I am this meadow

         
         

I am this morning meadow
         into which you pour yourself.

I am the still air
         in which you rise, a mountain, huge.

I am this city street
         which you walk, a crowd
         with your stories, your nations.

I am this bird
          and you are flight, and song.

I am the ocean
         and you are my water.

I am the desert
         and you are my stillness.

I am this heart
         and you are my beating.

You are this day
         into which you pour me, 
         breath by breath.

Together,
         we are this life.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Sacred book

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         

Maybe when you open the sacred book
the little bits of truth come flying out
like birds and if you’re lucky
one of them lands in the tree of you.
It doesn’t have much to do with
penetrating the world with your wisdom,
just being there waiting.

Maybe when you open the book
they all hold very very still
like frogs in the pond
and you have to be as still as they
to see one of them move.
They are not hiding, just waiting.

Maybe you are the book
and none of the birds in you are caged
and none of them ever fly away.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight (at) gmail.com

The holy fire

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         Then the fire of the Holy One fell
         and consumed the burnt offering,
         the wood, the stones, and the dust,
         and even licked up the water that was in the trench.

                  —1 Kings 18.38

The prophets of fertility and satisfaction cry
from the pop up ads and the sports channels,
the campaign trails and the tanning beds,
commanding the gods.
But the fire of the Holy One
is not summoned.
The flame in your eyes,
the fire in your hands
does not satisfy: it consumes,
even the dust.

It falls from the trees,
the flaming colors fall, the orange flames,
the red and yellow and russet flames
consume the wood and the stones,
the embers cover the stones and the dust
and even the water in the runnels. It falls,

and either you stand back
or you catch.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Generosity

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
                  —Mark 12.

True poverty and riches are in our hearts,
         not our pockets.

Fear is the only prison that prevents us
from loving deeply,
from giving freely,
from living richly.

Generosity is the power that sets us free.
It melts the prison bars.
It fills the coffers of our hearts.

In generosity, regardless of circumstances,
even the penniless are not poor,
even the destitute are not alone,
even the flat broke are not afraid.

Give everything you have,
all you have to live on,
and you will be free
and unafraid.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Day of the dead

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
                  
They speak to us
through the curtain
of trees,
who have befriended
the shadow
of light,
they shine
down the long hall of time,
who have surrendered
to their own infinity.
They have leapt over the abyss
between this world
and the unseen
to tell us
there is no abyss.

Our mourning is not tragic,
but part of the deep colors
of the wide, turning earth.

What they have let go now
is their love,
and it flows
forever.

What they are trying to tell us
in their loving silence
is that we are free.

.
.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

With all your mind

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
         and with all your soul, and with all your might.

                  —Deuteronomy 6.5

         You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
         and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
         and with all your strength.

                  —Mark 12.30

Jesus added your mind.

         •

God, help me love you today with my mindfulness:
let my consciousness, what I am aware of, and how,
be loving toward you.

Help me love you with my thoughts,
to use my mind to love you,
to think lovingly of all people.

Help me love you with my attitude
toward others and myself and my circumstances.

Help me lovingly search all my thoughts,
including the ones I repress,
and bear all my moods and emotions
as offerings to you,
placing them in your loving hands.

Help me this day be mindful of what is,
mindful of your love,
mindful of my love for you.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Love your neighbor

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         The first commandment is,
                  “You shall love the Lord your God…”
         The second is this,
                  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

                  —Mark 12.29-31

Jesus joins Deuteronomy 6.5 with Leviticus 19.18:
love of God and love of neighbor
and love of self are one.
God is One. There is only one love.
It flows among the Trinity
of God, self and others.

I love my neighbor
as deeply as I love myself.

I love my neighbor
as I wish God to love me.

I love my neighbor
in the same manner as I love myself.

I love my neighbor
as a way of loving myself.

I love my neighbor,
who is myself.

Loving my neighbor
is God loving me.

.
.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

First commandment

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         “Which commandment is the first of all?”
         Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel:
         the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
         you shall love the Lord your God
         with all your heart, and with all your soul,
         and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’”

                  —Mark 12.29-30

The command to love God is first
not simply because it’s most important
but because it’s the only commandment.
God is One; God is the only one; God is all.
How we do anything is how we love God.
How we love a neighbor, love a stranger,
love an enemy, this is our love of God.
How we eat our food or notice beauty,
how we express gratitude, treat mistakes,
trust grace, offer gifts, be patient or forgive
is how we love God.
Our tenderness or harshness
toward the ugly and the disturbing,
our acceptance of pleasure and torment,
our longing for wholeness,
our hunger for love,
our longing for God,
is how we love God.
Our sitting and listening,
our growing and being,
our breathing,
is how we love God.

         •

O Love,
perfect your love in us.

.
.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Love God

         
         “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
         you shall love the Lord your God
         with all your heart, and with all your soul,
         and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

                  —Mark 12.29-30

Beloved,
I give you my heart:
my willingness, my passions, my desires.
Make them into love for you.

I give you my soul:
my mystery, my self, my divine presence.
Make them into love for you.

I give you my mind:
my thoughts, my wisdom, my beliefs.
Make them into love for you.

I give you my strength:
my gifts, my ability, my being.
Make them into love for you.

Beloved,
may all that I do,
all that I care or think about,
all that I am,
be love for you.
Amen.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Autumn blessing

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

As the trees bear fruit and the harvest is bought in,
blessings ripen in you.

As the earth holds dear the roots of trees,
God’s love for you holds you fast, and gives you life.

As the trees shed their leaves in beauty
and the garden gives up its riches in abundance,
you learn to surrender gracefully,
forgive deeply, offer gifts generously,
and in all your losses trust that deeper blessings
are given you.

As the earth turns toward winters’ darkness
in its gentle dance of seasons,
you walk through life’s challenges without fear,
trusting the unseen spring yet to come.

As autumn’s colors pour into the world,
blessing unfolds in you;
as autumn puts its gold in your hands,
you grow in love and become more beautiful,
and make the world more beautiful.

And even the trees, amazed, thank you.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

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