to live gently with all Creation, since such harmony is what heaven is. He saves us by drawing us into God's peace and breathing into us the fire of God's love.
In this candled, starlit season we find it easier than usual to be peaceable with one another, to love our neighbors, to extend hospitality to strangers and enemies, to give gifts to the undeserving. It's a good start. But Jesus does not come for a season, but for all eternity. He comes to change us forever. He comes as a little child, a child who will be hurt and destroyed—but he comes anyway. He comes as a lamb who lies down among us wolves, a lamb who will surely be eaten—but he comes anyway. He comes as the Gentle One to bear God's tenderness to us; as the Harmless One to save us from our fear of God; as the Loving One to set us free from the terrible weight of our desire to hurt or destroy; as the Vulnerable One to invite us into that dangerous, world-changing place of non-violent love. He comes to transform us.
This Advent, pray that you may be baptized with the Holy Spirit of compassion, that the little child might lead you into a life of holy peace. Pray that the carols you sing, the gifts you give, the candles you hold, the greetings you send may change you forever. Pray that the gifts you receive this Christmas may be gifts of courage, love and creativity. In the Spirit of Christ, may you become more deeply a Child of Peace.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The ax
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
John the Baptist said, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.
Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees;
every tree that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
—Matthew 3.8, 10
Beloved, take your ax
to the trees in my orchard that bear no fruit,
to the limbs that are not loving,
to the roots of the fears and desires,
the attachments and expectations
that get in the way of your perfect love in me.
Take your ax to the Way I Wish Things Were.
Come at the habits by which I grasp at control,
exercise power, protect my security.
Dig them out. Cut them down. Chop them up.
Throw them into the fire of your grace.
Let me bear the fruit of love, even in winter,
flowering within me.
As the Virgin Mother waits, ripe with Christ,
may I blossom with you.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
John the Baptist said, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.
Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees;
every tree that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
—Matthew 3.8, 10
Beloved, take your ax
to the trees in my orchard that bear no fruit,
to the limbs that are not loving,
to the roots of the fears and desires,
the attachments and expectations
that get in the way of your perfect love in me.
Take your ax to the Way I Wish Things Were.
Come at the habits by which I grasp at control,
exercise power, protect my security.
Dig them out. Cut them down. Chop them up.
Throw them into the fire of your grace.
Let me bear the fruit of love, even in winter,
flowering within me.
As the Virgin Mother waits, ripe with Christ,
may I blossom with you.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Watch
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.' "
— Matthew 3.1-3
When John the Baptist comes yelling out of the desert telling us to repent, we wonder, with maybe a little panic: Of what? How? What am I supposed to change? Repentance seems like something we have to work at to meet some externally imposed standard, something we have to start getting right. But Advent promises that it's actually God who's behaving in a new way, doing something new. All we we do is notice, and say “yes.”
Like Mary, swelling with Christ, we hold a new incarnation of God within us. God is in you, moving with new life, surrounding you, moving in a new way. What is God doing? How is God’s presence unfolding in you? To discern this, of course, you have to be still and watch a long time. It's as if in the woods you find a little den of some sort and you want to know what kind of animal lives there. What you do then is sit off a way and wait and watch for a long time until whatever it is comes out. You have to be still a very long time.
Be still for a few minutes every day this Advent and wonder, “God, what are you doing in me?” Devote yourself to saying “Yes” to it, whatever it turns out to be. In silence, simply sit and wait. Don’t expect an answer. The little creature won’t come out for a long time. God is doing the work, and you are practicing being present. As you do, you will become more present all day long, all season long, until the truth is revealed. Let this redirecting of your will and your attention be your repentance. Let this attentive presence be your preparing. As Jesus says, watch. Keep awake.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.' "
— Matthew 3.1-3
When John the Baptist comes yelling out of the desert telling us to repent, we wonder, with maybe a little panic: Of what? How? What am I supposed to change? Repentance seems like something we have to work at to meet some externally imposed standard, something we have to start getting right. But Advent promises that it's actually God who's behaving in a new way, doing something new. All we we do is notice, and say “yes.”
Like Mary, swelling with Christ, we hold a new incarnation of God within us. God is in you, moving with new life, surrounding you, moving in a new way. What is God doing? How is God’s presence unfolding in you? To discern this, of course, you have to be still and watch a long time. It's as if in the woods you find a little den of some sort and you want to know what kind of animal lives there. What you do then is sit off a way and wait and watch for a long time until whatever it is comes out. You have to be still a very long time.
Be still for a few minutes every day this Advent and wonder, “God, what are you doing in me?” Devote yourself to saying “Yes” to it, whatever it turns out to be. In silence, simply sit and wait. Don’t expect an answer. The little creature won’t come out for a long time. God is doing the work, and you are practicing being present. As you do, you will become more present all day long, all season long, until the truth is revealed. Let this redirecting of your will and your attention be your repentance. Let this attentive presence be your preparing. As Jesus says, watch. Keep awake.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Keep Awake
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Keep awake, for you do not know when the Beloved is coming.
— Matthew 24.42
You can't tell beforehand
which manger will receive him.
You won't expect how you will be met.
You don't know when the Beloved will appear before you,
when your vision will break through the surface
to the holiness within,
when your belovedness will become evident.
You can't predict how the One will come to you,
in what ordinary person
offering you grace,
needing forgiveness.
You never know when
you might see God in yourself
shimmering, breathing, calm.
Of the Present One
we only catch fleeting glimpses.
So keep your eyes open.
Stay alert.
Watch.
___________________
Weather Report
Partly clear
as a high pressure area of
Having Been Here and Done That,
producing heavy overcast,
is dissipated by wonder and gratitude.
Expect coming,
with patches of disclosure
and isolated moments when the sun
(which has always been there)
breaks through.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Keep awake, for you do not know when the Beloved is coming.
— Matthew 24.42
You can't tell beforehand
which manger will receive him.
You won't expect how you will be met.
You don't know when the Beloved will appear before you,
when your vision will break through the surface
to the holiness within,
when your belovedness will become evident.
You can't predict how the One will come to you,
in what ordinary person
offering you grace,
needing forgiveness.
You never know when
you might see God in yourself
shimmering, breathing, calm.
Of the Present One
we only catch fleeting glimpses.
So keep your eyes open.
Stay alert.
Watch.
___________________
Weather Report
Partly clear
as a high pressure area of
Having Been Here and Done That,
producing heavy overcast,
is dissipated by wonder and gratitude.
Expect coming,
with patches of disclosure
and isolated moments when the sun
(which has always been there)
breaks through.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, November 29, 2010
Giving thanks for Thanksgving
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. Gathering in a town where we'd never been (in South Jersey, of all places!) with twenty-one people, thirteen of them strangers to us, around a couple of tables squeezed in where the armchairs are supposed to be. A house rearranged for the sake of togetherness, decorated for the sake of joy. Strangers made family by love. Becoming part of a tribe we've never met. A kitchen crowded with cousins, aunts and uncles; tables piled with food; conversations rich with memories and discoveries. A nine-hundred mile drive there and back, picking up sons along the way, through the thickest holiday traffic that not only one city but Boston, New York and Philadelphia had to offer, and every mile worth it.
Isn't that what Jesus envisioned as the Realm of God? The world rearranged for the sake of community. Beauty honored. Separations overcome. Food shared. Journeys toward each other undertaken. Family created. Isn't this Jesus' vision of The Real World? People around one table, eating and talking. Communion.
Today, of course, I'm in my own familiar house, all alone, eating cereal. But the vision lingers. The promise looms. I'm still there.
This is what God is trying to do with us. It's so simple—and lovely, really: just to get us to sit down and eat together and enjoy it. This is as complicated as God's will for us gets. This is what God is trying to get us to do every moment of our lives. Come to the Thanksgiving banquet. The furniture has been rearranged, the strangers have been invited, the food is all here. There's an empty seat for you. The invitation is always open.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. Gathering in a town where we'd never been (in South Jersey, of all places!) with twenty-one people, thirteen of them strangers to us, around a couple of tables squeezed in where the armchairs are supposed to be. A house rearranged for the sake of togetherness, decorated for the sake of joy. Strangers made family by love. Becoming part of a tribe we've never met. A kitchen crowded with cousins, aunts and uncles; tables piled with food; conversations rich with memories and discoveries. A nine-hundred mile drive there and back, picking up sons along the way, through the thickest holiday traffic that not only one city but Boston, New York and Philadelphia had to offer, and every mile worth it.
Isn't that what Jesus envisioned as the Realm of God? The world rearranged for the sake of community. Beauty honored. Separations overcome. Food shared. Journeys toward each other undertaken. Family created. Isn't this Jesus' vision of The Real World? People around one table, eating and talking. Communion.
Today, of course, I'm in my own familiar house, all alone, eating cereal. But the vision lingers. The promise looms. I'm still there.
This is what God is trying to do with us. It's so simple—and lovely, really: just to get us to sit down and eat together and enjoy it. This is as complicated as God's will for us gets. This is what God is trying to get us to do every moment of our lives. Come to the Thanksgiving banquet. The furniture has been rearranged, the strangers have been invited, the food is all here. There's an empty seat for you. The invitation is always open.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
This very day
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
I don't need to learn to levitate,
or want to turn to pure flame like the saints.
