Month: May 2015

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         They asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
                  —Acts 1.6-9

The disciples have lost their Lord and received him again, and now they look to a new and bright future. They don’t see that he is about to leave them again, this time for good. They grasp at their dreams for their nation, expressing grief before they are even grieving. But Jesus turns their gaze otherwise. Their calling is to something larger than their own lives, something that extends from where they are to the ends of the earth. The power in their lives will be neither personal comfort nor a political fix, but the elusive, invisible wind power of love among them. And they will receive this calling and power in a vessel of grief and disorientation as Jesus departs from them once more.

Typically God’s grace comes to us through loss. Often those who bear witness to the Good News are escaped Hebrew slaves pining for the ease of Egypt, Ruth bereaved in a foreign land, a prophet reflecting on exile, a family torn apart by their son’s selfishness, disciples stunned on a windswept hillside. Even our own resurrection comes at the cost of losing our lives— if we are lucky, over and over. For it is in our fragility and bewilderment that we discover God’s abiding presence, solid and life-giving. Christ ascending to reign over all Creation, leaves our side. The glory to which we are witnesses is not some great triumph but the loss and majesty of life as it is, and the eternal presence of love, even in absence. To this, even in our not knowing, we are witnesses.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

                  

God, Source of my joy,
         help me check my selfishness,
leave the path of fear,
         and not speak ill of anyone.

I delight in you,
         mindful of your love every moment.
I am like a tree planted by a lovely stream.
         May I yield the fruit of your love.
I receive the life you give me;
         it thrives in me.

Whatever is evil in me
         is like chaff your wind blows away.
It doesn’t last in the face of your truth;
         it is overwhelmed by your presence
         like a great congregation within me.
Watch over my way, God: may I be loving.
         Let my hurtful inclinations be changed.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

      
         He was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
         While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven,
         suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.
         They said, “People of Galilee,
         why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”
                  —Acts 1.9-11

Don’t try to diagram the mystery.
The Body of Love,
in your hands but hard to put your finger on,
within, among and yet beyond,
is here and not here.
The One who Is With You
is not present as you wish.
Sorrow and joy mingle perfectly.
Theories will not help you.
You can’t look it up.

Look here:
this, now.
In the bed you make,
the people you meet,
the rumpling within.
Even what has left you,
your empty arms,
is a place to look.

Jacob on his stone pillow knew:
this loss, this trouble, this gift
is the ladder to heaven.

Keep looking,
but not up there.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

I pray that God, the Womb of Love,
who in Jesus has embodied among us
the love that creates and orders our lives
and makes them good and beautiful,
may awaken in you deep awareness
of God’s presence and love.
With the eyes of your heart enlightened
may you have the hope God has for you;
may you live in wonder and trust
of the gifts we all receive as God’s Beloved;
may you come more deeply to trust
the immeasurable power of God’s love.
It is love that raised Christ from the dead:
the power that orders the universe,
that rules over all human dominion
and all realms before and after humans,
in the visible world and the unseen.
All things are subject to the Lordship of Love.
And we, the church, are the Body of that love,
love that fills everything, and contains everything.
Everything.
Alleluia.

________________________
Weather Report

Love,
as the visible world passes through
the cloud of God,
dense with divine presence.
Expect heavy showers
as this warm Spirit condenses
into human compassion,
especially in low-lying areas.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

      
         
The first light of morning
from the book of the chorus
strikes you like a bell.

Not an idea but a note,
the one you were made for,
rings out all day long.

A lifetime hollowed out
making room for the sound
of your moving through it.

Even in your silence
the light of your song
crosses rivers.

Flocks of birds fly out
and circle the village.
Even distant fields sing.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         I have said these things to you
         so that my joy may be in you,
         and that your joy may be complete.
                  — John 15.11

Oh, please.
Be done with your sober commandments,
fleeing from the wrath to come.

This is a gift, not an obligation.
If eternal life weren’t fun who could endure?
We are the joy in our grandmother’s arms.

See, God dancing in the aisles,
looping over the grassy hill,
rolling down sideways in the grass,

calling to you:
Shuck that solemn suit,
leave the dutiful wheelbarrow behind.

Don’t try so hard to be so seriously loving.
Let it explode.
Let joy come to you like a fart.

Let my little boats of joy
sail through your heart.
Be a kite on my wind.

All I want is complete joy, spilling over you
like an uncontrollable laugh,
filling you like I made you for.

Jesus said,
I am the light of the world.
So lighten up.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         Whatever is born of God conquers the world.
                  — 1 John 5.4

God is love.
The love of God,
who is the Heart of Love, who makes all things,
flows through you into the world.

Your love has the power to create worlds,
a small bit at a time, to be sure,
but it is immense power,
greater than your troubles,
greater than the word’s greatest woes.

The love that flows through you
is already consuming the world,
transforming it.
First it consumes you, and transforms you,
and then it changes the world.

How else could one with no power but love
face death saying
“Fear not, I have conquered the world,”
and then die, and rise?

In love you appear to lose
but the world is overcome.

Never mind how small your part is:
the God flowing through you
conquers the world.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

      
         This is my commandment,
         that you love one another as I have loved you.
                  —John 15.12

that is,
with tender attention
and stout resilience,
that is,
despite your blame and fear,
your betrayal yet to come,
your lack of repentance,

as I have loved you
when you were determined
not to deserve it,

that you love as I have,
withholding nothing,
excusing no one,

that you pour yourself out
for the unworthy,

as I have
pour yourself out
of your life
into eternal love
and as I have
rise
new,
perfected
in love.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

         I no longer call you servants,
         because a servant does not know the master’s business.
         Instead, I have called you friends,
         for everything that I learned from God
         I have made known to you.
                  —John 15.15

My Savior I praise,
and give thanks.
My Lord I learn from and obey.
But my Friend, my friend Jesus
I love.
Comrade through the hard times,
who never left me, I love you,
nor will I leave you
in your troubles.
Companion on the Long Way,
who knows my struggles,
we will break the bread of this life,
every loaf for both of us,
laughing together.
Partner in the Great Work,
shoulder to shoulder,
we sustain each other.
We need each other.
We enjoy our company.
Friend Jesus, I give you my hand
in your healing, your welcome, your forgiveness.
I give you my heart
in your struggle, your pain, your loneliness,
for your sake, because I love you,
my dear beloved friend,
that your journey may go well today.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

      
         
When it seems great might
or wisdom is demanded of you,
great effort to prevail,

renounce your despair.
Lay down your burden.
Come down to this place
on this earth, this day.
Do something small and simple.

Notice the ground, the wind.
Boil an egg. Tie a shoe.
Make eye contact.
Put one foot before the other,
just for this day, this walk.
Let this breath’s life fill you
and give it back.
Be here.

Worms redeem the soil,
green leaves cover the woods,
one little thing at a time.
With such small hands
Being unfolds in you,
God creates the world,
and it is good.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com