Month: November 2024

             This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.
                         —Mark 13.8

I wonder if the darkness had to let go,
had to be overwhelmed,
for the secret hidden within to be let loose,
when God said, “Let there be light.”

I wonder what the tides felt,
being drawn taut,
shoved aside,
when God dilated the Red Sea.

I wonder how the burial bands strained,
tried to keep the body still and mute,
what contractions of gravity gripped the tomb,
when Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out!”

I wonder now beneath the wrenching darkness,
the seething tides of fear and hate,
the painful seizures of power,
what new life God is birthing.

The powers of evil always resist the Giver of Life;
but listen for angels already moving in the slave camps.
From this Golgotha, though sun be darkened, heavens rent,
I wonder what new life will issue forth.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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In the 13^th chapter of Mark Jesus imagines the worst:
             The temple falls…
             False messiahs and false prophets appear….
             Jesus’ followers are hated, and handed over to authorities
                   and must stand before governors and kings to bear witness…
             “And woe to those who are pregnant…”

Oof. I’m glad that’s not our world. Haiti, maybe, but not us.
The institutions we love and depend on will stand forever.
We don’t have to worry about being loyal to the Emperor.
People will never turn on each other.
And, golly, we have the utmost care for pregnant women.
We’re safe.

I’m glad. I mean, imagine living in that kind of upheaval.
In that world, justice isn’t abstract, but a daily commitment.
In that world it’s necessary—and hard—to care for each other.
Christians can’t stand by and see how it turns out;
they have to be part of how it turns out.
They have to bear witness daily—not just by saying the right stuff,
but by living lives of radical kindness and courage.
They have to sacrifice for the sake of love,
and dare to be kind to the “wrong” people.
They have to risk rejection, even persecution,
for their unconditional kindness.
They have to resist injustice and stand up against the Emperor.
I mean, in that world, they really have no security but God.
They have no defender but Jesus, no hope but grace.
They basically have to live lives of death and resurrection.

And we wouldn’t want that, would we?


___________________
Weather Report

Darkness;
signs in the sun and the heavens.
Expect turbulence caused by colliding fronts.
Temperatures will rise.
Light and warmth will emanate
not from above
but from those who choose
to radiate light and warmth.
Despite strong winds
divine presence will not be blown away.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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O Peace, be my peace.
I breathe you in.

O Being, be my earth.
I rest in you.

O One, be my spirit.
I belong to you.

O Wisdom, be my mind.
Keep me curious.

O Grace, be my hope.
I trust in you.

O Yes, be my living and my dying.
Give me courage.

O Love, be my heart.
Be my loving.

O Kindness, be my God,
that I may be your kindness for this world.

Amen.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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             “Not one stone will be left here upon another;
              all will be thrown down.”
                         —Mark 13.2

This is not a metaphor. The temple will be destroyed.
What we love, what we thought permanent,
will be thrown down.
Night descends.
Now, in the darkness, the lights matter.

Jesus is not preparing us to picnic in happy suburbs;
he’s training us to live with grace in a troubled city,
to live with kindness and courage amid turmoil and loss.
This brokenness is the world in which mercy matters.

When things fall apart, when chaos and fracture surround us,
we can stay whole.
When fear and anger rule, we can stay faithful to love.
When the temple comes down, don’t panic;
stay kind.

Empire will come and plunder,
but they can’t take the light in you.
They can’t take your courage to choose.
They can’t take your commitment to live with grace.
No one can take the Beloved from you.
That tender, strong presence is in you to stay.

Despite what falls around us,
tend to what rises within us.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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Stand here on this little hillside long enough,
grasses waving, breeze breezing,
until you can outgrow the illusion
that you are some thing, some little object
apart from all the others;
and know you are the part of it that is being you;,
and trees are the treeing part of it,
the river is rivering, the ground grounding,
the birds birding, each in their own way,
each as their own birding part of it.
And the clouding and the raining
and the earthing and the starring
and the personing are all part of one being,
being.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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I know, it’s the widow’s “mite.”
But consider.
Wealth was seen as divine approval.
(Is our world any different?)
A widow, destitute without a husband’s income,
was a model of poverty and helplessness,
and therefore also (are we any different?) shame.
But, in the same spirit in which he said
“Blessed are the poor,” Jesus honors her,
praises her generosity and self-determination:
she has done something powerful.

The sharing Jesus taught was not mere kindness;
it also confronted the boundaries of “mine” and “yours,”
and therefore the hierarchy of rich and poor.
In his praise Jesus questions
why she is poor in the first place.
Why do we have rich and poor?
Because the rich like it that way;
otherwise they’d change it.
The rich are afraid to share, but not the poor.
And sharing is powerful: it disturbs the line
between mine and yours, between rich and poor.
It changes the world.

Empowered by her faith,
unswayed by social expectations,
she has made her choice.
This is the widow’s might.
May it be your power as well.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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The journey is not over.
It never is.
Justice is not a statue we erect,
and then we’re finished.
Justice is a dance we are either dancing
or not dancing, every day.
The music is always playing.
Evil—selfish fear—
is always making noise,
trying to drown out the music.
But deep down the goodness lives;
the music is always there.
We are always invited to dance,
to show kindness with grace and courage,
to dismantle hateful systems,
to relate with tender love
even amid hate and anger.
Every triumph and disaster,
every step forward and back,
is part of the dance.
Regardless of what happens
today or any day,
do justice, love kindness,
and walk humbly with God.
And trust we are with you as well.
The journey goes on.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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Take seriously your grief.
It is love, stripped bare.
Let it flow through you.

Trust that you are held.
We all are held by the Beloved,
the Broken-Hearted One,
the One who Suffers most Deeply.

Know you are not alone.
Millions bear your sorrow.
Ancestors and even unborn generations
walk with you gratefully.

Seek others who are tenderhearted.
Receive all the grace you can.
In the flesh is best, but even in spirit,
know we are here.

Trust the Goodness.
God has not given up on us.
Through every disaster grace remains.
Refuse to despair.

Choose courage over selfishness,
trust over fear, love over anger.
You do not know the end of grace.

There is much you cannot change,
but bring healing where you can.
We are not promised to be given light,
but to shine with light.

Don’t become an enemy of the world
and its brokenness. Stay tender.
Become a source of comfort and joy for others.
Let this purpose bear you through the darkness
and you yourself will become light.

Take courage; trust grace;
stay connected; practice love.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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It’s Election Day in my country today.
Today is a day to speak out.
This is no time for passivity or false humility.
The world needs your voice.

You may think your one vote doesn’t matter,
that you are only one voice among so many.
But your voice is a widow’s mite that matters.
Even if you don’t change an election
you change the world. Any musician will tell you:
if you change your note, you change the whole chord.

And then after you have said your piece,
do what you can to give voice
to those who have no vote, no voice.
Let them speak. Listen to them.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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Hope is not anticipation of a certain outcome,
but trusting goodness.

The root and center of all things
is an abiding goodness, powerful and eternal.

Despite all danger and evil, all fear and hurt,
that goodness, that grace, endures.

We trust it.
And that is our hope.

Hope has survived war and tyranny.
It has also at times prevented them.

Trust that love, more powerful than fear,
that grace, which never forsakes us.

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness cannot overcome it.

This trust is not wishing. It’s knowing.
This is hope.

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