Here's holiness enough for me:
to kindle gratitude like a heartbeat,
gratitude that is its own heaven,
gratitude for for morning and its breath,
for food as it bows its head and closes its eyes,
for the feel of my hand against my face,
for friends whose distance can't diminish
the love they've left with me,
for breath and bone and sky and stone,
for each moment, every even dull moment
full of Being's very wonder.
I'd like to be a bird on a wire
singing its guts out for no great reason other
than being thankful to be singing,
this very day.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
I don't need to learn to levitate,
or want to turn to pure flame like the saints.
Here's holiness enough for me:
to kindle gratitude like a heartbeat,
gratitude that is its own heaven,
gratitude for for morning and its breath,
for food as it bows its head and closes its eyes,
for the feel of my hand against my face,
for friends whose distance can't diminish
the love they've left with me,
for breath and bone and sky and stone,
for each moment, every even dull moment
full of Being's very wonder.
I'd like to be a bird on a wire
singing its guts out for no great reason other
than being thankful to be singing,
this very day.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, November 22, 2010
Night walk
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
This old torn coat will do me
in the woods, with a good sweater.
The path is no Appalachian Trail, just a way
among the beeches, oaks and pines
beyond the house, the sigh of traffic not too far.
An owl begins to speak, thinks better of it.
The moon, near full and thinly overcast,
glows dim, soft-spoken,
dropping splotchy shadows where it can.
I work my way through cloudlight,
shadows and their shadows,
hauntings and suggestions.
The trees are kind in the weak darkness,
the path is patient for me to find it,
and find it again.
The porch light doesn't care how late I am,
but smiling, waits.
This life seldom offers clarion or neon,
white lights leading to red lights.
We walk slowly among uncertain shadows
cast by light reflected. It is enough.
We find our way.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
This old torn coat will do me
in the woods, with a good sweater.
The path is no Appalachian Trail, just a way
among the beeches, oaks and pines
beyond the house, the sigh of traffic not too far.
An owl begins to speak, thinks better of it.
The moon, near full and thinly overcast,
glows dim, soft-spoken,
dropping splotchy shadows where it can.
I work my way through cloudlight,
shadows and their shadows,
hauntings and suggestions.
The trees are kind in the weak darkness,
the path is patient for me to find it,
and find it again.
The porch light doesn't care how late I am,
but smiling, waits.
This life seldom offers clarion or neon,
white lights leading to red lights.
We walk slowly among uncertain shadows
cast by light reflected. It is enough.
We find our way.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, November 19, 2010
The real world
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for God has visited us and redeemed us.
God has raised up for us
a mighty savior from the family of David.
This is as God promised through the mouth
of the holy prophets from of old,
to save us from every power
that would ruin our lives.
God has shown mercy to our ancestors,
and has remembered the holy covenant,
the oath that God swore
to our ancestors Abraham and Sarah:
to set us free from the power of evil,
free to serve God without fear,
holy and righteous in God’s sight,
all the days of our lives.
— Luke 1. 68-75
This is the plan. It's God's will. It's not just a hope; it's an accomplished fact. This is a way to see reality. This is the Real World. God saves us from what would destroy us (most of which is within us) and sets us free, puts us in harmony with God, makes us holy. Our lives are all we need. We are free to serve God without fear. Nothing can stop us from loving perfectly.
The world in which you have to earn your keep, please God, justify yourself or prove your worth is an imaginary world. The God who wants to judge you, critique your performance, or demand your improvement is a false God. This is the real God: the one who promises, who comes, who saves, who sets us free, who makes us holy, who gives us love.
It may seem like chaos rules the world, and terror is in charge. But the God of Blessing is actually the absolute Sovereign. Let others live in ignorance and fear. We live in gratitude, hope and compassion. For “the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of God's Christ, who will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11.15). Hallelujah.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for God has visited us and redeemed us.
God has raised up for us
a mighty savior from the family of David.
This is as God promised through the mouth
of the holy prophets from of old,
to save us from every power
that would ruin our lives.
God has shown mercy to our ancestors,
and has remembered the holy covenant,
the oath that God swore
to our ancestors Abraham and Sarah:
to set us free from the power of evil,
free to serve God without fear,
holy and righteous in God’s sight,
all the days of our lives.
— Luke 1. 68-75
This is the plan. It's God's will. It's not just a hope; it's an accomplished fact. This is a way to see reality. This is the Real World. God saves us from what would destroy us (most of which is within us) and sets us free, puts us in harmony with God, makes us holy. Our lives are all we need. We are free to serve God without fear. Nothing can stop us from loving perfectly.
The world in which you have to earn your keep, please God, justify yourself or prove your worth is an imaginary world. The God who wants to judge you, critique your performance, or demand your improvement is a false God. This is the real God: the one who promises, who comes, who saves, who sets us free, who makes us holy, who gives us love.
It may seem like chaos rules the world, and terror is in charge. But the God of Blessing is actually the absolute Sovereign. Let others live in ignorance and fear. We live in gratitude, hope and compassion. For “the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of God's Christ, who will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11.15). Hallelujah.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, November 18, 2010
a blessing
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare God's ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to all people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
— Luke 1.76-79
You, tender one, innocent one, child of God:
God will shine through you without your seeing it.
You will be God's channel into people's lives.
In your kindness people will somehow feel blessed,
and trust God's grace because of your forgiveness.
For God will dawn upon us with gentle love,
being light to those who live in darkness,
those whom death shadows,
and guiding our hearts in lives of peace.
Let this blessing
walk with you today.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare God's ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to all people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
— Luke 1.76-79
You, tender one, innocent one, child of God:
God will shine through you without your seeing it.
You will be God's channel into people's lives.
In your kindness people will somehow feel blessed,
and trust God's grace because of your forgiveness.
For God will dawn upon us with gentle love,
being light to those who live in darkness,
those whom death shadows,
and guiding our hearts in lives of peace.
Let this blessing
walk with you today.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The reckoning
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Listen:
there is no inquisition
after the stilling of your heart and lungs,
no brutal trial, no depressing movie,
no damning questions.
The harvesters
with their scythes, their winnowing forks,
they are already here.
They are not interested in chaff,
not at all.
But there is no test.
They simply harvest what they can, and leave.
No, after the lights go out,
and the Light comes in,
there are only the little cherubs,
so sweet and lovely,
for whom there is only joy in this universe,
simple, and resolutely perfect.
And those gripped by evil who in desperation
have pilfered this world’s joy,
who have sown fear and cherished sorrow,
those the little cherubs will sweetly
plunder of their dear misery,
happily rob them of all of it;
they will strip them of their skin of scorn,
shatter the hate to which they cling,
tear the blindness from their eyes,
strangle their demons, gouge out their shame,
—little smiling angels, tears on their cheeks,
with graceful blades, cooing softly—
cut their fear right out of them
and lift their hearts, still freezing, from their chests,
leaving only God's,
without so much as an apology,
bind them in tenderness,
plunge them in vats of forgiveness,
pour hot coals of beauty over them—
molten, breath-taking awe—
and pierce them with the gentlest heart-wrenching love,
piling on them relentlessly
the whole weight of all the world’s delight
until they break at last
into helpless tears of joy.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Listen:
there is no inquisition
after the stilling of your heart and lungs,
no brutal trial, no depressing movie,
no damning questions.
The harvesters
with their scythes, their winnowing forks,
they are already here.
They are not interested in chaff,
not at all.
But there is no test.
They simply harvest what they can, and leave.
No, after the lights go out,
and the Light comes in,
there are only the little cherubs,
so sweet and lovely,
for whom there is only joy in this universe,
simple, and resolutely perfect.
And those gripped by evil who in desperation
have pilfered this world’s joy,
who have sown fear and cherished sorrow,
those the little cherubs will sweetly
plunder of their dear misery,
happily rob them of all of it;
they will strip them of their skin of scorn,
shatter the hate to which they cling,
tear the blindness from their eyes,
strangle their demons, gouge out their shame,
—little smiling angels, tears on their cheeks,
with graceful blades, cooing softly—
cut their fear right out of them
and lift their hearts, still freezing, from their chests,
leaving only God's,
without so much as an apology,
bind them in tenderness,
plunge them in vats of forgiveness,
pour hot coals of beauty over them—
molten, breath-taking awe—
and pierce them with the gentlest heart-wrenching love,
piling on them relentlessly
the whole weight of all the world’s delight
until they break at last
into helpless tears of joy.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
What kind of king?
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
—Luke 23.33-37
What kind of king might this be,
naked and in agony,
defeated and vulnerable,
without a land or an army,
without dignity or power?
What kind of king is he,
who will not save himself,
who will allow scoundrels
to take the life right out of him,
and spend himself for the unworthy?
What Realm does he rule,
and what is his law,
and how will he enforce it?
How will he provide for his people
and defend his land?
What manner of king might this be?
He is the King of Forgiveness,
and his grace is supreme.
He imposes his imperial mercy
upon all who are broken and in need.
He establishes forgiveness
with absolute power;
it is a law that no one can break.
He is my king, the little man
who is shamed and abused
and remains unalterably kind.
Even the greatest force cannot prevail
against his mighty gentleness.
He is my king, the King of Forgiveness.
I bow to him,
and I will obey his command,
and I will follow him
into life.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
—Luke 23.33-37
What kind of king might this be,
naked and in agony,
defeated and vulnerable,
without a land or an army,
without dignity or power?
