Nothing can separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus the Beloved.
—Romans 8.39

You can’t separate the music from the song.
You can’t have earth without its gravity.
There is no electricity without positive and negative,
giver and receiver.

Van Gogh’s painting is about sunflowers
and also about how van Gogh sees sunflowers
and also a painting of van Gogh.
Rough sketch or finished painting, it’s pure van Gogh.

You are part of God’s love as much as God is.
Nothing beyond or within you,
no death or suffering or sin
or even your distrust of this can change that.

Root in this. Let it be your song.
Your gravity.
What you receive and give.
Pure van God.

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

July 24, 2020

         All things work together for good
for those who love God,
who are called according to God’s purpose.
For those whom God foreknew
God also predestined to be conformed
to the image of God’s Beloved.
—Romans 8.28-29

This is who we are: particles of the light that is God.
This is our purpose, our destiny.
God intends this for everyone before we are created
(God foreknew us), and so all of us—
everyone, not just some special class,
is predestined to be an image of God’s love:
called, justified and glorified.

This doesn’t mean everything works out OK
for God’s favorite people.
It means when we align ourselves with God’s love
we are in harmony with the infinite force for good
that is in all things.
The universe is for us, not against us.
Even in our failure or suffering
God’s purpose advances through us.

The world and its rewards and punishments
knows nothing of this.
Your calling is to give them a hint.
The infinite delight of God works in all things
to help you do this.
Even if you fail,
glory is your destiny.

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

July 23, 2020

The river doesn’t know how to be a river.
The bird doesn’t have to write a song.
The candle only needs a wick.

The wire that brings the voice of your grandmother
to your hungry ears does not know your grandmother,
does not know her voice, or the way she says the word precious.

The heart does not begin to know the love of God,
only opens to it,
holds the space.

         We do not know how to pray as we ought,
         but the Spirit prays in us
         with sighs too deep for words. 
                 (Rom. 8.26)

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

July 22, 2020

The realm of heaven
is like a merchant in search of fine pearls;
on finding one pearl of great value,
they went and sold all they had and bought it.
—Matthew 13.45-46

We’re window-shopping.

We pretend it’s something you hunt the world for,
or it’s sold only in the most exclusive markets.

Friend, unlike a pearl, it’s already in your hand.
It is within you.
Let go of everything else
and there it is.
What won’t you trade for it?
Ah, there you are.

Listen: unlike a pearl
you can’t have or hold it:
it’s a realm, a whole people.
It’s for the world, not you.
That may be the hardest thing to let go of.
When you do—
there it is.

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

July 21, 2020

              It is the smallest of all the seeds,
             but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs
             and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air
             come and make nests in its branches.
                                        —Matthew 13.32

You are a mustard seed of justice.
Never mind the smallness of your witness.

The wound is deep, the sickness is awful,
the hunger is great.
But you are a mustard seed of healing and justice.
Immeasurable divine fruit is hidden
in the smallest acts of love and courage.
It’s not about you. It’s the power you contain.

You are a mustard seed of justice.
But only when you are sown.

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

July 20, 2020

Let weeds and wheat grow together until the harvest….
—Matthew 13.30

God, I meant to be a good person;
I wanted to produce wisdom and justice.
How is it I am so compromised?

There is goodness and mercy in me,
and there is selfishness and fear,
privilege that serves only my fake desires.

I’ve been asleep! I missed it,
when my ego crept in
and sowed all this junk in me.

I want to march through the field of my life
and tear out all the weeds.
I want to be better. Now.

But, look how harsh I am, judging myself.
My hands are full not of the fruit of love
but shame and a scythe.

Some of me that I am disappointed in
hides your blessing, wheat among the weeds.
Only you know the true fruits I bear.

I set aside my weapons.
I let go of accusing myself.
I accept myself as I am, weeds and wheat.

I trust you to glean the grain from my field
and remove the rest—
gone, cleansed, burned forever!

May my peace and acceptance
be the seeds I sow
for the next harvest.

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

July 17, 2020

             The realm of heaven may be compared to
            someone who sowed good seed in their field;
            but while everybody was asleep,
             an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat.
                                —Matthew 13.24-25

The realm of heaven is not pure and by itself
but scattered in this world.

We uproot the goodness of our life
judging it.

Having eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
we’re pretty sure we’ve got it right.

•
Today will be full of both weeds and wheat;
don’t expect otherwise.

At the end of the day, ask:
what bore fruit and what did not?
•
The realm of God is like a weed
God has sown in the field of this world:

resilient, thwarting our purposes,
hard to uproot, not under our control.

Only later
will we see.

•
We have been
asleep.

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

July 16, 2020

Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
—Ps. 139.7-10

God of infinite love,
awaken me like Jacob
to know you are in this place.
In strange times, in new places,
in unfamiliar circumstances,
you are here.
You walk with me.
You bear the burden with me:
you, my strength and wisdom.
With me you see with new eyes
and guide me as I find my way.
Though I may journey in an unknown land
your loving presence is steady.
Though I may face difficulty and uncertainty
your grace is sure and your blessing constant.
I thank you. Awaken my gratitude.
I need you. Deepen my trust.
Open my eyes. Open my heart.
God of infinite love, you who walk with me,
give me faith to walk with you.
Amen.

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

July 15, 2020

Little one,
the Beloved holds you.
The Lap of the Universe contains you,
the Breast of Being nourishes you,
the Arms of God enfold you.
In stillness and contemplation you are held.
In struggle and suffering you are held.
In sin and misbehaving you are held.
Far away, lost and unbelieving, you are held.
Heaven’s Embrace is light but unslipping.
You are free to squirm, free even to run away.
And running, you are held.
The Loving One holds you tenderly.
Holds your treasures, holds your wounds,
holds your deepest self so it can never be lost.
The Beloved holds you with blessing,
holds you with delight.

Your breath alone God does not hold,
but breathes in and out, in and out,
holding you
in perfect love.

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

July 14, 2020

When I die and go to heaven, I say,
I will see God.
And a voice says, Then die and go to heaven.
Sit until the silence buries you,
until your flesh seeps into the earth,
until your place forgets you,
and even your face does not remember you.
Then the voice in the silence will ask you
         Why are you here?
Just say you are dead.
You will be asked,
         Have you surrendered your earthly life? 
        Have you let go of all your loves,
         all your worldly troubles, wonders and delights?
Yes, say. I have died.
And God will take you up in their arms and hold you,

hold you for a long time,
and say
         Well, then. You have a lot to get used to.
         Welcome to the new world.And God will kiss you
and set you down
in this world
and you will begin to breathe as if for the first time,
and learn to walk.

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

July 13, 2020