Unfolding Light

The smallest thing—
a branch, a twig,
a child’s untranslated cry,
a bird in the ribs of a parking garage,
the weight of your body—
any small thing might be a burning bush,
a divine murmur, an open door
to stumble through, a barbed lure
cast slyly from heaven, an offer
to behold what you would overlook
in the thundering cataract of the senses,
an invitation to fall
into the gaze of the One who looks out
from you into this world.
The flame of a candle, or an unlit candle,
or a place where a candle could have been once
holds the Word on the tip of its tongue.
The world within awaits your attention
before flooding into this one.

You need only attend,
make space, be still, and ponder.

Shed the words,
and stay in the gaze of the bloom or the stone,
where you slip through the eye of the moment
into eternity, through the silence
into what the silence is telling you.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

You’ve got it backwards, my friend.
You imagine trudging the lonely road,
past the houses of the great saints.
In their windows you can see them
bent over their meditations,
sharing warm stew with lepers,
conversing with the Son of God,
softly hovering above their prayer cushions.
Angels swarm their porches to hear them pray.
They look out their doors in the grey evening
but they don’t see you; they only see heaven
looming in front of their faces
while you stumble up the path.

No, dear, you have it backwards.
You are the one who sees little
as they struggle beside you along the path
they’ve walked a thousand times before
but have left their cottages and their ease
and have come back to do again this once,
winded and trembling, on ancient but hardy legs,
bearing more of your burden than you know,
and though you can’t feel it,
holding— so lightly— your hand.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Young trees are no less wise than old
to know their leaves, now green, now gold,
want wind and rain and light to feed
them, and no more than what they need,
and, owning nothing, trusting, know
to let it go, to let it go.

I walk within their shaded haunt
to learn simplicity: to want
what my soul wants and hungers for,
but not possess, and nothing more,
but by a will not mine to bless
this poverty, and nothing less.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

A sob in the night
awakens us from dreams,

a crack opens in the wall
and in seeps the dark stream

with pieces of broken things in it,
and blood, and our own ragged edge,

and in seeps the light,
and the voice singing.

We want to pull the wall around us,
the sorrow pouring in,

but it is breached now,
it is only an illusion,

and we are out in the dangerous light,
the fragile street,

tender as everyone else,
ready to duck, ready to weep.

We are all refugees now,
foreigners, except to foreigners.

It’s the egg that is cracked,
the stone rolled away.

If there is a place for love,
for your own brave soul, this is it.

The cord in another’s heart
knotted in yours,

the hand reaching for you
you can reach out to.

Terror and the stillness,
and the voice singing.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www. Unfoldinglight.net

May 9, 2027

Narrative Lectionary – NL145

Romans 6:1-14 — We’re baptized into Christ’s death, to walk in newness of life.
Matt 6:24) — No two masters: serve God or wealth, not both.

Thoughts

    Should we sin to increase grace?
I’ve actually had people ask me, if God forgives everything, then why be good? They’re thinking we’re good in order to earn salvation, and if it’s already given, then why bother? They don’t get that God’s grace isn’t earned. They also don’t get that once you accept God’s grace, “being good” isn’t a bother! You don’t want to sin. You’re in love, and you want to love. Accepting God’s grace changes you.
    Baptized into Christ’s death
Accepting God’s grace changes not just some aspects of you, but the whole idea of who you think you are. The self you try to create for yourself is a betrayal of who God actually creates you to be, so you have to let it die. Letting go of who you want to be or think you ought to be, you can become the one God creates you to be. Such dying is possible only because the new self, the one created and given by God, is already there. Baptism symbolizes how the old self drowns in the waters of new birth. Even in that death, you’re being held. When you let your old self-made self die, there’s nothing left but God—which is who you really are.

Call to Worship

Leader: God, you have created us in your image.
All: But we have our own image of ourselves,
the people we think we ought to be.
So you bring us to behold your love,
to remind us who we really are.
We are your beloved, washed clean of old lives,
birthed anew in your grace.
So we worship you. We listen for your Word.
We open our hearts to your grace.
Once again, mothering God, birth us anew. Amen.

