Month: July 2013

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
         After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others
         and sent them two by two ahead of him
         to every town and place where he was about to go.
                  —Luke 10.1

You do not just happen to be here,
         you have been sent.
You are intended to be here,
         to convey a presence.
The land of uncertainty and the unknown,
         these are your territory.
You are sent not away
         but ahead.
You are accompanied,
         paired with one who goes with you.
It is not your success, but your love and courage
         that fulfill your purpose.
The path will need you;
         the journey will create you.
What we receive compels us,
         and, not alone, we go.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To subscribe to Unfolding Light by daily e-mail write to unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com

         
                  
God of mercy,
bless this nation of ours.
We pray for liberty,
         that none may be oppressed or exploited.
We pray for democracy;
         that all voices be heard, and none silenced.
We pray for peace,
         that there be harmony, in which everyone’s gifts may flourish.
We pray for justice,
         that no one benefit at the expense of another,
         that there be a just and equal sharing of power.
We pray for a spirit of patriotism,
         that we be faithful to one another as a whole.
We thank you for our freedom, and those who have protected it:
         teachers who taught us to question,
         neighbors who acted in covenant with one another,
         those who spoke out against injustice.
We thank you for the gift of our diversity;
         may we honor all people
         and celebrate our rich differences.
We thank you for this land, for it is yours.
         May we live in reverence for your Creation.
God of mercy, in love of our country we confess
         our mistreatment of the poor, and of the land,
         our abuse of power, and idolatry of our place in the world.
Temper our might with humility
         and our power with compassion.
Mend our divisions, heal our fear,
         and restore our love of one another.
Bless this nation,
         and bless every nation the same,
         for all of us are sisters and brothers.
On this Day of Inter-independence,
bless us O God, and make us a nation of justice and peace,
         a nation of benevolence and generosity,
         a nation of mutual sharing and cooperation,
         a nation devoted to the healing of the world.
God of mercy, bless this nation,
that we may be a nation of mercy.
Amen.

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

To subscribe to Unfolding Light by daily e-mail write to me at unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
               
         Bear one another’s burdens;
         in this way you fulfill the will of Christ.
                  —Galatians 6.2

Let this be your mind today,
your purpose for being here:
not to accomplish tasks,
not to get your way,
not to complete your agenda,
but to share the burdens of those around you,
to lighten the load of those
who walk this life beside you.
You are not asked to solve every problem
or to heal every wound,
but simply to be present
to bear one another’s burdens
so that they do not struggle alone.
In this way Christ is alive in you.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To subscribe to Unfolding Light by daily e-mail write to unfoldinglight8 (at) hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

Sometimes as I wake up and face the morning, I don’t feel hope or anticipation. I feel a weight on me—not a great, crushing burden, just a little load, enough to weigh my spirit down. It’s usually the weight of something unpleasant coming, some duty or obligation, some sense of something I ought to do, something between me and joy. Maybe it’s a big responsibility at work, or maybe it’s just a household chore. Or guilt over something that I messed up. Maybe it’s loneliness. Maybe it’s fear that this is not going to be a brilliant day. Maybe it’s a vague sense that I need to prove myself, or that my life ought to be somehow different, and that that difference is a long way off. It’s a heavy feeling, a binding-up, discouraging feeling.

That’s when I sit down and come back to the present moment. I disregard all those thoughts about the future or some other existence, and simply be aware of myself sitting in this room, breathing, alive, created by God, and a delight to God. I direct my attention to God’s presence. I don’t expect to feel it, but I let my deep awareness go beyond my feelings. I become aware that God is lovingly present, embracing me and dwelling within me. And in that presence I lay my burdens down. I lay down my fears and expectations, my thoughts and feelings, all of it. I lay down the burden of my despair, the burden of the rest of the day, the burden of upholding who I am. I simply be, here and now, and let God be with me. In this moment, in this breath, there is only God.

And when after a time I go, I leave my burdens down by that riverside. I leave them. And God goes with me, from this present moment into the next—free, beloved, and light. Although sometimes I have to stop again and lay my burdens down once more and enter the joy and freedom of the present moment, the blessing of God’s presence. That’s the pilgrimage: not to carry your treasure to some far off destination; but to lay your burdens down and leave them and walk in the grace of God. That’s the most beautiful journey of all.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To subscribe to Unfolding Light write to me at unfoldinglight8 (at) hotmail.com

         
         
                  
God of life,
for a brother of our peace,
         walking on the edge of life,
we hold open our hearts.

For a father of our hope,
         standing at the heart of life,
we raise our heads.

To all those whose longing
         looks so much like him,
we extend our hands.

For the world we have seen in him
         rising in us no less mightily
we stand.

All whose gifts are yet imprisoned,
         whose lives are not yet freed,
we remember, and we embrace.

The courage you gave him lives in us;
         our gratitude for him unites us,
one love, one Spirit.

What he has accomplished is in our hands;
         what he has not yet accomplished
is in our hands.

God of mercy, God of justice, Gentle One,
         Our Mighty Hope,
you who forgive and transform and smile,

in his honor give us vision,
         in his will give us a future,
in his spirit give us ourselves.

Amen.

         
         

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

To subscribe to Unfolding Light by daily e-mail write to unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com