Category: Reflections

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?”
         — John 1.35-38

What are you looking for?
The hunger that spends you?
The clearing where you will
set down your burden and say,
“This is the place?”
What are your eyes open for?

All the little cravings and distractions
are really trying to lead you there,
the wants, even the dreads.
Deeper than those, what is it?
Compassion, maybe? Wakefulness?

Sometimes the noblest journey is simply
looking for what it is we’re looking for.

Trust this.
The migrating bird knows the way.
High on the mountain,
the little brooks turns this way
and that.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
         —John 1.29

We deplore the recent shootings, but in fact we all have the same murderous instinct: we want to outsource our pain. When we’re mad we yell at someone. It just feels right. When we’re troubled, we believe deep down that our troubles will be resolved if we can give our suffering to somebody else. It’s why shooters rampage, and it’s why we insult people who make us mad. It’s why we execute criminals, wage wars, hate minorities, blame our opponents, punish wrongdoers, break dishes and scold our children. It’s all the same violent gesture. It’s all scapegoating. (We make some distinctions, but Jesus would have none of that. “You’ve heard it said, ‘You shall not kill.’ But I say if you are angry you are liable to judgment.”)

We suppose that only more suffering will relieve us of our suffering. But shooters never solve problems, do they? Yelling never heals anything. Scapegoats never actually take away our sin. No matter how clinically it’s applied, anger, violence, blame, judgment, punishment, retribution or prejudice never relieves us of our pain; it just adds to it.

No, it’s not suffering that saves us— not ours, not our enemy’s, not our scapegoat’s, our sacrificial lamb’s, or even Christ’s on the cross—it’s forgiveness. God forgives us: this is the only way we are saved. It’s God who takes away the sin of the world; God’s Lamb is the nonviolent one who forgives because it is God’s will. Such a one will surely become a victim; but it’s the forgiving, not the suffering, that takes away our sin.

To follow the Lamb of God is to join in companionship with the Loving One, to live gently in a violent world, to allow Christ’s spirit of peace and compassion to flood our hearts. It is neither to be a judge nor a doormat, but to grant compassion to all, even—especially—to those whose fear leads them to violence.

Behold, the Forgiving One of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Come, let us follow.
         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

         
         

Holy One,
you who breathe in me,
may I be simple this day,
as the world juggles
its complications around me:
not straining to match its frenzy
or catch its anxiety,
but simply being present in you,
listening for your Word,
enjoying your presence,
beholding,
being—
a stone in a river,
a word in a poem,
a child in it’s mother’s arms.

Even in my most earnest activities today,
may I simply Be, in you.

Amen.

         
         

______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

Thank God Eden is guarded
by an angel with a flaming sword.
Since the beginning of consciousness
it seems we’ve been trying to go back
and get that first day right
all over again, re-doing it, correcting
something so compellingly wrong,
all of us, like crusaders swarming a wall,
over and over again,
walking desperately backwards,

until the day we give it up for lost
and turn around
and live frontwards
for a little bit.

.

.
____________________
Weather Report

Today’s,
continuing moment by moment;
as winds out of the now
prevent the previous
from condensing into anything.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

Wade in. Over your head.
“Go out into deeper waters.”
The river of the water of life
flowing from the throne.
“Fill the jugs with water.”
The heavens torn open.
“The water I give you will become
a spring in you gushing up
with infinite life.”
Baptize me in this, Jesus.

“Lord, don’t you care that
we’re about to drown?”
“Peace, be still.”
Then wash my hands and head, also.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and with fire.
Jesus wept.
A rickety little ark on a great, wide sea.
Baptize me in this, Jesus.

When all was dark and chaos,
the Spirit brooded over the waters.
“She has bathed my feet with her tears.”
You who were baptized into Christ
were baptized into his death.
“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,
then the sea will quiet down for you.”
Deep calls to deep at the thunder of thy cataracts.
Baptize me in this, Jesus.

They went into the sea, the waters
a wall for them on their right and on their left.
My beloved, in whom I am pleased.
I am poured out like water.
“Whoever gives a little one a cup of water…”
You must be born over and over from above.
Let justice roll down like waters
and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
Baptize me in you, Jesus.

