I return

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.



•

Holy One,
Unsayable Love,
you have chosen this morning
to rise in this sun,
to breathe in this body,
to blossom in me.

I am in awe.
I am in you.
I am at peace.

I sit in your light.
I live in your heartbeat.
I rest in your love.

Though I go onto my work this day
may I remain here always
in your peace.

I thank you.
I bless you.
I return to you.
Always, I return to you.


•





Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve


_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

Breathe in me

Dearly Beloved,


Grace and Peace to you.



Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you... As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”
— John 20. 19, 21-22


Breathe in me, risen Christ.
Revive me.
I inhale your presence.
Your light fill me,
your compassion warm me.
Your Spirit be my life.
My flesh absorb you,
dense with the weight
of your resurrection.
My body resonate with your energy,
my eyes radiate your love.
May I receive your grace,
breathe deeply of your life,
rest in your presence.

And then when it is time,
breathing in through me,
breathing out through me,
send me on your breath
into this wounded world,
this beautiful world,
present in your presence,
breathing in your grace,
and breathing out.




Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve



_______________________________

Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

Hosanna

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!"
— John 12.13

Hosanna, “Save us!”

Save us, God, from all our shiny false gods
who take from us our honesty
and give us a drugged heaven of complacency.
Save us from our successful saviors
who protect us from reality,
our mighty armies that defend us from each other
at the cost of our souls.
Save us from our fear of being ourselves,
our fear of the Nothing of which are created
our fear of death, as if it could
take us from ourselves, or from you.
Save us from all the junk that we cling to,
that rusts even as we clutch it to our chests,
that sinks even as we hold it to stay afloat.
Save us from the selfishness that we justify.
Save us from trying to be saved instead of spent.
Save us from our despair, our resentments,
our poisonous replacements for compassion.
From the fear that we breathe
and the prayers that we lob at one another,
from the distractions that wrench us from this life,
save us.
From the lives we try to construct of our own desires,
save us.
From the habits and attachments and addictions
that run our lives into the ditch every time—
and yet we follow them as slaves—
save us.
By your mighty love, your wrenching truth,
your re-orienting forgiveness, your grace
that takes us and blesses us and breaks us and gives us,
that delivers us into the Heaven of this world,
that bears us into the infinite, eternal life of this moment,
that resurrects us always into your presence,
your love, your delight,
save us.
Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest.


Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve



_______________________________

Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

New creation

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.


If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away;
see, everything has become new!
— 2 Corinthians 5. 17-18

O Love,
I am ready for a new Creation.
I am willing to be in Christ,
to be a word in your song,
a ripple of your pond.

I am willing to be made new.
Everything “mine” I let go of.
All that is “so far” I surrender.
I am ready to be re-created
scoreless, nothing on my record,
created, given, not accomplished:

as your Beloved,
ready for the stunning beginning,
the first day’s wonder,
the orienting hope,
the shimmering not-yet-knowing,
the wide field of the world,
lifted out of this narrow grave,
opening before me.

I am open
for everything, all Creation
to be made
in an instant,
the next miracle,
this present moment,
now.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

Prodigal prayer

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.


There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” … The older son said, “For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.”
— from Luke 15

This is a story about two sons who are both selfish, and a father who is lavishly generous. As are all of Jesus' parables, it's a story about abundance. Notice that both of the sons treat the father the same: they do not care about him or his presence; they only want his stuff. Isn't that how we pray most of the time? We ask God for stuff: “Heal this disease. Make this work out OK. Answer my petition.” But we don't simply open ourselves to God's presence. How seldom we pray, “God, no matter what happens, I just want to be with you.” It comes from our fear that there won't be enough blessing. When we feel that God does not answer our prayers, it's probably because we're just asking for God's stuff. But God's answer to our prayer is always the same: “You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”

Even in praying for others we can pray our selfishness— “here's what I want” —and forget to pray our generosity: “Here's what I trust; here's what I offer.” Christ invites us to be prodigal (recklessly extravagant) in prayer toward God and others, even those who have hurt us. This spirit of abundance is rooted in our most basic prayer: our openness to God's presence and blessing, and our desire to be present for the One who is present for us. It is to pray, “God, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”

Listen for God's Presence, and entrust yourself to it.


Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve



_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com

Sea

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.





Your prayers are already in you
like water in the sea.

All you have to do is let them rise
from you like mist.

You and the sea will dry up on the same day
ten billion years from now

when you have
other concerns.






Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve



_______________________________

Copyright (c) 2010
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

Of your love

Divine Love,
of your love
all day long I am unfolding the letter,
of your love
all day long I am uncovering the treasure,
all day long I am unclasping the chest,
all day long I am welcoming the courier,
I am approaching the door,
I am tipping the vessel.
Of your love all day long
I am feeling the hands,
I am removing the clothes,
I am hearing the song,
I am falling into the heart,
slipping into the inside.
Of your love
all day long
there is always yet more.
Of your love
all day long
may I be mindful and rejoice.







_______________________________
Copyright (c) Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

Flood me

Infinite, Loving Presence,
this day, in all light and darkness,
flow into me through my eyes.
In every sound and silence I hear,
fill me through my ears.
In everything I touch,
and everything I release,
flood me through my hands.
May the infinite presence of your Spirit
pour into me in every breath.
With every mysterious beat of my heart
and all my words and thoughts and deeds,
by your gentle grace, may your love
flow into this open world
this day through me.





_______________________________

Copyright (c) Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

Silence

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.


In the face of the deep suffering of the world,
and the smallness of our powers—
silence.

In the shadow of our complicity
in the poverty and endangerment of millions—
silence.

Amidst the chatter of hearts that want solutions
and minds that want explanations—
silence.

In the embrace of a love stronger than gravity,
a presence thicker than earth—
silence.

On the solid ground of a hope beyond our knowing,
and sovereign, steadfast healing—
silence.

Unafraid to be here, even now,
and to have nothing to say but to give our hearts—
silence.

For the healing of those whose sorrow is beyond words,
stilled by the tenderness of us all—
silence.

In the strength of a love beyond speaking,
held in the gentle, wounded hands of God—
silence.

Broken-hearted and flowing with love,
powerless and confident—
silence.

Trusting now no less than on a day of triumph,
we dare to hold—for longer than a moment—
silence.




Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________

Copyright (c) 2010
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

An earhquake prayer

Enfolding Mystery,
when the earth quakes and the seas tremble
we become our smallness,
the eyes of our hearts are opened
and we fall into your arms.
Heart of our sorrow and source of our joy,
hold us in your stillness, your oneness, your love.
Enfold us gently in your presence,
and hold us all in one common suffering, one hope.
Divine Sufferer,
you who are the light that shines out of all darkness,
the love that rises out of all brokenness,
you enlarge as your people suffer.
Enlarge our hearts with yours.
Hold those who are bereaved; guide those who are lost.
Strengthen those who risk, who give and who serve
for the sake of healing.
And hold us who are tempted to distance ourselves
in the power of your compassion.
Christ, you who live among those who mourn,
shed your tears, lay your hands, shine with your rising.
Your Spirit move in us,
that we may bring healing, companionship and hope.
Your Spirit burn in us that we may give and serve,
that we may continually bear the light of compassion.
Eternal Lover,
receive our hearts, and with them love your children.
We give ourselves to you
for the sake of the healing of the world,
which alone is your desire.
Amen.



Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve


_______________________________
Copyright (c) 2010
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com

Waiting for God

O Silent Presence,

I love you who are
and are to come.
I wait for you
who are already here.

I long to see you right before me—
and this longing is you, isn’t it?
I wake in the night and you are not here or there.
You are the wakefulness.

You are the joy, the stillness,
the Silence the world is made of.
You are the ache, the yearning.
You are what Is and Is Not Yet,

enfolded in this world, unknown:
all that shall be, in the present moment,
You Who Are Coming,
and You Who Are Already.

You who are the Here of this place
beckon me to this place and its love;
you who are the Now of this moment
wait patiently for me to come.

The waiting I thought was for you
is for your beloved.
The ache that I thought was for heaven
is for the world

where you hide in plain sight,
waiting for me.
Aching, even.
Coming.

________________________
Copyright © 2009
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@gmail.com