Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

        

This day I name
for those who have lived long in this place.
This day I name
for those who have welcomed us,
and blessed this place before us.

This day I name
for those who have endured generations
of erasure and assault,
the Trail of Tears, Via Dolorosa,
exiles at home, longing for the land beneath their feet
and its well being, as a lost lover,
and who seek still to hallow this ground.

This day I name
not for one who “discovered” this land once
but for those who discovered it new each day,
dwelling in the land, seeing it, marrying it.
This day I name for repenting of white arrogance,
and for seeking the community of living beings.

This day I name
for those whose beauty, effaced, endures,
whose pride dances in the sun,
whose wisdom awaits us;
for those whose deep eyes invite us
to see,
to belong,
to sit down together
in a great circle
and thank.

This day I name
for those who are wiped away and yet remain,
blessing, singing and dancing.

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 unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

For those of you who are somewhat near Boston:  I’m leading a retreat on The Poetry of Prayer at Rolling Ridge Retreat Center in North Andover, MA on Tues. Oct. 20.   Click here for more information.
 

Questions?  Write me at unfoldlinglight (at)gmail.com

Deep blessings,
Steve G-H

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         

         No one who has left house or brothers or sisters
                  or mother or father or children or fields,
         for my sake and for the sake of the good news,
         will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—
                  houses, brothers and sisters,
                  mothers and children, and fields
         with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
                  —Mark 10.29-30

I notice of the things I let go of, all I receive again, multiplied—
except fathers.
For Jesus’ hearers “father” meant authority.
There is only one; we need no earthly ones,
no lording it over one another.

Of course if I seek a world in which
we are all equals, and the only authority is God,
those in authority in this world will oppose me—
hence the addition to what I receive: persecutions.

         •

God, help me to trust your absolute authority.
In that trust help me to let go of all I cling to.
Help me, letting go, to seek your realm of justice.
In that seeking give me courage to face resistance.
Help me, facing resistance and even persecutions, to trust
the sisters and brothers, mothers and children I am given
(the great family of justice seekers),
and the homes and fields I am given
(the place of life and belonging),
given by your absolute, loving authority.

Give me grace to give everything in love
and so to receive more than everything,
a hundred times everything,
but only one
of You.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
A man asked him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments…” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
 
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the realm of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the realm of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
                  —Mark 10.17-27

We continually have to resist the belief that there’s something we have to do to “be saved.” We think there are “good” people (the man thought Jesus was one) and others who are less so. We believe our salvation is up to us. Clearly the disciples think so. Were that true, of course it would be impossible. But it’s up to God. And God has already “saved” us.

Take note that Jesus looks at the man and loves him. The man does not need to do anything for Jesus to love him; he already does. He responds to the man not with requirements but with love. Because that’s his point. There is no requirement. God already loves us. We are already saved. There is no salvation beyond God’s love; God’s love is not insufficient for our eternal joy. All we need to be “saved” from is our own distrust. The man seems to have great possessions but “lacks one thing.” Jesus looks on him in his poverty and sets him free: let go of what you can measure and what you can lose—either riches or goodness—and grasp only what is infinite, what is already yours.

Meditate on this infinite love of God. It is yours, now. It surrounds you, fills you, gives you every breath. You can’t deserve it more or less. It is imply here. Even as you ask and wonder, maybe even doubt, God looks at you with love. God’s delight is not up to you. Let this light break in, and become you.

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 unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         It is easier
         for a camel
         to go through
         the eye of a needle
         than for someone
         who is rich
         to enter
         the realm of God.
                  —Mark 10.25

What do I cling to
that burdens me,
that keeps me from you?

What emptiness do I fear
that you can’t fill?

What baggage do I carry
that keeps me
from loving perfectly,
giving wholly?

What would I not give away
to find you in my empty hands?

               •

         Get the
         lead out
         and the gold.
         I will go
         light,
         burden
         poor.
         Spin me
         fine
         silk
         of grace.
         Draw me
         thread-
         bare
         through
         the needle
         of your
         eye into
         the world
         of your
         heart.

         That old
         camel
         will be
         so much
         happier
         out in the
         wide
         desert.

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 unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

         
         The word of God is living and active,
         sharper than any two-edged sword,
         piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow;
         it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 
         Before God no creature is hidden, but all are naked
         and laid bare to the eyes of the one
         to whom we must render an account. 
                  —Hebrews 4.12-13

Gracious One, 
your Word of love flows through me 
like light through glass,
as sound fills silence.

