Category: Reflections

         They saw Jesus walking on the sea
         and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
         But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
         Then they wanted to take him into the boat,
         and immediately the boat reached the land
         toward which they were going.
                   —John 6.19-21


The point is not that Jesus “walks on water”
(whatever that means).
He walks on difficulty. Walks through trouble.
He walks, even, over impossibility.

Where he walks is not a little lake, not a great ocean,
but the world, where the Beloved
will not, even in your direst storms,
be remote, but will be there,
walking over it to you, serene, present,
no matter where you are.
It will never be hard for love to get to you.

The point is not miraculous teleportation.
It is that love will get you where you need to go.
When you awake, even terrified,
to the reality that the Beloved is with you,
you are where you were going.

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

July 22, 2021

         Jesus took the loaves,
         and when he had given thanks,
         he distributed them to those who were seated;
         so also the fish, as much as they wanted
                   —John 6.11


He handed it out,
miraculously multiplying a handful of bread
into enough for five thousand,
miraculously multiplying a handful of time
to be present one at a time
for all five thousand.
As much as they wanted.

He stands before you,
looks into your eyes,
says your name,
and hands you this moment
blessed, and given to you.

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

July 21, 2021

         There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.
But what are they among so many people?
                   —John 6.9


You can’t do math on God.

The power of your gifts
is multiplied by a mystery.

Unmeasurable,
always too small,
they are more than adequate,
with enough left over
for everyone (all twelve tribes).

This is a parable of the whole world.

Take, bless, and give.

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

July 20, 2021

By the beauty of God’s love for you,
your inner being is continually strengthened in love.
The body of God’s love in this world
is alive in you.
You are being rooted and grounded in love.

Trust that God is at work
powerfully within you,
and will accomplish abundantly far more
than all you can ask or imagine.


[Ephesians 3.16-17, 20]

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

July 19, 2021

Child of earth, may you find within you
the humility of the grass,
the wisdom of the river,
patience of the mountain,
the generosity of the trees.

May you see with eyes of gratitude
the peace of the sunrise within you,
the beauty of the blossoming earth,
the joy of the bird on the wing.

May the fresh breeze of hope bless you,
the earth’s steadfastness sustain you,
and the mystery of all living things enfold you.

May each moment of your life be a new day dawning,
and the sun and moon and stars
dance around you
and in you
every day of your life.

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

You have been treated like an Outsider
by people who thought of themselves as Insiders—
though that was nothing but human discrimination.
You know what it’s like to feel distant from God,
aliens to the community of the Beloved,
with no confidence that God is there for you—
nothing to root your hope in.
But Jesus has no Outsiders:
in Christ’s self-giving love we’re all brought in.
Christ is our peace.
In the embodiment of God’s love
both “insiders” and “outsiders” are in.
Christ has broken down the dividing wall between us,
the cruel illusion that we are different.
Love has no requirements, no merit, no deserving,
so there aren’t different categories—just the beloved.

Christ’s self-giving love, that we see on the cross,
isn’t just for some people,
but for everybody, all of us together,
reconciling us all to God and making us all one Body.
What died on the cross was the notion
that some people are better than others.
Love establishes peace
between those who think they’re insiders and outsiders.
We all breathe the same Spirit that is God.
So you are not strangers or aliens,
but members of the family of the Beloved,
members of the household of God,
which is built on the foundation of ancestors before us
who lived in love and faith,
with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone.
In Christ we all are joined together in an organic whole,
growing into God’s holy temple, God’s home—
so God lives in us.

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

July 15, 2021

         He said to them, “Come away
         to a deserted place all by yourselves
         and rest a while.”
                   —Mark 6.31

Come away.
The world will turn without you.
Let go of the “have to,” the should, the ought.

Notice what you set down:
the weight of expectations,
the feeling of proving yourself to yourself.
Notice how you feel, unburdened:
At peace? Anxious? Free? Afraid?
Waiting for the gavel to drop? Notice…

What if it’s OK?
It’s OK.

Practice this sabbath exercise,
this holy desertion
so you may take it with you into the crowd.

•

You honor what is in your hands
only if you hold it lightly.

•

Come away to the place of solitude
where you already are,
waiting for you.

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

July 14, 2021

Notice the events in Mark 6:
Jesus sends the disciples out
and they preach and heal.
They return to a maelstrom of busyness:
no time even to eat.
Jesus says “Come away and rest.”
But a crowd follows them.
So Jesus teaches the crowd.

Has he just contradicted his own invitation to rest?
No: he’s rested.
While the disciples were out there healing
what do you think Jesus was doing?
Nothing. Resting.
So when the crowd hits, he’s rested and ready.

Give your life to Jesus,
follow him through all difficulty.
Heal, proclaim grace, work for justice.
But first rest. Yes, rest first.
It’s Jesus’ spiritual direction.
Find solitude where you aren’t doing—just being.
Then get to work.
Out of that miracles will flow.

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

July 13, 2021

Beloved,

I love walking around this place. Earth is pretty stunning. Sometimes people say I’m “near.” Silly people. They don’t get that I’m not just near, I’m Here. Not just located nearby, but that here is me. I am this present moment. ~I keep waiting for somebody to address me as “Your Hereness.” lol ~ Everything they see is me, or at least a tiny bit of me. But I have to put it out there to love it, right? (Even the awful parts….) Few of them get it, till they just sit and stare—like me. Oh, well. I love ’em all anyway.

I’m having the time of your life. I think of you every day. Give my love to everybody there.

Love,
God

__________________
Weather Report

Being,
deepening over time
with presence accumulating
throughout the day.
Mystery tonight,
glory in the morning
as life continues.

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

July 12, 2021

         God chose us in Christ
         before the foundation of the world
         to be holy and blameless before God in love.
                   —Ephesians 1.4

God, you have chosen me
to be holy and blameless in love.
I don’t know what holds me back.
Some of it I can name, but some is hidden.
Help me see the fears that restrain me…
the guilt that burdens me…
the inadequacy that haunts me…
the expectations that entangle me…
the attachments that chain me…
Help me to see them and to trust
that you sent me free from them.
No reason, no means, no demands—
you simply set me free,
with no purpose other than that I be free,
free to be holy and blameless in love.
I am free. Help me to trust.

Breath prayer:
Free … to love

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

July 9, 2021