Category: Reflections

I stand among living beings
older than I
and without understanding
receive their wisdom.
Beneath their thousands of fingers
the wrists of trees reach up
out of the ground,
up out of the mystery,
the great singing silence.
They are my hands, too.
Snowmelt moves in me.

Everything
springs from everything
in this whole umbilical world.

The brook
and the little birds
bear us
toward what we shall be.

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

My Beloved,

I know you’re tired—
weary of the steps from here to there day after day,
weary of the struggles and losses,
and wary of the news. We’re all weary.
So take a moment.

Breathe in slowly. Hold it for a moment. Breathe out.
Remember when I rose from the dead and breathed into you?
It’s still there.
Remember what I said to you:

           I am in God, and you in me, and I in you.
           The one who trusts in me
           will also do the works that I do and, in fact,
           will do greater works than these.
                                  (John 14.20, 12)

Feel your heart beating. It’s my love,
flowing in you like a great river.
Remember what I said you you:

           The water that I will give
           will become in you a spring of water
           gushing up to eternal life.
                                 (John 4.14)

Beloved, I know sometimes you are tired of gushing.
So rest a moment. I wish for you Sabbath time,
time of rest, time to be Beloved, being without doing.
I am grateful for your presence, at work or at rest.
So rest. The river will still flow.
Remember what I said to you, and be at peace:

           Come to me, all you that are weary
           and are carrying heavy burdens,
           and I will give you rest.
           Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
           for I am gentle and humble in heart,
           and you will find rest for your souls.
           For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
                           (Matthew 11.28-30)

Love,
Jesus

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

             Love your enemies
            and you will be children of the Most High,
            who is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
            Be merciful, just as God is merciful.
                           —Luke 6.35-36


God is Love, not payback.

The Merciful One
does not measure your kindness,
only your need for kindness.

The more sinful you are,
the more mercy you lack.
God completes you.

God is merciful.
God is mercy itself,
infinite, never withheld.

Let this be your mantra:
God is kind to the wicked.
God is kind to the wicked.
God is kind to the wicked.

Be a river of mercy
as your spring is mercy.

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

           Love your enemies;
           do good to those who hate you.
                           —Luke 6.27


This is not an impossible command.
It’s your secret power.

This is what love is: for the other,
not for what you want, or fear, or resent.

(Love is not a payment for services rendered,
even being decent.)

Love is how you stay connected with the world.
Love is the only connection.

This is power that can’t be taken from you.
This is your salvation, your joy.

Only when you are free to love like that
are you truly free.

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

My Sweetheart,

I love you
for no good reason.
I just do.

Not for your good looks
or your goodness,
not “for” anything,
just for you.
Because you’re mine.
Because I made you for love.
That’s all.
Beloved, it’s who you are.
You make my world.
I’m here for you.

I’m wild about you.
When you come close
something in my chest
drops down into my guts.

All it means to be saintly
is to let me have you.
Beloved, let me.

—Love, God

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

Biting, nasty cold
Wind chill well below zero

Everything hard and sharp
Wind patiently sanding the drifts smooth

Branches breathe heavily
whistle and sigh

Sound of wind across an open field
Crunch of footfalls in snow

And then— a bird song
Warm and casual

Little wad of warmth
hidden in a ruffle of feathers

Life singing into the very breath
of death

My friend, in this rough world
the soul abides

Take courage, soul, and sing,
sing praise

For even the deepest cold
of a darkening winter

is no match
for you

What if the bread you were eating
split apart― flour here, yeast there,
a puddle of water and a little pile of salt?

What if the stuff in your soup rose up,
the vegetables in little groups,
the broth purifying and purifying itself,
the meat wandering off to find its chicken?

What if your house divided― boards here, tile there,
paint in a place of its own but experiencing
some disagreement among colors,
nails, being metal, forming a loose alliance with the plumbing
but refusing to associate with wood,
the insulation sitting alone in contemplation,
window treatments rolled up and having nothing to do with anyone,
and all the glass stacked up on the lawn, weeping?

What if your legs stayed in bed,
your liver said, “None of that running around for me,”
your arteries said, “That right hand does some nasty things.
We’re not supplying it,”
and all ten fingers posted a Manifesto of Individuals’ Rights
and each formed its own caucus?

What if your thoughts, memories, words and beliefs
had nothing to do with each other?

Yeah, that would be crazy, wouldn’t it,
if we ever got to be like that?

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

Before God judges you
       God loves you.

Before God sees your sin
       God sees your wound.

Before God sees how you thrashed in the world
       God sees what you are fighting off.

Before God sees you steal
       God sees your hunger.

Before God sees the awful things you do to survive
       God wants you to survive.

Before God punishes you
       God protects you from further hurt,
because God never punishes,
       but wraps gentle arms around you.

God’s judgment is always
       that you need more love.

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

             Blessed are those who trust in the Present One,
              who entrust themselves to Love.
           They shall be like a tree planted by water,
              sending out its roots by the stream.
           It shall not fear when heat comes,
              and its leaves shall stay green;
           in the year of drought it is not anxious,
              and it does not cease to bear fruit.
                           —Jeremiah 17.7-8



You are rooted in Love,
roots way down deep.
Love feeds you.
Sustains you.
Holds you.
Depend not on your strength,
but the love that flows through you.
Now, in this moment,
you have what you need.
Root.

      Breath Prayer:
                                     Rooted … in love

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

You love someone who is not well.
They’re sick with something
they can’t overcome, at least not yet.
Sometimes they’re hurt by circumstances,
sometimes their choices work against them.
But you love them.
You will keep loving them,
being there for them, no matter what,
no matter how ugly it gets,
how brave or foolish they are.
You don’t know how this will turn out.
They may recover; they may not.
But you will be there for them to the end.
You won’t give up hope or commitment.
You will do what you can for their well-being,
gladly, no matter the outcome.
If they heal, it will be with your help.
If this is their last days,
you will fill those days with grace,
with love and light and blessing, and even joy
And you will be grateful to have been there
in those irreplaceable days.

The one you love
is the world.

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