Category: Reflections

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
Martin,
Lamb of God,
laid down with lions,
had a dream for us all.

Don’t weep for him in his death,
or mourn him in his absence:
he is with us still,
freed now from his little place,
still praying, preaching, marching,
in everyone who cries out for justice,
everyone who bears light
into the darkness.

We are not alone now,
nor was he, nor all the saints:
from from the day of Cain
it was the One who cried out,
pleading, singing,

We shall,
We shall….

         
         
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 unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
                  

The rising sun lifts every frozen thing
into another world.
All are wearing robes of white,
and crowns of silver and of gold.
Mist is raised in curls of light
from pools of ice repenting.
Vapor hovers off the ground,
a choir of light, a host of heaven,
Spirit brooding over dark Creation’s waters.
Branches dressed in stars,
their glinting millions,
stand in perfect contemplation,
bathed in newness.
Snow in silence gives itself to air
in lucent breathing.
Eden’s swords of flame pierce morning’s woods,
whose streets are paved with gold,
making every thing begin again.
Now nothing here, not even you, is old.

         
              
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.

         They said to him, “Teacher, where are you staying?”
         He said to them, “Come and see.”
                  —John 1.38-39

They said, “Where do you abide?”
         Where is your heart rooted?
         Where does your spirit linger?
         Where will you always be?
         Where do you eternally remain?
         Where does your loving presence dwell?
         

He said, “Come and see.”
         Draw near. Don’t be distant. Come.
         It will be among the poor, the silenced,
         under the weight of the cross.
         You’ll have to leave some things behind.
         You won’t see the healing
         unless you’re close to the wound.
         Come.
         
         Look.
         Without judgment or analysis, simply attend.
         Don’t theorize: notice.
         

The Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world
lives with us.
Keep the eyes of your soul open.

         
              
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.
         

         Look, the lamb of God,
         who takes away the sin of the world.
                  —John 1.29

Look
         “Come and see”
         allow this grace to fill our vision

The Lamb of God
         lamb that dwells with the wolf
         servant who like a lamb is led to the slaughter
         Passover lamb whose blood marks our freedom
         conquering lamb who opens the seven seals

Who takes away
         the Greek word is “to lift”
         to take the burden from our shoulders
         to bear our sin, carry it off, endure the load
         to lift up for us to see clearly
         to hold it harmlessly away from us
         to receive our violence without returning it
         
The sin of the world
         not the sins; we’re stuck with those
         the brokenness hidden in everyone
         the saturating fear
         the wound that will not heal
         the violence of the system

And they followed him
         to know we are as sinful as others, and not judge
         to know we are forgiven, and be humbly grateful
         to carry forgiveness into this world
         to be nonviolent
         in freedom, miraculously rising
         without illusion that we can bear or save
         in tender love for the gentle lamb
         to accompany Christ beneath the suffering of the world
         and help the Gentle One who holds the weight

         
              
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.

         When Jesus turned and saw them following,
         he said to them, “What are you looking for?”
                  —John 1.38

In John’s story Jesus’ first word is a question.
It still is.

         What do you want?
         What do you really want?
         What do you want even more than that?

Let Jesus ask. He wants to know.
Let your soul answer.

         What are you yearning for?
         What is your heart leaning toward?
         What do you hope for?

They said to him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?”
He said to them, “Come and see.”

         Come close to him so that you can see.
         Keep asking. Keep longing.
         Keep looking.
         
         
         
              
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.
         
         
        I said, “I have labored in vain,
                yet surely my cause is with the Lord.”
        The Holy One says,
        “I will give you as a light to the nations,
                that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
                        —Isaiah 49.4, 6

You do not see your own face..
You can’t hold your work in your hands.
You can’t know the whole tapestry
into which you are woven.
God’s grace works within, unseen.
Go with the mere faith
that you are God’s thread.
You won’t see the face of God,
who is so delighted in you.

No star can guess its place in the heavens,
which are nonetheless glorious.
The Beloved is continually making this world,
saying, “Let there be light:”
and you walk out into the darkness,
and God says, “It is good.”
The miracle rolls on to the end of the earth
until all is mended, all is beautiful,
all is blessed.

         
________________________
Weather Report

Low lying fog,
with visibility often reduced
so that you cannot see
the good of your life,
dissipating later;
clearer at higher elevations.

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.
         
         When Jesus had been baptized,
         just as he came up from the water,
         suddenly the heavens were opened to him.
                  —Matthew 3.16

This love,
it’s as wide as the sky.

The gate to the holy,
it’s as open as the morning.

This blessing,
it’s as eternal as light.

This mystery,
it’s as deep as all of space.

This presence,
it’s as enfolding as the heavens.

This welcome
opens like all the way.

This life comes near
the way the whole universe touches the ground.

This grace,
there’s no way out of it.

         

              
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.
         

         “You are my Own, my Beloved,
         with whom I am well pleased.”

This is as unalterable as the heavens:
you are God’s Beloved, God’s own.
Nothing you do or fail can change that.

         I will tell of the decree of the Lord,
         who said to me, “You are my offspring;
         today I have begotten you.”

You are anointed with the promise of the Messiah,
the task of bearing God’s will into the world.

         “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
         my chosen, in whom my soul delights.”

You are upheld in your work.
Unseen though it may be,
and seemingly unimportant,
it is God’s desire; it is God’s delight.

         “So gently so as not to break a bruised reed
         or quench a dimly burning candle,
         you will faithfully bring forth justice.”

Nonviolently as Christ, without force or coercion,
with only love for all,
you will act for the fullness of life
for all those to whom it is denied.

         “One who endures suffering
         and is acquainted with weakness.”

The promise is not happy trails
or the comfort of triumph
but the mystery of the cross, dying and rising
as you enter the suffering of the world.
                  
         “You are my Own, my Beloved,
         with whom I am well pleased.”

It is not your power or success
but your belovedness,
and that of all whom you meet,
that you bear gloriously into the world,
that transforms it.
Go in peace, and serve the Lord with joy.

         
              
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.
         

         

In this world that can be so cold,
so cold,

the cold that brings on bitter hurt
and numbness,

keeps us hidden in our wrappings,
hearts bundled in private defense,

withdrawn, not touching,
insulated, enfolded in ourselves—

what could make God happier
than this,

that you give
a little warmth?

         
              
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.
         
         
Yes, these days come, too:
gray, banal, post-epiphany,
the child in hiding,
the gold spent,
the myrrh lost on the way to Egypt,
the wise men long gone
to a country too far to hail,
the wailing over but
the sadness not,
the road leading
nowhere in particular,
starless.

Remember
it was often this way,
the star lost in fog,
the road drifted over
by weariness.

Still, something led you on.
Someone walked in you
those miles, bore your heart
deep in their robes,
safe from the swirling,
deadening sands.
That is how you have come
to this dreary day.

The promise is not glory,
not certainty, but presence.

This gray
is the inside of God’s robes,
bearing you,
without your guiding,
by another road.

         
              
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