Author: Steve

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

The sensation,
pressing against your legs,
the give and take of it,
like a conversation
(yet not unlike the difficulty of prayer,
deep longing pressed back upon you,
questioned, not easily released).
Being embraced.
The vigor of it, the toil, the victory.
The needing to mean it, mindful,
each step a self-giving.
The gift that the earth notices,
the miracle that
even in your merely choosing to be
the world answers back.

_______________
Weather Report

Complementariness,
as the warmth of your individual existence
meets the universe and it responds,
as when you breathe in and air enters;
developing into full-blown relationship
by the end of the day.
Temperatures will vary
between resistance and harmony.

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.
         
         
         As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
                  and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
         making it bring forth and sprout,
                  giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
         so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
                  it shall not return to me empty,
         but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
                  and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
                           —Isaiah 55.10-11

Winter Storm Nemo: Windy with snow showers this morning evolving to a steady snow for the afternoon. High 32F. Winds ENE at 20 to 30 mph. Up to 36 inches of snow expected; tidal surge up to two feet. Winds could occasionally gust over 70 mph late.

God, your grace pours down upon us.
You cover us in a blizzard of your love,
your breath blowing through us,
sweeping us off our feet.
We are hemmed in, powerless to resist,
drifts of your wonder piling up around us
overabundantly, relentlessly.
You touch everything; you change our world.
Something far greater swirls around us.
We are not in control.
We move slowly and thoughtfully.
We can’t ignore you. For once we pay attention.
We are mindful of our neighbors.
We can’t even leave our homes
without dealing with your gifts.
You impose Sabbath upon us:
unable to earn our keep, we will simply be.
We will be still. We will wonder.
Lord of the Universe, envelop us
in the blizzard of your love.

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.
         
         
         Jesus said, “The Human One must undergo great suffering,
         and be rejected and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
         Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers,
         let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
         …Now about eight days after these sayings
         Jesus went up on the mountain to pray.
         And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed,
         and his clothes became dazzling white.
         Moses and Elijah were talking to him of his exodus,
         which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
         …A cloud overshadowed them, and from it came a voice that said,
         “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”
                  —from Luke 9.22-35

Christ, the Crucified One,
         be my light.

The radiance of your gentleness
         light my way.

The light of your self-giving
         show me my path.

Your nonviolence be my way
         through the sea of this world’s terror.

Your tender love be the law
         you give me on the mountain.

Your healing touch be the prophetic Word
         you blaze in me.

The light of your compassion
         guide my way in doing justice.

Your dying and rising
         show me the way.

Your radiant presence
         be the light by which I see.

Your gentle mercy
         be my path.

Christ, the Loving One,
         be my light.

         

__________________
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.
         
         
I have a toothache. I’ve been referred to an edodontist. (Isn’t an endodont a prehistoric mammal, slightly smaller than a mammoth?) The pain comes and goes randomly and intermittently, as if every once in a while an endonont is standing on my face. Sometimes it’s nothing and sometimes the pain is vibrant and gripping. If it were beauty it would be gorgeous. But it’s pain. I’ve discovered I can deal with it by laughing. Whenever it starts, I laugh. Deep, spontaneous, heartfelt laughter makes it feel better. But it’s hard work. I have to laugh as long as it hurts. Preferably without crinkling up that side of my face. Which is impossible, which helps, because that’s hilarious.

But it’s still pain. In the end, what you have to do with pain is live with it.

As much as I don’t like it, it’s for the best. Because of this pain I’m more aware of the pain of others—people in physical pain and emotional pain, people with sore backs and broken hearts and gnawing fears. I know how it distracts you, defeats you, tires you. I’m aware of the miraculous gift of my body, that knows how to do whatever it’s doing. I’m grateful for the gift of sensitivity. There are people who can’t feel physical pain, and it’s a real disability. When the pain subsides it’s downright pleasurable to feel normal. I’m grateful for the wonderful gift of feeing OK, and I won’t take it for granted.

I’m grateful for a life that’s wondrous and splendid, and worth living even at the price of some pain. We sometimes think it’s wrong of God to allow us to hurt. We’re so attached to feeling good that we forget that it’s not the most important thing in life. We depend on painkillers. In fact pain is part of the deal. It’s our longing for healing, which is God at work in us. Being fully alive, being sensitive, being deeply present and one with Creation, joined in compassion with all living things, we’re going to feel pain, even sometimes deep, overwhelming pain. But the love is greater. The wonder is deeper. The beauty is worth it. Even the worst pain is embedded in infinite joy.

That may sound glib and saccharine even from one whose face hurts, and who’s been through struggles and lost loved ones. But take it from the one on the cross: the love in this world is greater than the pain, and more powerful, and in the end will win out. Live with the pain, and you’ll find there’s more.

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.
         
         
         

The sea opens
and closes its hands,

nowhere the poet’s drama
of struggle or labor

or even giving and receiving,
no having or not having,

simply this invitation
to open and close
and open our hands.

         
         
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.
         
