Category: Reflections

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
                  I

In his little boat the fisherman
floats out on a deep
mystery that provides.
His net woven of many strands
is a gathering, for gathering.
He casts it into dark waters
and hauls in light.
Not for himself
but those hungry in the village,
from the unseen he offers
sustenance.

                  II

The fly fisher admires the river,
runs her eyes along its surface
like her hands on fine furniture.
She sees beneath into the depths
and sees unseen the beauty flashing,
knows without knowing
the life given there.
Not with will to overpower
but adoration of the holy
she casts, she works the fly
and waits
for the communicating tug,
the splendor rising.

With this focus,
not to catch but to evoke,
not to control but to connect,
she loves people,
and seeks out the grace
flashing beneath their eyes,
the love
rising in them.

         
         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
                  
The call may come as a word,
a voice. Maybe not.
It may come as a feeling,
a nudge, a leaning, a suspicion,
or less.
It may be to new work, new places.
But it might not involve an ocean.
It may come as an invitation
to love like this,
to live in this manner.

It may simply be the call
each moment:
Stay with me.
Come with me
as I move
through your life
before you,
this moment,
into this room,
this conversation.
I plunge deep into this life.
Stay with me.

Here we go….

         
         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
                  
I preached and led a retreat on prayer and poetry at the Presbyterian church in Shepherdstown, WV this last weekend. It’s a lovely bunch of people. They explored fearlessly and shared deeply. They inspired me, not by the certitude of their beliefs but in the depth of their presence for God, for one another and for whoever walked in the door. Several members of the church spoke of how they were close to giving up on church till they found that one. A “church of last resort,” they say. There are churches like that.

We hear much about the decline of the neighborhood church in the shadow of big, rich, megaplex churches. Never mind that. Here’s the good news. Real communities of authentic people who want to grow in love and wonder are thriving here and there. If you are searching, don’t give up. Honor your hunger for the Holy. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. There are communities—most of them small—where you can be yourself, seek God, serve justice and find companions on the way. They are doing good work. Give thanks.

And be aware you may be a “person of last resort.” You may pass by someone who is ready to give up on the human race—or maybe just their part in it—or give up on God, until they meet you. This is nothing heroic, just part of what we’re here to do: to be light and life for each other. To be deeply present, and a source of hope. We are given the gifts to shine with the warmth of heaven, by our love to attract people to God and gather them to each other. Maybe that’s what it means to be “fishers of people.” Don’t give up. Keep seeking. Go fish.

         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
                  
When you stand for justice,
when you work for peace
it may seem that you are alone.
But they are with you,
and speak through your voice:
Sojourner, Martin, Mohandas, Dorothy,
Dietrich, Rigoberta, Oscar, Cesar, Malala.
You are legion.

When you offer yourself for reconciliation,
when you live truth in the face of resistance
it may seem that you face overwhelming forces.
But those who abet injustice
or sever our bonds of human unity
draw only from the dry cisterns
of their own fear and self-serving.
You flow with the deep-flowing stream
of justice that is God’s energy,
the power that orders the universe.
Regardless of this outcome
you embody infinite grace.
You are immense.

The temple of oppression is impressive,
but the tree of peace already
is cracking the foundations.
You are a root hair of the Empire of God.

Even in the deepest darkness,
you are light.

         
         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
In the Gospels Jesus calls attention to himself, saying even such grandiose things as “you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” But as much as the Gospels point us straight toward Jesus, Jesus points us toward God. He invites attention, and even devotion, not to himself alone but to the God he is revealing. Jesus knows we are not dependent even on him: our connection with God is direct, inward and absolute. We connect with God “in” or “through” Christ because Christ is God’s embodiment in this world. We are already one with God; Jesus is the one who uniquely shows us that. We may feel dependent on a certain teacher or pastor, but even the best is merely an icon, someone we look through to see God. My ego can get hold of me and I think my parishioners need me alone to preach at them and pray on them. But I’m leaving my folks in Massachusetts this weekend to lead a retreat on prayer and poetry in Shepherdstown, W Va. They’ll be just fine without me. So will the folks in Shepherdstown. I don’t have the good stuff to give to them; the good stuff is already in them. It’s already in you. God is there. God’s dwelling is not closed off to us. God is not hiding in some temple or guru. God is the center of your being. You don’t need to “seek” God or “acquire” anything. Be still and discover God within; be attentive and see God among us, shining in all Creation.

A meditation on Psalm 139:

O mysterious Love,
Being within my being,
voice of my song,
you know me
because I arise from you.
You breathe me,
you speak me,
you become me.
You encompass me,
you fill me,
you accompany me.
As a candle becomes nothing
but light
your desire in me desires
to become you,
to be your light,
your Word,
your praise,
your joy.