Deep Blessings,

Pastor Steve

______________________

Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

Child, come to me.
Leave your tower and draw near.
Seek me, and I will disclose myself to you.

My stars that led magi watch over you.
Stars of night sing of beauty.
Stars hidden in daylight continue to pray for you.

Beloved, my light shines not from afar
but from within.
Close your eyes and see.

It hides in your darkness,
the trustworthy luminosity
of the unknown, the unseen.

My radiance bless the dark;
my presence dawn in your night;
my love glow in your eyes.

I wait in the shadows,
I long for you, among the poor,
in your doubts, in your deaths.

Once I revealed myself to the world;
now I reveal the world to you,
that you may reveal me in yourself.

This be your Epiphany: that I dwell here,
yes, here. Open your eyes and see
the child smiling in his mother’s lap,

the star gleaming in the world,
the treasures laid at your feet,
the rose unfolding in your heart.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

Twelfth day of Christmas
too long, too late
for any but those
committed unlike others,
devoted to something counter
to all that out there:
in no hurry,
impervious to expectation,
to quick fix, instant on,
no drive-by incarnation:
a rhythm from otherwise,
a stream from elsewhere
within, a blessing
that takes more days
to take in
than most will surrender,
infinite heaven on earth,
a dwelling among us
(most of us uncomprehending)
that gestates slowly,
emerges only in fullness of time,
unfolds leisurely,
a faith that gives us,
God within us, permission
         to sit here
                  and ripen.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
Have you been saved by being told
to believe, and what, and how?
What we need is not
to believe what we haven’t seen
but to see what we have.

Enough of shadowed pulpits,
enough of having to believe.
Let star-led magi instead
teach you to wonder—
to see with the eyes of your heart
what is before you, shining;
to look for grace and beauty,
and expect holiness;
to see this world as wrapping paper
with a divine gift within;
to seek the holy child,
the radiant Presence,
the Indwelling One,
in every moment.
You don’t need a once-in-a-lifetime star:
any one will do.
Travel this wonder-spanlged world
with a heart open to glory,
open to heaven on earth,
open to God among us.
Don’t be surprised how many times
you fall on your knees and worship,
and open gifts from your treasure chest.
Could the very next moment
be the one of epiphany, of revelation?
I wonder.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
Today is the tenth day of Christmas. The Christmas festivities are over, the presents have been put away, and families have dispersed. We’ve cleaned up after the New Year’s party, and even the die-hards are thinking about when to take down the Christmas decorations. Today is just plain old Monday. We get back to work, back to “normal.” But it’s still Christmas! The shepherds have gone back to the fields, but the magi are still on their way.

This is the test. What just happened? Was that just a little walk with the shepherds, or will we join the two-year trek with the wise men? Can we live in the “real world” with the same peace and beauty that we felt on Christmas Eve? Can we make our daily lives the same kind of joyful gift-giving that we practiced last week? Are we as deeply aware of the Beloved’s presence in the world as we were when we stood around the manger? Or was that just a winter break?

As we enter a new year my prayer for you is that the birth of Christ may fill your heart all through the year. May deep beauty adorn your heart long after the decorations are gone. May peace and awe be yours all the year long. May the presence of the Beloved enfold you, the Word made Flesh accompany you, the mystery of the Incarnation bless you. May this new year be graced by the unfolding light of God among us. In this new year, may your heart be open and your spirit awake to the song of angels, the dawn of love, the presence of God.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. May it guide you, bless you, and give you joy.
         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         

Arise. Shine. Your soul is light.
         Your face glows with the Beloved’s gaze.

The world is draped in black.
         People live in darkness like black paint.
But the Lover dawns in you;
         you radiate her beauty.
God’s presence in you will be light for others.
         Even those who have it all will be grateful.
Open your eyes. Be aware.
         The Divine Presence gathers people.
We are bound by this umbilical light.
         It makes us family, even strangers.

Your eyes take in glory, and shine with glory.
         Let this give you joy.
Receive the gifts this life has to offer.
         Accept the world’s abundance.
Let the world kneel at your feet
         and bring you gold and frankincense.
This giving and receiving
         is holy praise.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

______________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net