What kind of king is he,
who will not save himself,
who will allow scoundrels
to take the life right out of him,
and spend himself for the unworthy?
What Realm does he rule,
and what is his law,
and how will he enforce it?
How will he provide for his people
and defend his land?
What manner of king might this be?
He is the King of Forgiveness,
and his grace is supreme.
He imposes his imperial mercy
upon all who are broken and in need.
He establishes forgiveness
with absolute power;
it is a law that no one can break.
He is my king, the little man
who is shamed and abused
and remains unalterably kind.
Even the greatest force cannot prevail
against his mighty gentleness.
He is my king, the King of Forgiveness.
I bow to him,
and I will obey his command,
and I will follow him
into life.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, November 15, 2010
Rain
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Rain,
this one drop falling just now
between the branch and stone,
falling with cloud-mingled memory
of a line of Siberian lakes,
memory of a thousand emigrations
from swamp and steppe,
of zephyrs, monsoons, chinooks and squalls—
this drop is now distilled from all of that
and simply falls, led to this spot, this splat
on a stone, where it rests
after all those glaciers and rivers, rests
in this moment, and asks me:
before you rush off
to your next Patagonian slope
will you fall, here, through this very air,
and soak into this place,
before you are swept away?
__________________
Weather report
Rain, somewhere,
perhaps not near you,
although what
matters you yourself
will have to see.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Rain,
this one drop falling just now
between the branch and stone,
falling with cloud-mingled memory
of a line of Siberian lakes,
memory of a thousand emigrations
from swamp and steppe,
of zephyrs, monsoons, chinooks and squalls—
this drop is now distilled from all of that
and simply falls, led to this spot, this splat
on a stone, where it rests
after all those glaciers and rivers, rests
in this moment, and asks me:
before you rush off
to your next Patagonian slope
will you fall, here, through this very air,
and soak into this place,
before you are swept away?
__________________
Weather report
Rain, somewhere,
perhaps not near you,
although what
matters you yourself
will have to see.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, November 12, 2010
Not a hair will perish
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
“You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”
— Luke 21. 16-19
Only someone who believes in death and resurrection could say “they will put you to death, but not a hair on your head will perish.” Only someone who knows that life is more than flesh, that you are more than a personality, that Who You Are already exceeds your physical body, your earthly life.
We believe that Jesus was a real, earthly human being and at the same time divine, that he was a mortal and that there was also something eternal going on in him, something that even after his death was and is still alive today. Now if we can only see that the same is true of all of us.
And it's love that makes us that way. When we love we enter into that eternal, divine part of us. When we empty our lives into the world, there is nothing left in us but God. Nothing can harm that eternal essence of us, nothing can defeat it or kill it. Thus as Paul says, “Love never fails.” So in love we stand with the poor and the suffering,we reach out to the despised, we give our love to those who cannot return it, we are in solidarity with those who are persecuted. (We won't be persecuted because of what we believe, but because of who we stand with.) This is what it means to be Christ-like. It is to die and be raised in love.
There's not much comfort for those who say, “Give your life to Jesus and problems will be solved and you will be happy.” No, give your life to him and you will suffer. But you will also become more fully your true self, your God-given self, your your divine and eternal nature. You will gain your soul.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
“You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”
— Luke 21. 16-19
Only someone who believes in death and resurrection could say “they will put you to death, but not a hair on your head will perish.” Only someone who knows that life is more than flesh, that you are more than a personality, that Who You Are already exceeds your physical body, your earthly life.
We believe that Jesus was a real, earthly human being and at the same time divine, that he was a mortal and that there was also something eternal going on in him, something that even after his death was and is still alive today. Now if we can only see that the same is true of all of us.
And it's love that makes us that way. When we love we enter into that eternal, divine part of us. When we empty our lives into the world, there is nothing left in us but God. Nothing can harm that eternal essence of us, nothing can defeat it or kill it. Thus as Paul says, “Love never fails.” So in love we stand with the poor and the suffering,we reach out to the despised, we give our love to those who cannot return it, we are in solidarity with those who are persecuted. (We won't be persecuted because of what we believe, but because of who we stand with.) This is what it means to be Christ-like. It is to die and be raised in love.
There's not much comfort for those who say, “Give your life to Jesus and problems will be solved and you will be happy.” No, give your life to him and you will suffer. But you will also become more fully your true self, your God-given self, your your divine and eternal nature. You will gain your soul.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Testify
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
They will arrest you and persecute you... because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.
— Luke 21. 12-15
I don't think Jesus is necessarily promising to channel persuasive arguments or convincing doctrines to us. I think he is inviting us to be aware of how God has loved us, and to testify to that grace by loving others, even our persecutors. The “wisdom” Jesus conveyed is not a proposition or belief. It's a loving way of living. I don't think Jesus envisions his followers spouting correct doctrine. I think he envisions us being true to the spirit of love. I think he envisions us being loving instead of being defensive.
In Luke's gospel these sayings about the end times follow immediately after Jesus praises the poor widow for giving her two little coins to the temple. “She has put in more than all the others.” Maybe your testimony is whatever God has granted you to give, whatever is true of your life. You don't need to learn some esoteric wisdom; you just need to be aware of your own life, and the truth and power in it, and convey that truth.
When you're surrounded by cynicism and fear, bear witness to the power and presence of love in your life. That will contribute more than all the rest.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
They will arrest you and persecute you... because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.
— Luke 21. 12-15
I don't think Jesus is necessarily promising to channel persuasive arguments or convincing doctrines to us. I think he is inviting us to be aware of how God has loved us, and to testify to that grace by loving others, even our persecutors. The “wisdom” Jesus conveyed is not a proposition or belief. It's a loving way of living. I don't think Jesus envisions his followers spouting correct doctrine. I think he envisions us being true to the spirit of love. I think he envisions us being loving instead of being defensive.
In Luke's gospel these sayings about the end times follow immediately after Jesus praises the poor widow for giving her two little coins to the temple. “She has put in more than all the others.” Maybe your testimony is whatever God has granted you to give, whatever is true of your life. You don't need to learn some esoteric wisdom; you just need to be aware of your own life, and the truth and power in it, and convey that truth.
When you're surrounded by cynicism and fear, bear witness to the power and presence of love in your life. That will contribute more than all the rest.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Not one stone
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
— Luke 21.5-6
What do you carve your name in?
He was right about the stones,
how they all came down,
how the temple joined a great line of ruins,
how every stone comes home to Ground Zero,
is dust, and returns to dust,
about your life, carved in stone.
What do you stand on?
Where the temple once was, stones remain,
a wall where the faithful come to pray.
They fold up little papers with prayers
and stick them between the stones,
moving their lips and murmuring.
What do you hold onto?
What we think of as stones
are just brief gatherings of sand.
Long after earth is gone,
the little scraps of paper will remain.
Long after God has forgotten the stones,
God will remember the prayers,
moving his lips and murmuring.
What do you believe in?
Heaven and hell are made of stone.
All that lasts is this living moment,
and whatever love is in it.
Let the stones vanish.
Come and meet God here,
now.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
— Luke 21.5-6
What do you carve your name in?
He was right about the stones,
how they all came down,
how the temple joined a great line of ruins,
how every stone comes home to Ground Zero,
is dust, and returns to dust,
about your life, carved in stone.
What do you stand on?
Where the temple once was, stones remain,
a wall where the faithful come to pray.
They fold up little papers with prayers
and stick them between the stones,
moving their lips and murmuring.
What do you hold onto?
What we think of as stones
are just brief gatherings of sand.
Long after earth is gone,
the little scraps of paper will remain.
Long after God has forgotten the stones,
God will remember the prayers,
moving his lips and murmuring.
What do you believe in?
Heaven and hell are made of stone.
All that lasts is this living moment,
and whatever love is in it.
Let the stones vanish.
Come and meet God here,
now.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
What Lucy said
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
God is not far away, watching us “from a distance.” God is with us intimately, lovingly, bringing us into being. When we feel our prayers are not answered, the lack is in our awareness, not God's. So we practice awareness. Recently my wise and lovely four year old great-niece Lucy was talking to her mother, Anna, who is also wise and lovely. This, word for word, is what Lucy said:
In your tummy,
I saw your bones and they were white.
I saw your blood and it was blue.
God was with me in your tummy.
He didn't even look at me,
not even once.
He just sat there with his eyes closed
and prayed.
And I watched Him day and night.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
God is not far away, watching us “from a distance.” God is with us intimately, lovingly, bringing us into being. When we feel our prayers are not answered, the lack is in our awareness, not God's. So we practice awareness. Recently my wise and lovely four year old great-niece Lucy was talking to her mother, Anna, who is also wise and lovely. This, word for word, is what Lucy said:
In your tummy,
I saw your bones and they were white.
I saw your blood and it was blue.
God was with me in your tummy.
He didn't even look at me,
not even once.
He just sat there with his eyes closed
and prayed.