         
         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God!
                  —John 1. 45-49

Notice the reversals. Nathaniel starts out with a snarky comment, dismissing Jesus with a stereotype of people from the sticks. Clearly he’s wrong. Jesus could accuse him of being bigoted, or at least insensitive. Instead, he praises Nathaniel as being “without deceit.” Then, on the flimsiest evidence, Nathaniel suddenly changes his story and declares Jesus to be the Son of God. What’s going on?

Maybe Nathaniel was changed because Jesus saw him—saw the good and true in him that others hadn’t seen. Jesus “saw” a new Nathaniel into life. And Nathaniel in turn saw something good, something holy even, in Jesus.

God sees us as we truly are, and we let ourselves be seen. “O Lord, you have searched me and known me. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely” (Ps. 139). And we see ourselves the way God sees us: as precious and beloved and even, despite everything, good. And we become the people that God envisions. Jesus says “The eye is the lamp of the body” (Mt. 6.22). Just as God spoke “light” into being, God sees us into being, creates us by seeing us anew. And the people we become are good, and see the good in others, even the holy. “Then I will know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Cor. 13.12).

Don’t be afraid to be fully seen, for you are God’s Beloved. Seek to truly see others—even someone hurtful— as God’s Beloved. It is the light that re-creates 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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

The Lord came and stood there,
calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel said,
“Speak, for your servant is listening.”
—1 Samuel 3.10

Spirit of Truth,
I give thanks for those saints and prophets
who have listened for your Word
and spoken with their lives.

I listen for your voice,
whether your Word be harsh or comforting.
May my whole life be my listening,
every moment my listening.

Help me to discern
when speaking is part of listening,
when bad news is part of your good news
for the sake of the mending of the world.

Give me courage to speak,
to embody your truth without fear,
to live so that my life speaks your justice.

Help me to trust
that your Word in me will not fall to the ground,
but will accomplish what you send it for,
even if only that another may hear.

Grant me to listen clearly,
to trust the grace in your Word,
to embody your love in faith.

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
                  
The moon, half dressed,
slips out of bed with me.
Earth holds me in her palm,
each step, carries me out of the house.
First light leans easy against the trees,
lays an arm around my shoulders
and walks with me.
The air, the breath of the world,
cold and hard but willing,
wants to plunge deep into me,
and plunges. The morning,
wearing nothing but the universe,
opens her robe and wraps it around me.
The creator of all things,
the world gathered in her hands,
looks at this day and smiles
and leans a little bit forward
and says, “Let’s do this.”

         
         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
Thursday, at seven below zero, we had an electrical malfunction at the church: power out in half the building, no heat, major boiler damage, burst pipes, icicles in the sanctuary, imploded copiers, downed internet & phones and a flood in the basement. The place was crawling with the fire department, the boiler guys, an electrician, the sprinkler system guy, the power company, the Verizon worker, the copier tech and a restoration cleaning outfit, all because of a wire. Pretty interesting.

I spent all day on it, instead of going to a workshop, visiting Jim in the hospital and writing a sermon. The sermon was about the baptism of Jesus. Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan, which spewed out of a burst pipe above the cry room, soaked the carpet and flowed down inside the walls, pooling in the basement. As Jesus came up from the water he saw the ceiling torn open, and the Spirit like a dove descending on him. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my Beloved.” That was all I needed to hear in that basement.

That’s all we ever need to hear. The disasters we suffer and create, the tribulations we endure may test our trust, but the promise stays true. Wisdom is learning to be at peace and trust the love. The flood may be unwelcome, but “the rivers will not overwhelm you, for I am with you,“ God says, “for I love you.”

The only real disasters we need to worry about are when we forget that we are God’s Beloved, when we try to be something else, something of our own creating. When distrust that we, and everyone else, are God’s beloved, that’s when things go wrong. The little accidents of life are just accidents. What really matters is that we stay true to being God’s Beloved.

No matter how the water comes to you, remember your baptism and be thankful.

         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         Just as he was coming up out of the water,
         he saw the heavens torn apart
         and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
                  —Mark 1.10

Immersed in this loving mystery,
a great river flowing around you,
pulsing as if pumped
by a heart,
carrying you on,
flowing through you,
you surrender to it.

You open yourself to the outward surge,
yearning of God,
upwelling of heaven,
washed,
nourished,
borne.

This river of light
flows out into the earth,
plunges into soil,
circles continents.
Erodes great walls,
drowns the huge, dark fortress.
Green leaves emerge.

You fill the ocean,
the one sea,
the single tear of God.

Even this one handful
waters the world.

         
         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com