Prayers

1.
Loving God, you know how we present ourselves to the world, and even to ourselves. You know that deep down, that’s not who we are. We are your Beloved, made in your image, beautiful, wounded, and full of your grace. Help us shed the masks and costumes, even if it feels like losing ourselves. Help us sink into the arms of your grace. In your love, we let the false self die, so that we can be raised to new life with Christ, full of light and hope and joy, as loving as Christ, in the mystery of your Spirit. Amen.

2.
God of love, you hold me.
I sink into the waters of baptism with Christ.
My old self washes away.
It was not true; I can let it go.
It drowns in your grace,
in this baptismal mystery
which is the water of new birth.
Raise me to new life, God.
By your grace, give me a whole new life,
every moment, every breath, every day.
         Silent meditation

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page.)

Baptized in Light   (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

Baptized in water, we are your creatures,
each son and daughter washed and reborn,
fully forgiven, blessed and made new now,
buried and risen into the morn.

Baptized in light, God, we are your vessels,
love shining bright in all that we do,
as new creations, we are your glory,
bright with elation, radiant with you.

Baptized in Spirit, we are your servants.
This we inherit: to be your light,
Christ rising in us, healing and blessing,
poor given justice, blind given sight.

Baptized in love, my dearest companions,
Spirit’s bright dove fly with you each day.
God’s light revealing, go now in peace, friends,
blessing and healing, lighting the way.


Breath of God   (Tune: Londonderry Air – Oh Danny Boy)

O Holy One, Creator of the stars of night,
whose dust we are, created with your light,
now breathe your spirit into us and give us life;
give us new hearts that beat with your delight.
          Our dust and ashes, Love, we give in faith to you.
          Receive our lives, our sin, our wounds, our death;
          and raise us up with Christ from death to life by grace.
          God, may we be your love and you our living breath.

Breathe into us the breath of your compassion, God,
the breath to sing your praise in all we do,
the breath to run the race of justice, long and far.
Breathe, holy breath: empower and renew.
          O be the grace that fills our lungs, reviving us;
          O be the wind on which our hearts can soar;
          O be our life, our beauty and our living breath.
          O Spirit, come breathe in us now and evermore.



 
Christ We Are Baptized   (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

Christ we are baptized into your dying,
all of our life poured out into yours;
and we are baptized into your rising,
life given to us from your deep stores.

Christ we are baptized into your Body:
we are all one community here.
This is your presence, this is your rising:
loving anew in your people dear.

Christ we are baptized into your service:
gentle and healing in all the strife,
vessels of grace, who bear your redemption,
bright with the light of eternal life.

Christ we are baptized your New Creation,
all of the world made new by your grace:
dawn of your Realm of mercy and justice,
Christ shining, risen, granting us peace

April 25, 2027

Narrative Lectionary – NL 143

Romans 1:1-17 — Called to be saints, gifted with grace and apostleship. I am not ashamed of the gospel.
Matt 9:10-13 — I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.

Thoughts

      Called to be saints. Saints are not exceptionally good people (some struggle to be good), but people though whom we see God’s goodness. We are called to be transparent to how God works in our lives. It is not for our own sake, but for the sake of the world. Being gifted with “apostleship” doesn’t necessarily mean we’re door-to-door evangelists, but that God’s grace in us is for the sake of the community. We learn to “not be ashamed of the gospel, “ to be willing for others to see God at work in our lives—perhaps in our spoken testimony, but surely in how we are continually transformed and used for the sake of the healing of the world.
      The righteous live by faith. ‘Faith” does not mean believing certain stuff, but trusting God. The “saving power” of the good news is not that if we hold a certain set of beliefs we’re rewarded, but that God loves us no matter what. That’s powerful. The righteous live by trusting that.