And I watched Him day and night.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Milky Way
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
The Milky Way was created
by a herd of white horses
galloping through water
and the water stayed, the spray
of light, the radiant droplets
hung in the air, the light
slapped the horses' flanks and
leaped off into the sky, where it stays,
and the joy of the horses,
the thrilling, senseless running,
the unfurling of mane and tail like waves,
like wings, still vibrant in the darkness,
the rings of water ringing like bells,
rings expanding into rings,
and the silence sings, and the horses run,
still running, still flinging stars
into the darkness, where you can feel
the strike of their hoofbeats in your heart,
the flare of their nostrils, the wild energy
somewhere in the night, drumming,
and you want to know what to do,
because you know
they are coming.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
The Milky Way was created
by a herd of white horses
galloping through water
and the water stayed, the spray
of light, the radiant droplets
hung in the air, the light
slapped the horses' flanks and
leaped off into the sky, where it stays,
and the joy of the horses,
the thrilling, senseless running,
the unfurling of mane and tail like waves,
like wings, still vibrant in the darkness,
the rings of water ringing like bells,
rings expanding into rings,
and the silence sings, and the horses run,
still running, still flinging stars
into the darkness, where you can feel
the strike of their hoofbeats in your heart,
the flare of their nostrils, the wild energy
somewhere in the night, drumming,
and you want to know what to do,
because you know
they are coming.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, November 5, 2010
One splendid autumn day
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
One splendid autumn day
light leaps from leaves,
an ecstasy of yellow, red and orange,
your eyes enflamed with glory,
caught up in the moment's crimson rapture.
But then, when flame gives way to smoke,
and embers cool to ochre, dull and sere,
when fire gives way to ash
and winter's long stone wall,
will those moments be any less given,
any less precious and passing?
The light, even the light that languishes
beneath an asphalt sky,
beneath a soggy tarp of cloud,
still leaps within the light.
In the eye behind the eyes,
where grace is more than splendor,
every stain or shadow is a form of beauty,
the angle of a door a prayer,
and glory is the hidden name,
and praise a coiled spring within.
__________________
Weather Report
A glorious day,
as thick clouds,
unpleasant winds and incessant rain
reveal the divine presence
and the wonder of created Being
beyond the visible front
that is continually moving through our area.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
One splendid autumn day
light leaps from leaves,
an ecstasy of yellow, red and orange,
your eyes enflamed with glory,
caught up in the moment's crimson rapture.
But then, when flame gives way to smoke,
and embers cool to ochre, dull and sere,
when fire gives way to ash
and winter's long stone wall,
will those moments be any less given,
any less precious and passing?
The light, even the light that languishes
beneath an asphalt sky,
beneath a soggy tarp of cloud,
still leaps within the light.
In the eye behind the eyes,
where grace is more than splendor,
every stain or shadow is a form of beauty,
the angle of a door a prayer,
and glory is the hidden name,
and praise a coiled spring within.
__________________
Weather Report
A glorious day,
as thick clouds,
unpleasant winds and incessant rain
reveal the divine presence
and the wonder of created Being
beyond the visible front
that is continually moving through our area.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Children of the resurrection
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
"In the resurrection from the dead … They cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.... God is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to God all of them are alive."
— From Luke 20. 27-38
Jesus is talking about the afterlife. But also, he isn't. God is the God of the living, not the dead. Our faith is about how to live, not what happens to us when we die. If we believe in Resurrection, that we are somehow raised after we go to the grave, then we live right now as if we trust it. We live as children of the resurrection. If we know that we are raised after we die, then we have no reason to fear death. It has no power over us. Even before death, we already cannot die anymore.
Since God gives us life that even death can't overcome, that is the life we seek, and the grace we trust. We are not bound by the need to protect ourselves or preserve ourselves. We have no reason not to give ourselves away. We have no fear of taking risks for the sake of compassion. We can give of ourselves in attentiveness to others, unburdened by defensiveness, competition or greed. As children of the resurrection, in this life we are free. By the grace of God we are truly, deeply, joyfully alive.
Today, live with courage as a child of the resurrection.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
"In the resurrection from the dead … They cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.... God is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to God all of them are alive."
— From Luke 20. 27-38
Jesus is talking about the afterlife. But also, he isn't. God is the God of the living, not the dead. Our faith is about how to live, not what happens to us when we die. If we believe in Resurrection, that we are somehow raised after we go to the grave, then we live right now as if we trust it. We live as children of the resurrection. If we know that we are raised after we die, then we have no reason to fear death. It has no power over us. Even before death, we already cannot die anymore.
Since God gives us life that even death can't overcome, that is the life we seek, and the grace we trust. We are not bound by the need to protect ourselves or preserve ourselves. We have no reason not to give ourselves away. We have no fear of taking risks for the sake of compassion. We can give of ourselves in attentiveness to others, unburdened by defensiveness, competition or greed. As children of the resurrection, in this life we are free. By the grace of God we are truly, deeply, joyfully alive.
Today, live with courage as a child of the resurrection.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Voting and praying
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Yesterday your vote went into a pile, became a number, and got added up and compared to another pile. And then it disappeared. It's over. But when you pray your prayer goes into God, and is treasured forever.
When you vote, you are trying to influence an outcome. When you pray you let go of outcomes and become open to God's inflowing grace.
When you vote, you try to get someone or something else to change. When you pray you yourself change—which changes the world.
When you vote and lose, nothing comes of it. You lost. When you pray for something that has not come yet, as when you pray for peace, or justice for the poor, your prayer vibrates in harmony with the delight of God, which is the energy of the world, and transforms the world.
Your vote may or may not have an effect but your prayer always has an effect. You are a nerve cell of God. When you pray you deepen the world's awareness.
It was good that you voted yesterday. Now pray, and exercise some real power.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Yesterday your vote went into a pile, became a number, and got added up and compared to another pile. And then it disappeared. It's over. But when you pray your prayer goes into God, and is treasured forever.
When you vote, you are trying to influence an outcome. When you pray you let go of outcomes and become open to God's inflowing grace.
When you vote, you try to get someone or something else to change. When you pray you yourself change—which changes the world.
When you vote and lose, nothing comes of it. You lost. When you pray for something that has not come yet, as when you pray for peace, or justice for the poor, your prayer vibrates in harmony with the delight of God, which is the energy of the world, and transforms the world.
Your vote may or may not have an effect but your prayer always has an effect. You are a nerve cell of God. When you pray you deepen the world's awareness.
It was good that you voted yesterday. Now pray, and exercise some real power.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Voting
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
One might think that it's Halloween when the witches, ogres, monsters and all those scary figures finally take their costumes and go away. But it's really not 'till Election Day. Political ads have become increasingly negative to the point where it seems like an election is a Halloween contest for the scariest costume (we all know it's pretend) and the winner is whoever comes in last.
It's a symptom of our fear—not just fear of somebody doing something we don't like, but fear of what's inside us, fear of our own inner monsters. We want to be distracted from our vulnerability and our powerlessness and our shame. We want some cheesy issue to distract us from what really gnaws at us. We get inflamed about what other people ought to do so that we can ignore how we ought to change. We're glad to be made afraid of terrorists or immigrants or welfare cheats so we don't have to be afraid of our own selfishness and violence. We obsess with political issues so we can ignore God's issues, like poverty and war and our abuse of God's Creation.
The Bible says that love of money, that is, the desire to protect one's riches, is the root of all kinds of evil. Yet candidates will brag about how much of your riches they will protect (while actually putting in the hands of rich, powerful, unregulated corporations). The Bible says to love your neighbor, but candidates promise to separate you from your neighbors and disengage you from their struggles. Lusting for power, candidates pretend to be “ordinary people.” Candidates will claim to be “outsiders” with fresh perspectives, but ignore the needs of the real outsiders, those who are dispossessed and despised, foreign or voiceless.
It's as if we are invited, begged, to vote with fear and rancor, with cynicism and disregard for reality. But you—you, my friends, reading this on your computer screen this Tuesday morning— you will vote differently. You will vote prayerfully. You will vote gently and compassionately, with courage and generosity, without fear or self-serving, without bitterness or hate. You will vote as you live, in love and grace, and in truth. As Jesus bids you, you will vote for the sake of the poor, for those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted. You will vote with love. And if voting does not seem to accomplish this for you, if you leave the voting booth no more loving and courageous than you entered, then you've got the rest of the day to work on that. Shed the costumes, face your deepest fears, and learn to trust more deeply in the grace of God. The “results” won't show up in tomorrow’s papers, but they'll change the world.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
One might think that it's Halloween when the witches, ogres, monsters and all those scary figures finally take their costumes and go away. But it's really not 'till Election Day. Political ads have become increasingly negative to the point where it seems like an election is a Halloween contest for the scariest costume (we all know it's pretend) and the winner is whoever comes in last.
It's a symptom of our fear—not just fear of somebody doing something we don't like, but fear of what's inside us, fear of our own inner monsters. We want to be distracted from our vulnerability and our powerlessness and our shame. We want some cheesy issue to distract us from what really gnaws at us. We get inflamed about what other people ought to do so that we can ignore how we ought to change. We're glad to be made afraid of terrorists or immigrants or welfare cheats so we don't have to be afraid of our own selfishness and violence. We obsess with political issues so we can ignore God's issues, like poverty and war and our abuse of God's Creation.
The Bible says that love of money, that is, the desire to protect one's riches, is the root of all kinds of evil. Yet candidates will brag about how much of your riches they will protect (while actually putting in the hands of rich, powerful, unregulated corporations). The Bible says to love your neighbor, but candidates promise to separate you from your neighbors and disengage you from their struggles. Lusting for power, candidates pretend to be “ordinary people.” Candidates will claim to be “outsiders” with fresh perspectives, but ignore the needs of the real outsiders, those who are dispossessed and despised, foreign or voiceless.
