What we call “Heaven” is not the afterlife, not a gated community in the clouds for good people. Heaven is not later but now, not “up,” but in. Heaven is not elsewhere but really, radically here, here and now. “Heaven” is our sort of elegant word for the heart of God, the Divine Presence that gives rise to all existence, the essence of being that is love that throbs within every created thing. Heaven is the mystery of God dwelling within us. Heaven is the love that is the Truth of It of everything. It is the Divine Unity, the Holy One that is all. Yeah, it’s a mouthful, and a mind-bender. That’s why we shorten it to “heaven.”

Jesus calls it the Empire of God. He says this Divine Reality is all around us and within us, “at hand” and “among you.” It’s the energy of God in every thing, every moment, every process. And it’s pure love. Jesus invites us to be in harmony with that energy, to “enter into the kingdom.”

That love, that healing oneness, that life-giving grace, is present for us, available to us all the time. Even in our worst moments and our narrowest passages it is here: Love within us and we within it. God offers it to us without cost or requirement. All we have to to is be there.

Of course when we get caught up in the anxieties and sufferings of this world such a splendid heaven seems far away. But that’s exactly when Jesus says the garden is most present, the gate open widest. It’s on the cross, after all, when he says, “Today you shall be with me in paradise.”

Bring to mind your anxieties and sufferings, or those of ones you care about. Imagine God is offering God’s healing, life-giving Presence, God’s unifying grace, right in the middle of that awfulness. Not promising that after you die it’ll get better, but that there’s another reality right here. With that in mind, meditate on these words from John’s Revelation (Rev. 21.1-6). Read them over and over. Haul your pain into this blessing. Stay there and see what happens.

         See, the home of God is among mortals.
         God will dwell with them as their God; they will be God’s peoples,
         and God will be intimately with them.
         God will wipe every tear from their eyes.
         Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
         for the first things have passed away.
        And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.
         I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
         To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.”

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

   —May 14, 2019

Beloved,

I love being here. The light is so different.
I think it’s that everyone is in it.
You know? When you come out into the light
it changes the light. Makes it so beautiful.
The water’s nice, too.
Thinking of you.
So brilliant of me to have snuck you in my luggage!

Love, God

________________
Weather Report

Light,
often heavy,
with flooding in many areas
as the lightfall overtops
the levees of our flesh.
Expect periods of darkness,
also luminous.

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

   —May 13, 2019

         These are they who have come out of the great ordeal;
         they have washed their robes and made them white
         in the blood of the Lamb.
                  —Revelation 7.14

Birthed through the great ordeal, all of us
are bathed in the life flowing through the Beloved’s veins,
washed clean in the love of pure self-giving,

all of us alike rinsed of our private pains,
our dignifying stains, bleached of excuse
that would set one apart from another.

Our forgiveness has cost so much pain,
and we have received and imposed so much,
no one wants any more hurt. We choose mercy.

We’ve too much grief to keen for any more blood
on these spotless robes. Dead to ordeal, raised to rest,
all of us washed as newborns, swaddled in white,

are at peace together
in the arms
of the Peace of Christ.

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

   —May 10, 2019

Love is the fundamental force of the universe.
The big bang that everything comes from,
the gravity that holds it all together,
the basic process at work
within every thing and every moment
is the grace of God,
love making all things one and whole and holy.
It is vast, containing every galaxy,
yet intimately present in our minds and our bodies.
Like particle physics, like microbiology,
this process of wholeness becoming whole,
of love unfolding throughout Creation,
is going on all the time
whether we recognize it or not.
The invitation is to recognize it,
to trust it, to live in harmony with it all the time.
The voice of the shepherd is the voice of that grace.
It is miraculous power we tap into
when we heal, when we bless, when we love.
Surely we fail often,
but within and beyond our little wars and atrocities
the infinite grace of the Loving One
unfolds continually, dwarfing all our evil.
Root yourself in this Peace, breathe its grace,
and live with its energy.
         The Realm of God is near at hand.

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

   —May 9, 2019

Shepherd me, God;
          help me follow.

All I need is given;
          help me trust, receive and be grateful.

You lead me to rest and restoration;
          give me faith to drink deeply, to lie down.

You lead me on a path with heart;
          help me follow, for your sake.

Even through the darkest valley
          give me courage to trust and follow.

