Author: Steve

         
         

I kneel before you, Sovereign,
your rough-hewn throne,
         your crown of thorns.

Power above all others,
authority and might,
         your crown of thorns.

Your abject poverty,
your suffering our suffering:
         your crown of thorns.

Your imperial judgment
of condemnation and violence:
         your crown of thorns.

Champion of the poor,
vindicator of the lowly,
         your crown of thorns.

You conquer my pain, my sin,
my death, my shadow:
         your crown of thorns.

My sacrifice, my victim,
my masterpiece, my savior—
         your crown of thorns.

Ruler of the Universe,
your robe is all Creation,
         your crown of thorns.

I bow to your majesty,
Prince of Peace,
         your crown of thorns.

I seek no glory
but to bear your name, your love,
         your crown of thorns.

         
         

__________________
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.
         
         
         There was also an inscription over him,
         “This is the King of the Jews.”
                  —Luke 23.38

This is the king of humility,
the absolute monarch of love.
This is the sovereign ruler of forgiveness,
whose reign is over life and death,
whose might is compassion,
whose power is in his willingness
to suffer with the lowly
and dignify the outcast,
whose glory is mercy,
who makes no demands upon his subjects
but only showers them with blessings,
who passes no law and wields no sword,
who threatens no violence but only suffers it,
and redeems those who suffer,
whose army is those who humbly love,
who utters no commands but one.

And I am his loyal subject.
I obey his law of love.
I honor his sovereignty over my life.
I serve in his army of gentleness.
He and all those with whom he suffers
are above me.
I belong to him. I love him. I serve him.
I surrender to him wholly,
join in his suffering and his love
and dedicate myself to his mercy.
And he receives me and says:
“Today you will be with me in paradise.”

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

__________________
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

         
         

O Womb of the Universe,
for your reign of generosity
and this great, boundless gift of earth,
this miracle of life, I give you thanks.

Heavenly Lover,
for your compassionate Rule,
your Empire of grace and Forgiveness,
and the loving command you give us
in one another
I give you thanks.

O Lord and Master,
for all that blossoms still,
unfolding by your grace,
and all that shall be,
I am overcome with amazement,
swept up by gratitude,
moved with generosity.

O Crucified and Risen One,
may your complete self-giving
become mine.
Let all my living be my thanks.
Here is my whole life.
Take it, and let it be
a fitting adornment
in paradise.

         
         

__________________
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

         
         
         
Holy One,
It’s hard for me to be honest with people,
and therefore hard to be honest with myself,
about myself—who I really am—
because I’m afraid of it,
afraid of this dark, rotten part of me,
afraid that there is some judgment it incurs.
But your judgment is light
and I am light, all light:
even the dark rotten parts
are made of light
by your grace
and they are all part of my being transformed
by your grace
from light into light.

Let your light shine in me.

Christ is the light of the world.
I am the light of the world.
Christ is the light of the world.

Let your light shine in me.

         
         

__________________
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.
         
When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify.          
                  —Luke 21.9-13

Horror and anguish, casually voted on
and brought to the floor,
electricity to the bone,
blood on pavement and stainless steel,
grains of rice stashed in Wall Street banks,
water for the few, AIDS for the many,
used laborers, wrong color, hustled off in darkness
and more brought in,
the nervous sweat of the addict,
the crimes he’ll commit for the shaking needle
of oil, seas rising and raging, while
people build their beach houses….

It is not fantasy. It is the difficulty.
To not be shaped by terror.
To live differently than those about you.
To stand up to The Way It Is.

Do not be shaped by terror.
I will be in you,
my gentleness strengthening you,
my hope sharpening the sword
of your willingness. My peace
breathing in you.
In the fury, speak love,
and the world will change.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

__________________
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.
       

  

         
         
Loving One,

I am the cloud of your mercy,
a thunderhead of your grace.

Fields are thirsty,
the river is dry.

Let it go,
let it go.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

__________________
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.
         
         
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down…. This will give you an opportunity to testify.”
                  —Luke 21.5-6, 13

Let go of human things; hang onto God.

When sacred structures fall apart, then the Holy Presence will have to dwell in us ourselves.

When people can no longer find forgiveness in old systems, then the community of faith itself will have to bear forgiveness to them.

No single stone is sacred; they are all needed to make a temple. Stay connected.

When the world around you descends into darkness, you can still shine with light.

Don’t expect society to go your way, but don’t go with it. Bear witness to another Way.

The reason you were born, the the purpose for which God brought you into this world, is to bear God’s forgiving presence into a world that is desperate for it.
        
 
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

__________________
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.

        
All your ideas about God are stones,
smooth and perfect.
All your words are stones,
round and smooth.

You can’t stack them up
into a statue of God.
Every prayer
is a pile of stones.

Throw them into the nearest lake.
Listen to the sound—kisplash!—
as they disappear into the holy water.

The last ripples expand,
growing all through you,
reaching your farthest shore.

God sits with you and watches
in silence, transfixed.

Later,
even if you’re not thinking about it,
the ripples are still widening 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 me at unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com.

For those whom we have asked
to bear the horror of our violence
we offer our prayers
of thanks for their willingness
to stand between us and our fears,
for forgiveness for having asked them,
of healing for the damage to their souls
by what they have done and seen,
for mercy for them who don’t know
how to carry the horror back to us,
how to shed the darkness
we have asked them to drink,
how to live among us, who are so willing
to sacrifice our children.

May we give others peace to bear, not fear,
healing to carry, not weapons,
and send them into blessing, not danger.

May we, too, have the courage to serve,
to risk, to give our lives in love
for the sake of our homeland,
which is the Kingdom of God,
the whole human family,
in the spirit of peace.
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.
         
         
         God is God not of the dead,
                  but of the living.
                           —Luke 20.38

God is God of the present moment,
         not the past.

Your sins were in the past;
         but God is in the present moment.

God does not stay in the past,
         remembering your sins:

God is in the present moment,
         loving you.

Forgiveness is letting go of the past
         and coming into the present.

Repent of your sin—let go of the past—
         and come into the present,

where you are a child of God,
         a child of resurrection.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

__________________
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