It's as if we are invited, begged, to vote with fear and rancor, with cynicism and disregard for reality. But you—you, my friends, reading this on your computer screen this Tuesday morning— you will vote differently. You will vote prayerfully. You will vote gently and compassionately, with courage and generosity, without fear or self-serving, without bitterness or hate. You will vote as you live, in love and grace, and in truth. As Jesus bids you, you will vote for the sake of the poor, for those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted. You will vote with love. And if voting does not seem to accomplish this for you, if you leave the voting booth no more loving and courageous than you entered, then you've got the rest of the day to work on that. Shed the costumes, face your deepest fears, and learn to trust more deeply in the grace of God. The “results” won't show up in tomorrow’s papers, but they'll change the world.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, November 1, 2010
All Saints Day
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
You are God's holy saint,
chosen and blessed,
given sacred gifts,
invested with divine powers.
You were born to radiate the glory of God,
to fulfill God's deepest desires,
to complete God's delight.
You are given an extraordinary heart
for love, if only you discover it.
All that you do
has hidden in it this holy purpose,
this infinite potential.
You are not unusual among saints,
neither more nor less sanctified than any of them.
They are all people who have lives,
who wake up and make choices,
who do chores and forget things
and do not understand their place
in the splendor of the heavens.
This is not an excuse.
You were born to be holy.
This is not a burden,
not a duty, a command or an obligation,
not a threat or a trap.
It is a gift.
Let it be a wonder,
a mystery to ponder,
so that in your hands
it becomes a gift,
and you join the great choir
singing the magnificence of this life
and the One who gives it.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
You are God's holy saint,
chosen and blessed,
given sacred gifts,
invested with divine powers.
You were born to radiate the glory of God,
to fulfill God's deepest desires,
to complete God's delight.
You are given an extraordinary heart
for love, if only you discover it.
All that you do
has hidden in it this holy purpose,
this infinite potential.
You are not unusual among saints,
neither more nor less sanctified than any of them.
They are all people who have lives,
who wake up and make choices,
who do chores and forget things
and do not understand their place
in the splendor of the heavens.
This is not an excuse.
You were born to be holy.
This is not a burden,
not a duty, a command or an obligation,
not a threat or a trap.
It is a gift.
Let it be a wonder,
a mystery to ponder,
so that in your hands
it becomes a gift,
and you join the great choir
singing the magnificence of this life
and the One who gives it.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, October 29, 2010
Zacchaeus on Halloween
I'm invited to a dinner, OK? Weird thing is, it's at my place. Get this: I'm invited to be the host... invited to invite... Yeah, weird. What's even weirder: it's a costume party—you know, Halloween— and I'm coming disguised as myself. It's a crazy disguise, actually. Starts in a tree. Well, that's me disguised as a tall person. And disguised as somebody who doesn't really care. You know, at a bit of a distance, above it all, just curious, but not serious? Yeah, right. I would have died to be close to that guy, but I'm not about to let anybody see. So.... so the disguise.
But—the disguise doesn't fool him for a minute. He sees right thought it. “Hey, Zacchaeus!” (How the heck did he know it was me?) “I'm coming to your place. Lunch.” Whoa. Me? Who does he think I am? So we go. Now I've still got on a great disguise, a disguise that's fooled everybody forever: I go as a monster. An ogre. You know, like a tax collector, a greedy, slimy guy wallowing in stolen riches, living off other people's suffering. A scary dude. And again— it doesn't work! Dang if he doesn't see right through it. He knows it's a disguise, knows that it's really me under there. Only, OK, here's the really weird part: I don't know it. I don't realize that this is not the real me.
Until we sit down to eat. What is it about eating with thus guy? And he looks right through me, right through this thing that everybody else sees but isn't true, and he sees the real me beneath the costume, the me I've never even seen. And he respects that Zacchaeus that he sees, loves me, even. And, you know what? I love that Zacchaeus, too. And I think I'd love being that Zacchaeus. I think I will! I don't need to wear that costume, don't need to carry around this image of someone I'm not, somebody other than my real self, my real soul. No disguise.
So I take it off. I get rid of the whole thing. All the trappings. The greed, the money, the callousness. I give it away until there's nothing left but the person Jesus sees, this grateful, generous guy. I give it all away like party favors. And it is a party. It's like my birth day party! I'm a new person. I'm free! I feel like I've died and gone to heaven.
Which, I guess, I have. Maybe that's what he means when he says, “Salvation has come to this house. I came to seek and to save the lost.” Well, I don't know exactly what he was seeking, but I know what I've found. No fooling.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
But—the disguise doesn't fool him for a minute. He sees right thought it. “Hey, Zacchaeus!” (How the heck did he know it was me?) “I'm coming to your place. Lunch.” Whoa. Me? Who does he think I am? So we go. Now I've still got on a great disguise, a disguise that's fooled everybody forever: I go as a monster. An ogre. You know, like a tax collector, a greedy, slimy guy wallowing in stolen riches, living off other people's suffering. A scary dude. And again— it doesn't work! Dang if he doesn't see right through it. He knows it's a disguise, knows that it's really me under there. Only, OK, here's the really weird part: I don't know it. I don't realize that this is not the real me.
Until we sit down to eat. What is it about eating with thus guy? And he looks right through me, right through this thing that everybody else sees but isn't true, and he sees the real me beneath the costume, the me I've never even seen. And he respects that Zacchaeus that he sees, loves me, even. And, you know what? I love that Zacchaeus, too. And I think I'd love being that Zacchaeus. I think I will! I don't need to wear that costume, don't need to carry around this image of someone I'm not, somebody other than my real self, my real soul. No disguise.
So I take it off. I get rid of the whole thing. All the trappings. The greed, the money, the callousness. I give it away until there's nothing left but the person Jesus sees, this grateful, generous guy. I give it all away like party favors. And it is a party. It's like my birth day party! I'm a new person. I'm free! I feel like I've died and gone to heaven.
Which, I guess, I have. Maybe that's what he means when he says, “Salvation has come to this house. I came to seek and to save the lost.” Well, I don't know exactly what he was seeking, but I know what I've found. No fooling.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Live by faith
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
O Lord, how long shall I cry to you "Violence!"
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
there is still a vision for the appointed time.
It knows how this all will end;
it does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.
—from Habakkuk 1.2-4; 2. 2-4
You who continually pray for peace, who long for wisdom from our leaders and healing and reconciliation among all peoples, who labor for justice for the dispossessed and who wait for the day of joy for all who are sorrowful, who dream of the angel of forgiveness laying her wings over the world and the spirit of gentleness walking among all people—you who wait for the Day of God—take heart. In times of violence and greed, times of fear and bitterness, we may lose courage, lose our hope in the vision. But God is at work in this world. Grace hides in all things. Uncounted souls are giving of themselves to the mending of the world in ways we cannot see or know. But listen: the mighty Day of Joy will not come because we labor to produce it; it will be given as a gift from beyond time, and therefore we labor to prepare for it.
Our faith is not optimism that the “good guys” will win. It is trust that Being itself is good, and enfolds even evil. God includes all things, even our struggles. Even death itself is swallowed up in resurrection. Faith is trust in the hidden blessing in all things, even things fraught with evil and suffering. When we live by fear, our spirit is not right in us. But we who love, live by our faith in God.
Trust in the vision. Wait for it. It will surely come.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
O Lord, how long shall I cry to you "Violence!"
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
there is still a vision for the appointed time.
It knows how this all will end;
it does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.
—from Habakkuk 1.2-4; 2. 2-4
You who continually pray for peace, who long for wisdom from our leaders and healing and reconciliation among all peoples, who labor for justice for the dispossessed and who wait for the day of joy for all who are sorrowful, who dream of the angel of forgiveness laying her wings over the world and the spirit of gentleness walking among all people—you who wait for the Day of God—take heart. In times of violence and greed, times of fear and bitterness, we may lose courage, lose our hope in the vision. But God is at work in this world. Grace hides in all things. Uncounted souls are giving of themselves to the mending of the world in ways we cannot see or know. But listen: the mighty Day of Joy will not come because we labor to produce it; it will be given as a gift from beyond time, and therefore we labor to prepare for it.
Our faith is not optimism that the “good guys” will win. It is trust that Being itself is good, and enfolds even evil. God includes all things, even our struggles. Even death itself is swallowed up in resurrection. Faith is trust in the hidden blessing in all things, even things fraught with evil and suffering. When we live by fear, our spirit is not right in us. But we who love, live by our faith in God.
Trust in the vision. Wait for it. It will surely come.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Treed
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
You've got me treed,
held in the cross-hairs
of your sharpshooter grace
up here with all my complications,
trapped among these anxious limbs
(we hold each other nervously).
I just wanted to peek,
to keep my distance,
observe and play it safe—
but now you've named me,
nailed me
(I could just die)—
and there is no way to save myself
from this tree of my undoing
(I could just fall)
but through you,
through your grave command,
your invitation
to become the host
in breaking bread
(still clinging, white-knuckled)
where I will recognize myself at last,
at last let go,
and rise from the table
into a spacious place,
a future I can't imagine
until it cuts me loose.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
You've got me treed,
held in the cross-hairs
of your sharpshooter grace
up here with all my complications,
trapped among these anxious limbs
(we hold each other nervously).