You are with me, your presence comforting
          in all my difficulties. Help me trust

You prepare a feast for me despite my fears.
          You invite me to be at peace with my enemies.

You shower me with blessing;
          bathe me in gratitude.

Your goodness and mercy stick to me;
          help me trust I am in you always. Always.

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

   —May 8, 2019

         My sheep hear my voice.
         I know them, and they follow me.
                  —John 10.27

Follow the voice that knows you.
Ignore the voices of expectation,
that try to fit you to their liking.

The Beloved doesn’t demand
but accompanies, shares your burden,
leads you to green pastures, restores your soul.

The Beloved walks with you
even through darkest valleys
toward richer love, deeper life.

Ignore the voices of despair or fear,
voices of blame or bitterness,
that can only defend you by hurting others.

Follow the voice that draws you
more clearly to who you are created to be,
the voice that is life-giving.

Follow the voice that invites you in,
that honors you despite your enemies,
that offers goodness and mercy.

Stop and listen. Be silent and listen
in long stillness. Wait with all the voices
for the One who stays with you. Sit with it.

And then follow.

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

   —May 7, 2019

         Since you have been raised with Christ,
         seek the things that are above, where Christ is,
         seated at the right hand of God.
         Set your minds at a higher level, on essential things,
         not on meaningless details.
                  —Colossians 3.1-2

God, help me discern what matters and what does not.
What helps me trust you and serve the world,
what helps me honor who you create me to be—
and what does not?
Help me let go of fears and desires and meaningless opinion,
judgments of the way things ought to be,
other people’s ideas about me.
They don’t matter. Let them go.
Set my mind on what is actually true and life-giving.
Help me be mindful of your grace at work always,
your constant presence, even in the awful times,
and the gift of being with you, even in the horrible times.
Fix my mind on your grace,
and give me faith to let go of everything else.
Nothing else will fit in this little lifeboat
but me and you, and your infinite grace.

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

   —May 6, 2019

The trees with their deep roots know.
The birds who have migrated far see things.
If you think it the other way round, that is your learning,
but: they who know the deep darknesses,
who have threaded those maps, they have seen
already the new life rising in you,
the stone-freed tomb opened,
and they have burst into applause,
and that is what all this is,
the improbable fling and flaunt of spring,
unabashed unfurling of ferns in their nakedness,
outrageous display of every twig’s finery,
outlandish vim of blossom and feather
and song flitting among the black trunks—
it’s all celebration of what they’ve seen in you.
The cycle of life is natural, deserving no congratulations,
but this divine uprising in you is astonishing,
and inspires them no end.
The brave little shoots shoving up
through soil, through stone, insistently, yes,
they’re green with envy of the unfolding in you.
The whole woods are astounded,
standing on their chairs clapping and shouting,
throwing bouquets of flowers to you.
Even at night you can hardly sleep
for the roar of the crowd of stars, cheering and cheering.

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

   —May 3, 2019

         When you were younger,
         you used to fasten your own belt
         and to go wherever you wished.
         But when you grow old,
         you will stretch out your hands,
         and someone else will fasten a belt around you
         and take you where you do not wish to go.
                           —John 21.18

You made your way through this world,
straight when the path curved,
diverging when you chose,
taking the road not taken, smug,
this was your path, the way of youth,
to choose and to go.
But now another courage is demanded of you,
to submit, to renounce all willfulness,
to be led. Not by circumstance, but hands
seeking you, making their way
through circumstance.
How strange that this encounter,
outside your control, beyond your plan,
leading to unchosen places, this loss
would be the Friend. How odd that such diversion
would lead you to places of divine choosing,
might bring you where you need to be.

Do you feel the belt around you?
Can you walk gently enough to follow the tug?
Will you come?

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

 ―May 2, 2019

It’s easy, really.
You don’t have to do anything at all.
First you just don’t care. That’s it.
A shooting, some graffiti, whatever.
Be a little sorry, sure. But just.
Then let it side. Practice indifference.
When you get good at not caring
you realize how easy it is to justify it.
You’ve got a life, right? Besides, you know
there’s a reason it happens to “those people…”
And if you can justify their suffering,
it’s not a whole step— really just a shuffle,
to actually recommend it.
And then before you know it you promote it.
And then, bingo.
The ovens just light themselves.

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

   —May 1, 2019