Call to Worship

Leader: God of love, Jesus said,
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
All: You gather us here not because of our deserving,
but because we need you.
We are hungry for your grace.
We depend on your Spirit.
Yet you also need us.
You call us to share your good news
with those who are hungry for grace.
Speak to us, and we will listen.
Shape us by your Word, and we will do your will.
Fill us with your Spirit, and we will live new lives. Amen.

Prayer

God of grace, you gather us here to tell us once again how you love us, and to reshape our hearts to trust you. You call us as your saints, to live for your purposes. You call us to trust the powerful good news of your absolute love. And you call us to share that news, that love, with everyone, with all, not just with some. Bless us, that we may become transparent to your grace working in our lives, and so be your saints, in the spirit of Christ. Amen.

Response

Leader: God of love, you have called us to be your saints.
All: We are not perfect, but we are yours.
Make of us your stained glass window. We are broken, but beautiful.
You hold our fragments together by your love.
We are stained in may ways.
We are held together by your mercy.
None of us is enough, but together
we make a beautiful picture of your grace.
We are your stained glass window.
May your light shine through us.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page.)

All of the Gifts I Have    (Tune: Fairest Lord Jesus)

All of the gifts I have, all that is within me,
you give to me, O God, with care;
all of my prayers and skills, passions and energies
you grant to me to freely share.

Here are my hopes and dreams, attitudes and deepest loves,
all of the treasure to which I cling.
I will not hold them in, stilling my ardent song,
but serving you I’ll freely sing.

In all I keep or give, may I do my very best
in everything I say and do,
in harmony with you, only to love and bless,
with joy, to serve and honor you.


Bearers of Light     (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

God, how you love us, hold us and bless us,
reign from above us, lead us by hand
Call us to healing, bound by your Promise,
your Word revealing, by your command.

Great holy giver of life and wonder,
deep like a river your blessings flow.
Gladly we give you praise and thanksgiving:
gifts we will give wherever we go.

Baptized, anointed, filled with your Spirit,
we are appointed bearers of light:
for liberation, servants of justice,
bringing the nations joy and delight.


Send Us In Love   (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

God in your mercy you are forgiving.
Now in our living we give you praise,
bearing your grace that blesses and frees us,
following Jesus all of our days.

Christ, your good news we share in thanksgiving,
gratefully living as you have done.
Make us your Body, faithfully sharing,
loving and caring, serving as one.

Send us in love now, Great Holy Spirit.
All we inherit is ours to give.
Set us to healing, humbly expressing
your gracious blessing that makes us live.


Send Us, Jesus (Tune : All Through the Night)

Send us, Jesus, in your spirit, held in your love,
to this torn and troubled world, still held in your love.
When despair and pain have found us,
still your mercy wraps around us,
giving hope that may astound us,
held in your love.

Send us, Jesus, bearing witness, held in your love,
present with the poor and broken, held in your love.
Evil looms, so cruel, deceiving,
leaving victims shorn and grieving;
still we will not cease believing,
held in your love.

Send us with the power of healing, held in your love.
Give us courage, strength and wisdom, held in your love.
To the selfish powers, oppressing,
may we stand, your love expressing,
facing fear with grace and blessing,
held in your love.

Send us for the sake of living, held in your love.
Give us grace to be forgiving, held in your love.
Facing evil’s vile rejection,
fearless love is resurrection.
May we be your best reflection,
held in your love.



Your Hands and Your Face   (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)

God of all holiness, baptized in you,
we are your Body: your presence shines through.
We, poor in spirit, are blessed with your own.
May our lives shine forth with your grace alone.

We who with Jesus do mourn with the world
shall see your banners of deep joy unfurled.
We who are hungry for love freely shared
feast at the banquet that you have prepared.

May we be merciful and pure in heart,
your gentle peacemakers, doing our part.
Dying and rising, we do not fear loss,
sealed with your Spirit and marked with your cross.