I just wanted to peek,
to keep my distance,
observe and play it safe—
but now you've named me,
nailed me
(I could just die)—
and there is no way to save myself
from this tree of my undoing
(I could just fall)
but through you,
through your grave command,
your invitation
to become the host
in breaking bread
(still clinging, white-knuckled)
where I will recognize myself at last,
at last let go,
and rise from the table
into a spacious place,
a future I can't imagine
until it cuts me loose.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
The heart sits
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
The eye wanders around the room
picking up things, dropping them,
not feeling them, just pointing,
the ear pokes around another room,
not really getting the full taste,
just the drift of things,
fingers fidget as they are wont,
and the tongue is way too busy
to notice any of them—
while the heart sits
in darkness and silence within,
and opens
to the One Who Embraces,
the One Who Fills,
the One Who Adores.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
The eye wanders around the room
picking up things, dropping them,
not feeling them, just pointing,
the ear pokes around another room,
not really getting the full taste,
just the drift of things,
fingers fidget as they are wont,
and the tongue is way too busy
to notice any of them—
while the heart sits
in darkness and silence within,
and opens
to the One Who Embraces,
the One Who Fills,
the One Who Adores.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, October 25, 2010
The other wing
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
We don't recognize the bright shapes
passing overhead
nor clearly ourselves
as we stump along the bitter ground,
enfolding burdens at our side,
trailing our one wing in the dirt
or flapping it desperately.
We are not all birds with one wing.
We are moths with one wing,
beautiful dragonflies
with one transparent wing,
majestic eagles who strike fear
into little ones with our talons, our beaks,
our one wing.
Isn't there another wing?
Something in us knows.
We search, we steal, we build them,
glorious and strong and false,
we bind another to us whole,
or sever wings and strap them on,
or lop the first for symmetry.
But all of us should have two wings.
Where is the other one?
The beauty, the balance, the natural
lift and soar and fearless grace?
It is here.
Let me touch you.
It is here.
Let me look at you.
It is here.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
We don't recognize the bright shapes
passing overhead
nor clearly ourselves
as we stump along the bitter ground,
enfolding burdens at our side,
trailing our one wing in the dirt
or flapping it desperately.
We are not all birds with one wing.
We are moths with one wing,
beautiful dragonflies
with one transparent wing,
majestic eagles who strike fear
into little ones with our talons, our beaks,
our one wing.
Isn't there another wing?
Something in us knows.
We search, we steal, we build them,
glorious and strong and false,
we bind another to us whole,
or sever wings and strap them on,
or lop the first for symmetry.
But all of us should have two wings.
Where is the other one?
The beauty, the balance, the natural
lift and soar and fearless grace?
It is here.
Let me touch you.
It is here.
Let me look at you.
It is here.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Fire
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
I walk in falling flames of leaves
leaping to the heavens at my feet.
I am like a figure walking
in the fiery furnace.
How is it I am not consumed?
How is it I do not catch fire?
Ah, but I do. And I am.
How is it I do not wake up?
_____________________________
Weather Report
Incendiary,
If you get close enough.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
I walk in falling flames of leaves
leaping to the heavens at my feet.
I am like a figure walking
in the fiery furnace.
How is it I am not consumed?
How is it I do not catch fire?
Ah, but I do. And I am.
How is it I do not wake up?
_____________________________
Weather Report
Incendiary,
If you get close enough.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Sooner or later
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
You can believe that you know
all the good stuff
pass by the altar with a knowing smile
nod at the prayer book the candle the mat
remembering that you've mastered it
carry the wise precepts in your wallet
as you go on
and on.
But sooner or later
in life or in death
you become still
lay down your burden
notice the weight absent from your shoulders
notice the sensation of not running in your feet
in your head
forget all you can do
everything you know
do this difficult thing
of being withheld
from the desperate chaos
being addressed
being loved
being not the One
who is doing the doing.
Sooner or later
and as often as you wish
you stop thinking
you are saved
and let it happen.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
You can believe that you know
all the good stuff
pass by the altar with a knowing smile
nod at the prayer book the candle the mat
remembering that you've mastered it
carry the wise precepts in your wallet
as you go on
and on.
But sooner or later
in life or in death
you become still
lay down your burden
notice the weight absent from your shoulders
notice the sensation of not running in your feet
in your head
forget all you can do
everything you know
do this difficult thing
of being withheld
from the desperate chaos
being addressed
being loved
being not the One
who is doing the doing.
Sooner or later
and as often as you wish
you stop thinking
you are saved
and let it happen.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Pharisee and the tax collector
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
1.
Two men went up to pray,
one good enough and one not.
Neither you nor God, adoring,
can tell which is which.
Unless you're so damn sure
you know,
in which case we can tell
which one you're not.
2.
The fruit of the tree
of Good and Evil
wasn't knowing the difference
but thinking it was best.
Stop trying to guess
how good you are
and fall in love with God,
whose mercy is all there is.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
1.
Two men went up to pray,
one good enough and one not.
Neither you nor God, adoring,
can tell which is which.
Unless you're so damn sure
you know,
in which case we can tell
which one you're not.
2.
The fruit of the tree
of Good and Evil
wasn't knowing the difference
but thinking it was best.
Stop trying to guess
how good you are
and fall in love with God,
whose mercy is all there is.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Listening
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
God, how are you speaking to me today?
With what tiny voice,
what weary but persistent voice,
like an resilient widow,
coming to me quietly again and again?
With the silence voice of the heavens,
of the created order—your Word made flesh?
What murmurings stir in my heart,
what subtle leanings, what recurring awareness?
Is there some gratitude, some blessing
that wants me to give it voice?
Is there some compassion that rises in me,
some yearning on behalf of my sisters and brothers?
Is there someone crying out
whom my hearts wants to hear?
Who is on my heart this day?
Might your truth be written already on my heart?
What truth, or insight, or question,
what unspoken wonder emerges from my silence?
What presence grants itself to me?
What invites my presence?
God, this is my faith, and my prayer:
I am listening.
Give me grace to hear.
Amen.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
God, how are you speaking to me today?
With what tiny voice,
what weary but persistent voice,
like an resilient widow,
coming to me quietly again and again?
With the silence voice of the heavens,
of the created order—your Word made flesh?
What murmurings stir in my heart,
what subtle leanings, what recurring awareness?
Is there some gratitude, some blessing
that wants me to give it voice?
Is there some compassion that rises in me,
some yearning on behalf of my sisters and brothers?
Is there someone crying out
whom my hearts wants to hear?
Who is on my heart this day?
Might your truth be written already on my heart?
What truth, or insight, or question,
what unspoken wonder emerges from my silence?
What presence grants itself to me?
What invites my presence?
God, this is my faith, and my prayer:
I am listening.
Give me grace to hear.
Amen.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, October 18, 2010
God got tired
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
God got tired of office work,
the endless lists,
the promotions and demotions,
the staff, so sure of themselves,
yet sucking up all the time.
God got tired of the theorems,
the measurements, the grading.
(The one rubber stamp that said SAVED
was weary from overuse, the S and D
worn away so that it just said AVE;
the others languished in a drawer.)
God got tired of the office politics,
the micromanagement, the power.
God got tired of being right,
being the only one who had any brains,
being in charge of every damn little thing.
So God left the paperwork undone,
rose, stretched, and walked off,
passing under the official portrait
(in oils, not photography, so quaint!)
with its distant, imperious gaze
(and those eyebrows!)—
headed for the enormous door,
and then thought better of it, turned around
and slipped out the service entrance,
into the breeze, the light,
the greening spring,
into children looking up at parents,
into moments of doubt and wonder,
into the smallest acts of love,
into ordinary things around the house,
into the chalice of this day.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
__________________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
God got tired of office work,
the endless lists,
the promotions and demotions,
the staff, so sure of themselves,
yet sucking up all the time.
God got tired of the theorems,
the measurements, the grading.
(The one rubber stamp that said SAVED
was weary from overuse, the S and D
worn away so that it just said AVE;
the others languished in a drawer.)
God got tired of the office politics,
the micromanagement, the power.
God got tired of being right,
being the only one who had any brains,
being in charge of every damn little thing.
So God left the paperwork undone,
rose, stretched, and walked off,
passing under the official portrait
(in oils, not photography, so quaint!)
with its distant, imperious gaze
(and those eyebrows!)—
headed for the enormous door,
and then thought better of it, turned around
and slipped out the service entrance,
into the breeze, the light,
the greening spring,
into children looking up at parents,
into moments of doubt and wonder,
into the smallest acts of love,
into ordinary things around the house,
into the chalice of this day.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
__________________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, October 15, 2010
Psalm from a Chilean mine
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
God of grace, I praise you!
Let me never take you for granted!
My very being is your doing,
and my life is a testimony to you.
For I was buried deep
and you brought me up.
I was in darkness
and you gave me light.
I was in a narrow place
and you have brought me out
to a spacious and open-armed land,
to people who love me.
Cut off, I thought I was alone,
but you were with me:
you accompanied me in my helplessness;
you sat with me in my solitude.
In the dark, I could not see
anyone to rescue me.