         
I’m back in Massachusetts after a week of travels in California and Montana. I led a retreat, visited my dearly beloved Pacific Ocean, saw a friend I haven’t seen for 15 years, and spent some time with my sister and brother. I waved to our sons in the Twin Cities as I flew by.

All those places were familiar; they were my home at some time in my life. Now I’m home in Massachusetts, which, after eighteen months, still feels the least like “home” to me. Twenty different houses in seven states (and also England) have at some time been the place I called home. When people ask me where I’m from, what should I say?

This is not uncommon; we are mobile. And our jobs, social surroundings, families and life situations change. In some way all of us, even those of us who live in the house that’s been in the family for generations, are migrants, exiles and refugees. We’ve come from, or are heading, somewhere else. So with all this bumping around, where do we really belong?

Well, hokey as it sounds, we belong in God. Our surroundings may or may not be where we are “from,” but regardless of the landscape, we come from God, we are rooted in God, and we are known and desired in a place that is our own, in God. We are not little specks far below that God looks down on from heaven as from a plane. We live in God’s heart, within God’s compassionate presence, inside God’s love. No matter where we are, we are held in God’s gentle arms. We may be ill suited to our surroundings, or find them foreign, or long for the familiar land or people we call home; we may feel uprooted, alien or lost, and we are probably not now where we will some day be; but we are never outside God’s loving presence. Each of us, wherever we are in our life’s journey, belongs just where we are in God.

When someone asks you where you’re from, pause a moment before you answer and listen for that heavenly voice that silently says, “Right here.”
         
         
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.
         
         
         You are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
                  —1 Corinthians 12.27

When you despair
that your life is small or insignificant,
when you grieve
that your life is troubled or a mess,
when you doubt
your life’s benefit to the universe,
remember that no matter your faults,
regardless of your disappointments,
you are more than this one individual flesh:
you are a part of this vast, wondrous humanity,
this glorious Creation,
that you are part of God’s healing of the world,
and know that your life, your whole life,
is wonderful, beautiful, and worthy,
holy, and belonging to God…
and give thanks.

         
         
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.

To you I wish

the peace of the moon,
who waxes and wanes
and is not troubled;

the beauty of the moon,
only partly seen
but always wondrous;

the silence of the moon,
who does not insist
if you do not notice;

the courage of the moon
who is not afraid
of her own darkness;

the steadiness of the moon,
who never gets caught
in the tricky branches;

the constancy of the moon,
who never forgets
to come back;

the wisdom of the moon
who sees clearly
when we close our eyes;

the faith of the moon
who is always full
to the sun.

The blessing of the moon
be with you.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To subscribe to Unfolding Light by daily e-mail write to unfoldinglight5(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

Out running in the cold winter air, most of my body was warm, but my fingers were cold. Riding my bike, it’s my forehead that suffers. But they’re all a part of me. And while I deal with the winter cold I think of you who are in Australia, who have been living through this awful summer heat. We’re at different extremes, but we’re all part of the same planet. While we in the US celebrate the inauguration of our elected president, others suffer tyranny and repression. But we’re all part of the same humanity.

Paul says we’re all parts of one body. Somehow, even without our knowing, when one suffers we all suffer. When one rejoices we all rejoice. Our sadness and gladness mingle together into one joy. In prayer we enter a deeper consciousness, even if it’s beyond our knowing: the reality that we belong, that we are all one living being. We enter into the suffering, and the joy, of the world. We become one with all our body. Our joy is there for others, and our pain is not ours alone. We receive the gift of their happiness, and help them bear the weight of their sorrows. Our souls are woven with theirs. In this way, even sitting in our room in silence, by the mystery of God’s grace in us, we become part of the mending of the world.

         Receive us, Holy One.
         Hold us in the mystery of your one love.
         Your compassion flows through us to all living beings,
                  with whom we share one life.
         We give thanks.

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.
         
         
         The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
                  because God has anointed me
                  to bring good news to the poor.
         God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
                  and recovery of sight to the blind,
         to let the oppressed go free,
                  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
                          —Luke 4.18-19

It is no political agenda, nor an economic vision.
It is simply compassion for those who are hurting,
and a will that their world reflect the created order
that God has provided for all of us:
a world that includes us, that offers beauty,
that gives life, free and abundant,
tendered in verdant hands,
that weaves us together in one living being,
one body, one life.
It is simply passion that the wanting child be fed:
for she is your own.

The self-created who disbelieve are the blind
whom the Spirit sends us to heal;
the successful who have earned their food
are the oppressed who need to be set free.
Only the grateful are wise;
only the compassionate see clearly.
Only those who would suffer oppression to free others
are truly free.

The divine in you is not the power to conquer wrong
but simply the passion to be good news,
to open eyes, to set free.

The martyrs and prophets,
who have known glares and stones,
pogroms, marches and fire hoses,
each trail of tears the same via dolorosa, they know:
this is not a goal or agenda, a plan or a program;
it is not born of human will at all.
It is a gift of God, the life of the Spirit breathing in you,
the maker of worlds uttering, “Let there be light.”

         
         
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