Nothing is secret to you,
with your eyes as small as light,
nothing vague or mistaken.

Look between my soul and marrow;
light the cracks between
what is and is not.

Open my soul like a flower in your morning:
petals uncurl and become intense
with your presence.

Pierce my darkness,
take your scalpel to the lies I hold
against myself.
Shine your life-giving truth
from within me, every thought, every cell.

Shine in me and make me
transparent to your grace,
mottled as I am,
transparent to your grace.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

Only when you are madly in love
         can your heart rest,

only asking the scariest questions
         are you at peace.

Only when you have lain in your grave
         are you truly alive,

only broken open
         are you truly whole.

Only on the invisible hand
         can you stand safely,

only on the unpredictable grace of God
         can you surely rely.

It is only in the raging sea
         you are safe,

only in the deep end
         you cannot be drowned.

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 unfoldinglight (at)gmail.com.

         
         Whoever does not receive the Realm of God
         as a little child will never enter it.
                  —Mark 10.15

I am small before you.
         Your love is great.

I depend on you.
         You feed me.

I cannot justify my life.
         You love me for my sake.

I am always learning.
         You are always leading.

I am in wonder.
         You are beyond my knowing.

I belong to you.
         You hold me.

I have your eyes.
         You have my life.

I hold your hand.
         You hold my hand.

I am in your arms.
         You are happy.

I trust … your hand.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity?
         Curse God, and die.”
         But he said to her, “You speak as any fool would speak.
         Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?”
                  —Job 2.9-10

         By the grace of God
         Christ tastes death for everyone’s sake.
                  —Hebrews 2.9

The question is not why there is suffering;
why shouldn’t there be?
Should there be no germs or earthquakes?
Should life be free of risk, or pain, or tears,
free of choices or freedom, but only directed by God?
Is pleasure always good, pain always bad?
Isn’t suffering necessary for love?

What would “deserving” be?
Would we want a God continually judging us,
the Dispenser Of Suffering And Reward?
Can God actually control suffering or pleasure?
Why is speaking in public, or being alone,
heaven for one and hell for another?
A blind person I know rebuffs our sympathy:
what we call suffering she does not.
What if one experienced sickness not as suffering
but a time to accept mortality, to draw near to God,
a Sabbath?

Who “allows” evil or injustice, war or poverty?
Who “allows” suffering when we eat meat?

If a person suffered for their evil,
could God not comfort them, relieve their sorrow or pain?
Or isn’t that the one thing God promises:
not to make our lives exactly as pleasurable as we deserve
but to be with us in it all?

There is evil because we are imperfectly loved;
sometimes we can’t bear our hurt,
but project it onto others.
How does God deal with evil?
By being with us in our pain, to heal it
so we may stop spreading it.
God suffers with us, “tastes death for everyone’s sake.”

There is no “reason,” nor need there be.
There is no need for labels of “good” and “bad.”
There is only gracious presence for all,
and the love that is willing to suffer for others,
the saving grace of the cross.

Rather than question suffering,
receive it as part of life,
enter into people’s pain and the suffering of the world,
and absorb it, so it may stop spreading—
and you will find God there.

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 unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com

         
         Let the little children come to me;
                  do not stop them;
          for it is to such as these
                  that the Realm of God belongs.
                  —Mark 10.14

Gentle One,
you come as a child among us:
small and weak, vulnerable, dependent.
You ask of us the love and patience to listen
with gentleness and generosity,
to receive you and your noise and your needs,
to make room and time for you.

Christ crucified,
you are the Little One among us,
you are the poor and unprivileged,
the neglected and abused.
You are the boy soldier,
you are the trafficked child,
you are the infant refugee,
you are the black youth who must live afraid.
For you I pray.

I pray not for how we treat you in the sanctuary
but how we treat you in the streets.
I pray for healing
for a world that wounds its children,
that sacrifices you because you are small.

I pray for your divine presence
in the children of the poor,
your genius and beauty in them,
your power and promise for us all,
if only we will welcome you
with honor, safety and care.

I pray for the welcome of little ones,
for a world that becomes a safe home for you,
a whole family.

God,
child,
I pray for you.

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

To receive Unfolding Light as a daily e-mail,
write to me at unfoldinglight(at) gmail.com