But there were those who prayed for me,
who labored for my well-being.
How soon will I forget
that you are my life?
How quiet will I be
about your grace?
How afraid will I be of the dark,
how despairing in my difficulties?
Holy One, you are my gladness;
you are my confidence.
In my tightest spots I will trust you,
and count on your unfailing grace.
When most alone I will rely on you,
and your loving presence.
O God of Presence, you are my life.
I thank you with all of my living.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
God of grace, I praise you!
Let me never take you for granted!
My very being is your doing,
and my life is a testimony to you.
For I was buried deep
and you brought me up.
I was in darkness
and you gave me light.
I was in a narrow place
and you have brought me out
to a spacious and open-armed land,
to people who love me.
Cut off, I thought I was alone,
but you were with me:
you accompanied me in my helplessness;
you sat with me in my solitude.
In the dark, I could not see
anyone to rescue me.
But there were those who prayed for me,
who labored for my well-being.
How soon will I forget
that you are my life?
How quiet will I be
about your grace?
How afraid will I be of the dark,
how despairing in my difficulties?
Holy One, you are my gladness;
you are my confidence.
In my tightest spots I will trust you,
and count on your unfailing grace.
When most alone I will rely on you,
and your loving presence.
O God of Presence, you are my life.
I thank you with all of my living.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Psalm 19
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Psalm 19
Creation sings the glory of God;
the galaxies utter their prayers daily.
Each day is a word of God's story;
each night discloses the truth.
Oh, they don't talk with words,
not with audible voices.
But their message saturates the world,
and reaches to the edge of the universe.
God has set the sun at home in this world,
and every day it comes to marry us,
comes to dance with vigor and grace.
It comes to our world from another,
and visits everywhere,
and no one is overlooked.
God's love is all that we need;
it restarts our hearts.
God's wisdom is as sure as gravity;
it sustains even the unwise.
God's ways are pure beauty,
delighting the soul.
God's desire allures us,
enlightens our eyes.
Live in wonder and awe and you become holy;
you slip into the eternal.
The voice of God is What Is;
pay attention and you truly live.
Throw away money for this kind of wisdom,
even what you actually need.
Abandon all your loves for this Love,
your favorite things, your most precious.
God, your love portrays me better than I;
when I listen I become myself.
But who can see themselves clearly?
Save me from my hidden faults.
Cut me loose from my attachment to myself.
Set me free from my fears.
Help me live as a servant to life,
not hurting or destroying.
God, may all my thoughts and words and actions
be in harmony with your delight—
my Lifeboat, my Lover,
my Life.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Psalm 19
Creation sings the glory of God;
the galaxies utter their prayers daily.
Each day is a word of God's story;
each night discloses the truth.
Oh, they don't talk with words,
not with audible voices.
But their message saturates the world,
and reaches to the edge of the universe.
God has set the sun at home in this world,
and every day it comes to marry us,
comes to dance with vigor and grace.
It comes to our world from another,
and visits everywhere,
and no one is overlooked.
God's love is all that we need;
it restarts our hearts.
God's wisdom is as sure as gravity;
it sustains even the unwise.
God's ways are pure beauty,
delighting the soul.
God's desire allures us,
enlightens our eyes.
Live in wonder and awe and you become holy;
you slip into the eternal.
The voice of God is What Is;
pay attention and you truly live.
Throw away money for this kind of wisdom,
even what you actually need.
Abandon all your loves for this Love,
your favorite things, your most precious.
God, your love portrays me better than I;
when I listen I become myself.
But who can see themselves clearly?
Save me from my hidden faults.
Cut me loose from my attachment to myself.
Set me free from my fears.
Help me live as a servant to life,
not hurting or destroying.
God, may all my thoughts and words and actions
be in harmony with your delight—
my Lifeboat, my Lover,
my Life.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Loss
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
So much is in a tiny boat
sailing away into the gray
you try so hard to keep
your balance on the space between
while you stand on this wide
virgin shore and behind you
stretches a whole continent
into the rest of the century
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
__________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
So much is in a tiny boat
sailing away into the gray
you try so hard to keep
your balance on the space between
while you stand on this wide
virgin shore and behind you
stretches a whole continent
into the rest of the century
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
__________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
If you want
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
If you want
you can find reasons to withhold.
In the autumn,
some apples do not fall.
For every gift
there is a regret, if you seek it.
The greater the leap
the more possible it is to refrain.
An empty room
has no shadows.
The more intense the silence
the more deeply it is heard.
Without thinking,
you often step into light.
You are never ready
when the music overtakes you.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
If you want
you can find reasons to withhold.
In the autumn,
some apples do not fall.
For every gift
there is a regret, if you seek it.
The greater the leap
the more possible it is to refrain.
An empty room
has no shadows.
The more intense the silence
the more deeply it is heard.
Without thinking,
you often step into light.
You are never ready
when the music overtakes you.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, October 11, 2010
Keep praying
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
There was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. A widow kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, "Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”
— Luke 18. 2-5
We have to confess: sometimes we judge; sometimes we neither honor God nor respect people. And God comes to us again and again, pleading for justice. All too often we refuse. But give thanks that God is continually coming, wearing us down with her grace.
God does not speak to us in thundering tones, through authoritative powers with clarion voices. God speaks in the quiet murmurs in our hearts, in gentle nudgings and nagging questions. While our imperious, judging egoistic mind is busy with its business, God speaks in subtle, unflagging leanings of our hearts, the widowed voices within us. And God speaks in the voice of the poor and dispossessed, the vulnerable and powerless, in the silence of those who have no voice. She wears us down with the truth, with slight but persistent invitations to pay attention to what is within us and around us, calling us to love, to justice, to courage.
Prayer is not our attempt to get God to pay attention; it is the attention we give to God. We are by nature hard of hearing toward God's entreaties. So it takes time. We have to keep praying, keep listening. God's Word calls us to love radically. It is often outside the range of our expectations or even our initial acceptance, so it takes courage to listen. We have to not lose heart. (“Will the Human One come and find faith on earth?”)
Be still and listen for the patient widow's knock on your door. Listen for her voice. What might God be inviting you toward? How might God be seeking your attention? How is God coming to you now? Listen and wait; pray always and do not lose heart.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
There was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. A widow kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, "Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”
— Luke 18. 2-5
We have to confess: sometimes we judge; sometimes we neither honor God nor respect people. And God comes to us again and again, pleading for justice. All too often we refuse. But give thanks that God is continually coming, wearing us down with her grace.
God does not speak to us in thundering tones, through authoritative powers with clarion voices. God speaks in the quiet murmurs in our hearts, in gentle nudgings and nagging questions. While our imperious, judging egoistic mind is busy with its business, God speaks in subtle, unflagging leanings of our hearts, the widowed voices within us. And God speaks in the voice of the poor and dispossessed, the vulnerable and powerless, in the silence of those who have no voice. She wears us down with the truth, with slight but persistent invitations to pay attention to what is within us and around us, calling us to love, to justice, to courage.
Prayer is not our attempt to get God to pay attention; it is the attention we give to God. We are by nature hard of hearing toward God's entreaties. So it takes time. We have to keep praying, keep listening. God's Word calls us to love radically. It is often outside the range of our expectations or even our initial acceptance, so it takes courage to listen. We have to not lose heart. (“Will the Human One come and find faith on earth?”)
Be still and listen for the patient widow's knock on your door. Listen for her voice. What might God be inviting you toward? How might God be seeking your attention? How is God coming to you now? Listen and wait; pray always and do not lose heart.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, October 8, 2010
Practice gratitude
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Ten lepers approached him.... One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.... Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?...” Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
— From Luke 17. 11-19
What constituted that man's faith was gratitude. He didn't believe anything other than what the others did. What distinguished him was his gratitude for what he had received. It was his gratitude that made him whole.
Gratitude is the heart of faith. Whatever we call “faith” that is not rooted in gratitude is really just an attempt to manipulate God.
Gratitude is not something you always feel. It is something you practice. Today, practice gratitude.
If all you do is live a life that says, “Thank you,” it will be a life well lived.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Ten lepers approached him.... One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.... Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?...” Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
— From Luke 17. 11-19
What constituted that man's faith was gratitude. He didn't believe anything other than what the others did. What distinguished him was his gratitude for what he had received. It was his gratitude that made him whole.
Gratitude is the heart of faith. Whatever we call “faith” that is not rooted in gratitude is really just an attempt to manipulate God.
Gratitude is not something you always feel. It is something you practice. Today, practice gratitude.
If all you do is live a life that says, “Thank you,” it will be a life well lived.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, October 7, 2010
If we have died with him
If we have died with him
we will also live with him.
— 2 Timothy 2.11
Give it all away:
your stuff, your blessings,
your good will, your love,
goodness yes, your love.
Give away yourself.
Give away your best things,
your favorite things.
Don't hold back.
Pour it on, dump it out,
throw it all into people's laps.
Let everything good
flow like a spring from you, a river,
all of it—though it multiplies
as you surrender it.
Spend it, lose it, neglect it, waste it—
waste it on the least deserving,
the least understanding, the least aware.
Don't calculate, as if you have to budget.