Blest and beloved and baptized to serve,
we are your Body and you are our nerve.
Not by our effort, but by your pure grace,
may we be your hands and your human face.


  

April 11, 2027

Narrative Lectionary – NL141

Acts 10:1-17, 34-48 —Peter’s vision — “Do not call them unclean”—
and call to go to the Gentiles:
Matt 9:36-37 —Jesus’ compassion like a shepherd. “The harvest is plentiful…”

Thoughts

       God is always leaning against our tendency to create systems of privilege and exclusion—who’s in and who’s out. As Jesus notes in Luke 4, God extends grace not just to Israelites but to everyone, including Naaman and the widow of Zarephath. Peter now learns the same lesson. God’s grace is for everybody, including people outside the faith. The community of faith is not merely growing in numbers, but in inclusivity. This is not just about evangelism, it’s about who we think is “unclean” or unworthy, who are outsiders. What do we do both to welcome them in, and also to dismantle the systems that keep them out?

Call to Worship

Leader: God of love, you have gathered us here.
All: It is not our merit, but your grace that has gathered us.
You gather us in with all kinds, righteous and unrighteous
Familiar and foreign, faithful and unfaithful as one,
we are gathered by your grace alone.
We come to worship: to praise your grace, to hear your word,
and to be changed by your Spirit.
Speak to us, and transform our hearts,
that we may bear your good news
to those who have not heard your welcome. Amen.

Prayer

God, I confess:
I have already decided
who’s “in” and who’s “out.”
Erase my judgment,
and open my mind and heart
to see what you see
in all your beloved children.
Give me faith to share your grace
with all, even those I feel are unworthy,
by the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Response

Leader: God of love, you have created all of us in your image.
All: You love all of us the same: deeply, infinitely, perfectly.
Your breath is in all living things.
Your Spirit is in every person.
We give thanks for those who were different from us,
yet brought us your grace.
With those who are alike, and those who are different,
we are all baptized into one family.
We confess our arrogance, believing we are more worthy.
We repent of our pride, thinking we are the righteous ones.
Forgive us for our divisions.
Forgive us for seeing some as unclean or unworthy.
Heal us of our fear of those who are different.
Bless us through those who are not like us.
You have baptized us in your compassion for all.
Send us in love to every soul: to love the outcast,
to befriend the outsider, to include those who are kept out.
God, in your perfect love, make us one.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page.)


Bearers of Light       (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

God, how you love us, hold us and bless us,
reign from above us, lead us by hand
Call us to healing, bound by your Promise,
your Word revealing, by your command.

Great holy giver of life and wonder,
deep like a river your blessings flow.
Gladly we give you praise and thanksgiving:
gifts we will give wherever we go.

Baptized, anointed, filled with your Spirit,
we are appointed bearers of light:
for liberation, servants of justice,
bringing the nations joy and delight.

Family (Tune: Children of the Heavenly Father)

Children of one loving Mother,
we are each a sister, brother.
In your image, God, you mold us;
in one family, Love, you hold us.

Though we strive with one another,
hurt our sister or our brother,
in our struggles and our wronging
still is blessing and belonging.

We are not alone, but rather,
God, you grant us grace together.
May we learn to love the Other
as our sister-self or brother.

As one family, God, you gather
all your children here together.
Help us shed all walls and labels:
bring us home, Love, to your table.

April 18, 2027

Narrative Lectionary – NL142

Acts 13:1-3; 14:8-18 — Paul & Barnabas healing in Lystra. “We are mortals, not gods.”
Matt 10:40-42 —Who welcomes you welcomes me. A cup of cold water for the little ones.

