Category: Reflections

           Knowing he had been there a long time,
           Jesus said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
                           —John 5.6

      Perhaps it was a challenge:
Do you want to be healed,
or are you too used to it
to want to leave that life behind?
Have you grown fond of complaining,
accustomed to lying here,
unwilling to be changed?

      To which the answer may have been:
You can only obsess with what you want
for so long. After 38 years I am at peace with what is.
But, yes. I would rather be well.

      But maybe it was just an invitation,
      a way of saying, “May I?”

When I come to my prayers,
do I want to be transformed?
Do I realize I need to be healed?
Or do I think that’s Jesus’ job, to notice?
Do I know my sin makes me sick,
my fears and desires paralyze me?
How often do I ask for stuff
but forget to open myself
to being made new?

Yes, Beloved, yes.
I want to be made well.

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

It is as if an old woman in the train station
should look around and smiling slightly
reach into her bag and pull out
a kerchief tied around ancient, valuable coins,
cry “Oh dear!“
and the coins slip out of the kerchief
and fall on the floor,
seemingly multiplying as they land
in a fountain of coins,
clinking and clattering and rolling,
and rolling, some quite far.
And some people ignore the scene and walk on,
and some people stop and pocket a few coins.
But some people stoop and gather coins,
fetching them from under benches and planters,
and return them to the woman,
who blesses each one of them,
smiling, eye to eye,
and they walk away so much richer.

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

God of mercy,
our hearts are broken
for the violence that surrounds us,
the violence that is within us.
Heal our rage;
mold it like a potter
into wisdom and courage.
But to not unbreak our hearts.
Let them remain shattered
for those who grieve—
for we are all one family—
and for our own part
in a nation of violence.
Mold our sorrow
with your strong and steady hands
into wisdom and courage,
that we may speak and act
to assist in the mending of this world,
in the strength of your gentleness,
the might of your mercy,
the power of your love.

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

Sit a moment under this blossoming tree.
                        Take in its sweet fragrance.

What does it matter what you believe? There are no words.
                         You do not reason; you inhale.

A bee buzzes about your head, and you let him.
                         He is not after you, but the flowers.

Close your eyes in prayer. Let your mind buzz and hum
                         while you inhale the fragrance of God

I hope for you the confidence of the bird
who flies without doubt.

I wish for you the patience of the bird
for whom is it not a storm, but merely air.

I pray for you the joy of the bird,
who finds food.

I bless in you the wisdom of the bird
who flies thousands of miles and finds home.

I pray for you the grace of the bird,
who makes its own path.

I see in you the beauty of the bird,
how it loves this world.

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

The Beloved danced around the light
       twirled her galaxy skirts

dreamed of love
       and made room in herself for another

poured her delight into the palm of her hand
      fashioned it with beauty

and set it dancing with joy
      yes, you

shining in the dark of her eyes
      river into the world

flowing with all the others
     all one dance one beauty one delight

Tell me, child,
      what will you do with all that love in you?

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

           Love one another as I have loved you.
                           —John 13.34


Love is not a feeling
but an act,
a movement of the heart from here to there,
of gratitude and reverence for someone,
a commitment to their well-being,
to share space with them
in the circle of being,
to being co-members in this Body of life.
It is a giving-and-receiving of being.

Love is not a wanting,
you for myself,
(though that’s what we too easily call love),
not for my sake at all,
but, yes, a yearning, unfinished,
like gravity,
for mutual wholeness.

It’s this pull
that holds the world together,
that alone will save us
from our splintered wanderings,
our solitary confinement,
our lonely rage.

To yearn for one another
as we have been yearned for
is the blessing that redeems us,
the settling that answers our gravity’s desire.

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

           “I give you a new commandment,
           that you love one another
           just as I have loved you.”
                           —John 13.34


Beloved,
may your love flow through me,
your heart beat in mine,
your Spirit breathe in me,
that I may love as you have loved me:
entering my life with gentleness,
inviting me into your grace,
giving me a place of belonging in this amazing world,
forgiving me entirely, healing me,
calling forth the divine in me,
finding delight in me,
laying down your life for me.
May I love as you have loved me
and live gently, love deeply,
forgive freely, give generously,
bless boldly, and offer myself humbly,
that, by your grace,
you will live fully in me.
Amen.

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

God looks with such love
that God can light a candle
by gazing upon it.

This, this gaze of love,
is how God created you.
Prayer is holding still, to let God see you.

You, child of God,
can look at this world
in just that way.

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

           You prepare a table before me
           in the presence of my enemies.
                           —Psalm 23.5

This is a promise of safety:
in biblical times hospitality was so honored
that a host was expected to protect you
even from murderous enemies.

But it’s also an invitation to reconciliation.
When the Beloved prepares the table
your enemies aren’t just onlookers. They’re invited.

There is only one table.
Jesus sets the Passover table and seats Judas
right beside him, in the place of honor.

The Beloved sits beside you,
your enemy across from you.
(The Beloved sits beside them, too.)

And you both feast on the same grace,
the same cup overflowing,
the same goodness and mercy.

You will not get up from the Beloved’s table
until you are reconciled.
Until then you both are still at the table.

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