Ridiculously extravagant, fearlessly,
recklessly, giddily generous,
mindlessly raid your own savings of grace
and abandon it to your neighbors—
all your stuff, and God's as well,
until you have given away
the crumbs of your love,
your pictures, your house, your floor,
the ground beneath you,
everything,
even your life
until there is nothing left
but God,
and you will be really alive.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Weary prayer
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Gentle One,
I am battered.
I am tired.
Something in me deep is weary.
Hold me.
I'm tired of swinging this oar
against the ceaseless waves
against these strong arms
that pound me drown me
pushing against what pushes against
keeping up defending
getting everything done.—
Don't make me have to survive.
Relieve me.
Take this uniform, this costume,
this suit of adequacy. Take it away.
Take this life, another's invention,
this skin I hardly fit into.
Strip me of all that,
till there is only myself,
naked and helpless and beloved
lying in your hand.
Let me be you, asleep in the boat;
let the storm go on on its own.
In the back of the boat,
hold me, rocking, rocking,
maybe even sing a little.
Let me lie here and listen.
Myself, I'll lie here and listen.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Gentle One,
I am battered.
I am tired.
Something in me deep is weary.
Hold me.
I'm tired of swinging this oar
against the ceaseless waves
against these strong arms
that pound me drown me
pushing against what pushes against
keeping up defending
getting everything done.—
Don't make me have to survive.
Relieve me.
Take this uniform, this costume,
this suit of adequacy. Take it away.
Take this life, another's invention,
this skin I hardly fit into.
Strip me of all that,
till there is only myself,
naked and helpless and beloved
lying in your hand.
Let me be you, asleep in the boat;
let the storm go on on its own.
In the back of the boat,
hold me, rocking, rocking,
maybe even sing a little.
Let me lie here and listen.
Myself, I'll lie here and listen.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Laboring prayer
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
We loaded 47,650 pounds of pumpkins off the truck yesterday. Our church will sell them through October to raise funds for missions. I ended the day tired, sore and happy. My knees in particular went to bed with a keen memory of the work.
Work it was, picking up and passing (or tossing) 2,656 pumpkins down the line, out of the truck and into the church yard. Some weighed as much as 40 pounds. Deep in the bowels of the semi trailer, it was dark, dusty and sweaty. Pumpkins were tumbling down from the pile, flying through the air, swinging down the line. And in that labor there was joy. There was laughter. Had we not been grunting so much there could have been more singing. (There was a brief chorus of “47,000 pounds of pumpkins on the truck.”) There was a sense that we were passing more than fruit from hand to hand. (Yes, pumpkins are fruit.) And in the end there was the satisfaction of a job well done.
For a few hours we joined in the song of laborers, the dance of mind and muscle. We joined all those whose labor is their lives and their prayer: stevedores unloading ships; ranch hands bucking hay; trash collectors heaving out our garbage; bellhops carrying luggage; stonemasons hauling bricks; fruit pickers, fishermen, roofers and miners. And for a moment we also joined those for whom labor is not a joy but an oppressive burden, those who harvest our chocolate or sew our shirts or dig for our diamonds, whose labor is dangerous, and done under duress. I give thanks for all their labors, and lift them up as offerings to God.
Sometimes our prayers are wordy things; sometimes they are silent thoughts. But sometimes our prayer is labor, our shoulders put to the weight of the world, our hands laid upon the rough and the smooth, our backs familiar with the heft of life.
Give thanks for all that you can do. Give thanks for the strength of your flesh. Give thanks for the simple jobs in which you can praise God, serve your neighbors, and make the world a little more beautiful. And when you're done, don't forget to say “Amen.”
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
We loaded 47,650 pounds of pumpkins off the truck yesterday. Our church will sell them through October to raise funds for missions. I ended the day tired, sore and happy. My knees in particular went to bed with a keen memory of the work.
Work it was, picking up and passing (or tossing) 2,656 pumpkins down the line, out of the truck and into the church yard. Some weighed as much as 40 pounds. Deep in the bowels of the semi trailer, it was dark, dusty and sweaty. Pumpkins were tumbling down from the pile, flying through the air, swinging down the line. And in that labor there was joy. There was laughter. Had we not been grunting so much there could have been more singing. (There was a brief chorus of “47,000 pounds of pumpkins on the truck.”) There was a sense that we were passing more than fruit from hand to hand. (Yes, pumpkins are fruit.) And in the end there was the satisfaction of a job well done.
For a few hours we joined in the song of laborers, the dance of mind and muscle. We joined all those whose labor is their lives and their prayer: stevedores unloading ships; ranch hands bucking hay; trash collectors heaving out our garbage; bellhops carrying luggage; stonemasons hauling bricks; fruit pickers, fishermen, roofers and miners. And for a moment we also joined those for whom labor is not a joy but an oppressive burden, those who harvest our chocolate or sew our shirts or dig for our diamonds, whose labor is dangerous, and done under duress. I give thanks for all their labors, and lift them up as offerings to God.
Sometimes our prayers are wordy things; sometimes they are silent thoughts. But sometimes our prayer is labor, our shoulders put to the weight of the world, our hands laid upon the rough and the smooth, our backs familiar with the heft of life.
Give thanks for all that you can do. Give thanks for the strength of your flesh. Give thanks for the simple jobs in which you can praise God, serve your neighbors, and make the world a little more beautiful. And when you're done, don't forget to say “Amen.”
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Monday, October 4, 2010
Autumn colors
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Autumn colors have an edge.
Shards of red and orange crackle
through the cracks and splintered ends
of summer's gentle arc.
Behind the green and murmuring veil of bliss
death speckles every leaf and bark,
and colors spark and hiss.
Leaves turn the shade of blood,
the shade of bread, then die;
they bleed and wash the trees
with broken colors,
shadows radiant and bright,
‘till all is gathered and dispersed,
‘till all is white.
Death's season; passion's colors:
these hues are loose,
and not at our command,
but still not unforgiving:
undomesticated shades
only at the edges of our living.
Faith is such a luminous surrender:
the red transfiguration of the tree,
celebrant with unexpected brightness
pouring life, unshackled, to the wind.
Listen at the garden's edge, dear child
of life and death, to this rustling oracle:
that what we call a miracle
is often simply wild.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Autumn colors have an edge.
Shards of red and orange crackle
through the cracks and splintered ends
of summer's gentle arc.
Behind the green and murmuring veil of bliss
death speckles every leaf and bark,
and colors spark and hiss.
Leaves turn the shade of blood,
the shade of bread, then die;
they bleed and wash the trees
with broken colors,
shadows radiant and bright,
‘till all is gathered and dispersed,
‘till all is white.
Death's season; passion's colors:
these hues are loose,
and not at our command,
but still not unforgiving:
undomesticated shades
only at the edges of our living.
Faith is such a luminous surrender:
the red transfiguration of the tree,
celebrant with unexpected brightness
pouring life, unshackled, to the wind.
Listen at the garden's edge, dear child
of life and death, to this rustling oracle:
that what we call a miracle
is often simply wild.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Friday, October 1, 2010
Rekindle the gift
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
— 2 Timothy 1. 6-7
At your conception God laid a creating hand on you and brought a gift of power and love into this world. At your birth your mother wrapped her strong hands around you and God's gift in you sparkled in the light: the gift of being who you are, of letting your beauty blossom naturally, of belonging among us. At your baptism somebody laid a gentle hand on you; some human touch connected your heart with another, which was connected to all others. That hand touched God's gift in you, the gift of the Spirit, the power to radiate God.
Since then much has threatened to bury that gift, to quench the flame. But take courage. Christ continually comes to rekindle the gift. There can be no more serious question for you than this: What do you need to do to rekindle the fire of God within you? Do it. And don't finish answering too quickly. Keep listening.
Discipline yourself to care for your spirit of love and power so that in your own way you can abandon all cowardice and radiate God.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
— 2 Timothy 1. 6-7
At your conception God laid a creating hand on you and brought a gift of power and love into this world. At your birth your mother wrapped her strong hands around you and God's gift in you sparkled in the light: the gift of being who you are, of letting your beauty blossom naturally, of belonging among us. At your baptism somebody laid a gentle hand on you; some human touch connected your heart with another, which was connected to all others. That hand touched God's gift in you, the gift of the Spirit, the power to radiate God.
Since then much has threatened to bury that gift, to quench the flame. But take courage. Christ continually comes to rekindle the gift. There can be no more serious question for you than this: What do you need to do to rekindle the fire of God within you? Do it. And don't finish answering too quickly. Keep listening.
Discipline yourself to care for your spirit of love and power so that in your own way you can abandon all cowardice and radiate God.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Free
Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Don't seek divine union,
not yet. That's a lot to ask for.
Don't seek wisdom or deep faith.
They take a long time to grow.
Don't bother with feeling God's presence.
Feelings are slippery things.
And to know the will of God,
well, that's ridiculous.
Simply want this:
to be free with God.
The blackbird cries raucously,
lifts from the dead branch
and swoops over the driveway.
And the sky,
the blue and white sky
loves it.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Grace and Peace to you.
Don't seek divine union,
not yet. That's a lot to ask for.
Don't seek wisdom or deep faith.
They take a long time to grow.
Don't bother with feeling God's presence.
Feelings are slippery things.
And to know the will of God,
well, that's ridiculous.
Simply want this:
to be free with God.
The blackbird cries raucously,
lifts from the dead branch
and swoops over the driveway.
And the sky,
the blue and white sky
loves it.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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