Thoughts

      If Paul miraculously heals someone, he must be a god. After all, such grace couldn’t come from a mere mortal, right? Part of the mystery of God’s grace is that it often comes to us in what seem to be unworthy vessels. We don’t like hearing the truth from people we look down on. We have a hard time acknowledging the gifts we receive from people who are flawed. We find it hard to believe that grace or beauty or wisdom can come from those we don’t like. So we miss out on God’s grace a lot. But God’s grace is pure, regardless of the vessel.
      One challenge of taking the good news out into the world is that we’ll have to share it with people who will find us to be unworthy vessels. We’ll be strangers to their ways. They probably won’t see us as divine emissaries, but weirdos. Hang in there. God’s grace is powerful, even when shared by unworthy people—even us.
      And when grace does happen, when you are blessed to be the means of even a lovely gift, let alone a miraculous power, remember that it’s not about you. It’s God, working through you. Be prepared, then, to be a vessel of God’s grace, regardless of how you or others feel about you.

Prayer

God, bless me that I may be a vessel of your grace.
Though I may feel unworthy, I trust
that you have chosen me to bear your grace into this world.
Though I may feel proud, remind me
that it is your goodness, not mine, that heals.
When people scorn me, give me grace to remain faithful.
When people praise me, give me grace to remain faithful.
The mystery at work is your infinite, beautiful grace.
I am your imperfect vessel. Use me.
Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page.)

All of the Gifts I Have    (Tune: Fairest Lord Jesus)

All of the gifts I have, all that is within me,
you give to me, O God, with care;
all of my prayers and skills, passions and energies
you grant to me to freely share.

Here are my hopes and dreams, attitudes and deepest loves,
all of the treasure to which I cling.
I will not hold them in, stilling my ardent song,
but serving you I’ll freely sing.

In all I keep or give, may I do my very best
in everything I say and do,
in harmony with you, only to love and bless,
with joy, to serve and honor you.


Bearers of Light (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

God, how you love us, hold us and bless us,
reign from above us, lead us by hand
Call us to healing, bound by your Promise,
your Word revealing, by your command.

Great holy giver of life and wonder,
deep like a river your blessings flow.
Gladly we give you praise and thanksgiving:
gifts we will give wherever we go.

Baptized, anointed, filled with your Spirit,
we are appointed bearers of light:
for liberation, servants of justice,
bringing the nations joy and delight.


Send Us In Love (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

God in your mercy you are forgiving.
Now in our living we give you praise,
bearing your grace that blesses and frees us,
following Jesus all of our days.

Christ, your good news we share in thanksgiving,
gratefully living as you have done.
Make us your Body, faithfully sharing,
loving and caring, serving as one.

Send us in love now, Great Holy Spirit.
All we inherit is ours to give.
Set us to healing, humbly expressing
your gracious blessing that makes us live.


Send Us, Jesus (Tune : All Through the Night)

Send us, Jesus, in your spirit, held in your love,
to this torn and troubled world, still held in your love.
When despair and pain have found us,
still your mercy wraps around us,
giving hope that may astound us,
held in your love.

Send us, Jesus, bearing witness, held in your love,
present with the poor and broken, held in your love.
Evil looms, so cruel, deceiving,
leaving victims shorn and grieving;
still we will not cease believing,
held in your love.

Send us with the power of healing, held in your love.
Give us courage, strength and wisdom, held in your love.
To the selfish powers, oppressing,
may we stand, your love expressing,
facing fear with grace and blessing,
held in your love.

Send us for the sake of living, held in your love.
Give us grace to be forgiving, held in your love.
Facing evil’s vile rejection,
fearless love is resurrection.
May we be your best reflection,
held in your love.


Your Hands and Your Face     (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)

God of all holiness, baptized in you,
we are your Body: your presence shines through.
We, poor in spirit, are blessed with your own.
May our lives shine forth with your grace alone.

We who with Jesus do mourn with the world
shall see your banners of deep joy unfurled.
We who are hungry for love freely shared
feast at the banquet that you have prepared.

May we be merciful and pure in heart,
your gentle peacemakers, doing our part.
Dying and rising, we do not fear loss,
sealed with your Spirit and marked with your cross.

Blest and beloved and baptized to serve,
we are your Body and you are our nerve.
Not by our effort, but by your pure grace,
may we be your hands and your human face.