Month: September 2021

         A capable wife who can find?
      She is far more precious than jewels.
                   —Proverbs 31.1


Yes, praise an industrious wife,
         with a good business head,
productive and wise
         (who sounds eternally busy….).
Praise a woman who excels
         in work men think their own.
         Praise, and do not be so surprised.

But, too: praise a capable person, married or not,
         who takes care of herself,
who honors both her calling and her limits,
         who rests when she needs to.
She is capable in work, assertive and wise,
         but more so in heart, attentive and generous,
able to appreciate beauty,
         abundant in forgiveness,
         kind, and a good listener.
She is strong, with courage to stay true to herself,
         and capacity to endure for the sake of love.
No one determines her worth;
         she knows it.
No one chooses her path;
         she owns it.
She is God’s Beloved, and does not apologize;
         and she sees that light in others.
Even when burdened by despair
         she carries the light within her.
Praise the capable person whose spirit is light,
         whose heart is love.
Praise, praise,
         and give thanks.

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

September 16, 2021

         Show by your good life
         that your works are done
         with gentleness born of wisdom.
                   —James 3.13



Beloved,
be my wisdom,

my way of seeing,
knowing by your love.

Be my gentleness,
my soul meeting another.

Let my wisdom be
tender respect for all.

You who are so gentle with me,
by your grace

let my gentleness
be my good life.

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

September 14, 2021

         They are like trees planted by streams of water,
                  which yield their fruit in its season,
         and their leaves do not wither.
                  In all that they do, they prosper.
                            —Psalm 1.3



Roots seek resolutely.
         God moves underground,
                  flows up.

Effortless!—
         (the work is in the offering)—
                  rich fruit.

Root deeply.
         Ripen gently.
                  Give thanks.

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

September 13, 2021

         “Do you see these great buildings?
         Not one stone will be left here upon another.”
                   —Mark 13.2

When the towers fell
it seemed the center of the world had vanished,
but the center, it turns out, is elsewhere.
When the towers fell
it seemed the end of the world,
but wars and rumors
have come and gone, and here we are.
They said everything changed
but nothing changed.
Empires come, and pass. Stones fall.
Hate and anger are still unable to build, but only destroy.
Still some people harm; some bless.
We seek stones unfallen, but stones still fall.
Even stones are made of smoke.

Listen. Things happen, things pass;
but they don’t express God’s love for you.
That’s constant. And so is God’s invitation.

Now—before the tower of this moment falls—
is the time to decide whether to be kind and how,
whether to show mercy.
This is the moment—unchanging—
and always has been, the moment
to love.

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

September 11, 2021

When you feel despair,
the dread that all is lost,
when there is no hope,
when you fear the struggle will overwhelm you,
you may feel God is absent, or uncaring.
But take heart.
Even your despair is God in you.
Despair is just the dark side of hope:
believing in something greater than what you see.
This can only come from God,
from the Beloved within you,
yearning for life.
Even if all you have is the yearning,
all you have is God,
who will not give up on the yearning,
will not give up on you.

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

September 9, 2021

         “If any want to become my followers,
         let them deny themselves
         and take up their cross and follow me.”
                   —Mark 8.35

The cross is not jewelry, not a badge nor a shield.
It’s a risk, a vulnerability.
Its not an annoyance.
It’s the willingness to suffer for the sake of love.
The cross is planted in the great, deep wound of the world,
the foot of the cross sunk in cruelty, injustice and despair.

God, you know how beguiling my comfort is,
how I protect myself from hurt or loss,
uncertainty or struggle.
I don’t want to enter that pit.
But if your Beloved are there,
will I not go there?
If I go there for love, is it not love that lifts me
from suffering and despair?

Give me courage, God,
knowing it is you who bear the cross;
I only come along.
When I open myself to the pain of love
it falls light upon me.
Because it is love, because it is yours
it is the cross that bears me.

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

September 8, 2021

God,
sometimes I seek the feeling I have faith
more than actual faith.
I want the feeling of your presence
rather than the will to live in harmony
with a grace I can’t always feel.
I want the feeling my prayers are being answered
more than trust that they are.
Knowing that joy is greater than a feeling,
deeper than a mood,
I lay myself in your hands,
accepting whatever feelings may come,
that by your grace I may seek only
to trust gratefully, to serve faithfully,
and to love freely.
Amen.

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

September 7, 2021

         The heavens are telling the glory of God.
                   —Psalm 19.1

(Tune: Morning Has Broken)

Morning has broken all through Creation;
God has now spoken, “Let there be light.”
Each living thing is God’s word of mercy;
all creatures sing and shine with your light.

God, your love flows in every direction,
filling and blessing every dark place.
Even the shadows shine with your blessing,
even the darkness hums with your grace.

Everything moving moves by your Spirit:
flight of the birds and dance of the stars,
migrating whales and flow of the river;
breath of the wind is breath that is ours.

Bless every creature, bright with God’s glory;
bless every feature, fin, fur and wing.
Each is completing God’s wondrous story;
each is God’s greeting; praises they sing.



[Yes, you may use this in worship.]

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

September 6, 2021

There is a breath breathing in you
that does not vanish,
a grace feeding you that does not cease.
The divine umbilical cord is never cut.

Still yourself and listen
to the voice that is singing you.
Wait and feel the hand that holds you.

Even in hardship give thanks.
Receive that blessing.
Move by that impulse.
Live drawn by that light.

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

September 3, 2021

Everything you’ve ever said was a prayer,
every word a word of praise
or a plea for it,
each question a begging for bread,
every thought a confession,
even the meanest things
a cry for mercy,
every prayer answered
by the One who says “Yes,
let me hold you.”

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

September 2, 2021