Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
                  
To draw out our awe and wonder
and make us loving and gentle,
God comes among us
as a sweet, vulnerable child
who needs our tender care.

God always comes so.
God is not only the Mighty One
to be revered, but also
the Little One to be adored.

In everyone there is a holy child to love,
an infant to be tenderly held.
Your whole life,
and this whole world
is a holy child,
to rock in your arms,
to gaze at lovingly,
to nurse, to protect,
to gift with precious treasures,
to raise with love and hope.

To love your neighbor
as you love the Christ child:
this is heaven on earth.

         
         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
  
         “God will give him the throne of his ancestor David…
         and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
                  —Luke 1.32, 33
    
         Magi came from the east asking,
         “Where is he who is born king of the Jews?
         For we have seen his star at its rising
         and have come to honor him.”
                  —Matthew 2.1-2

The magi did not seek comfort or even salvation.
They searched long for the One
who came to establish a “kingdom,”
to rule over an Empire
that would replace all our worldly ones.
Thus was Herod troubled.

Christ came to establish justice,
and to engage us in this work.
The miracle we celebrate in the nativity of Christ
is that God chooses ordinary, earthly people
to build a heavenly Realm.
God uses us to enact justice.

As fully as Jesus embodied God’s grace
and came to us for no other purpose,
let your life do the same.
Let all you do be for the sake of justice,
for the healing of the world,
for the supplanting of the empires of this world
with the Empire of God.
Let every choice reflect your baptism
“to resist evil injustice and oppression
in whatever forms they present themselves.”

If you feel like a small child in the face of a great army,
you are in holy company.
You are part of the body of Christ.
Powers from afar, who bear wisdom you don’t yet see,
know you, pray for you, help you and honor you.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come.”

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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
                  
New Year’s Day
is the eighth day of Christmas,
the Eighth Day of Creation,
when God, having rested, begins again,
since God is not an ex-creator
but is continually creating.

God is in the world, love made flesh,
and therefore every moment
is being made new,
the entire world made over.
Everything is forgiven,
everything is possible.
With each breath
Christ is born
and everything is changed.
Every day is a miracle,
a new creation of God,
a new and holy beginning.

Give thanks in wonder,
and begin.

         
         
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 unfoldinglight3(at)hotmail.com

As this year ends and gives way to a new one
think of it as a gift you have received.
In the joys and struggles, delights and losses,
grace has made its way into you.
Give thanks even if you don’t know what for.

Whatever regrets you have for the year just passed,
hand them over now. Without judgment,
place them in the hands of the Forgiving One
and let it all simply become part of your story.

Whatever hopes you have for the year to come,
trust it as another gift.
Be prepared to welcome the moment
each moment, with wonder and love.

Whatever resolutions you make for the new year,
know that a deeper current than what you want
or what you resolve is what God is doing in you.
Attend, and follow.

The new year will bring you grace.
May you receive it deeply.

Dec. 31, 2014

The Thou of this darkness,
you come, longing,
rejoicing
to be here.

Voice of this universe,
you speak us,
weep us,
sing us.

Love of this mystery,
you blossom
into
us.

This, now,
is holy,
and all flesh is holy,
is yours.

This world,
even its pain,
is the stuff
of You.

There is nowhere,
in no one,
that Thou
art not.

Ave.

— December 30, 2014

The fifth day of Christmas.
Already decorations are being retired,
families dispersing, holiday travelers returning;
the usual resumes.

But the holiday is not half over;
these candled days spill over into the world.
“The shepherds returned to their fields,
making known what had been told them.”

Take back to your fields
the shepherds’ wonder,
the magi’s perseverance,
Anna and Simeon’s attentiveness,
Joseph’s willingness,
Mary’s yes,
the child’s presence.

As the starlit night closes its eye behind us
the Beloved still comes into the world.
Welcome each moment
prepared to meet God in it.
Bear this wonder into this day,
and the next.

 

         Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
                  —Luke 2.28-32

Simeon and the prophet Anna now,
you who have been waiting,
you who have searched,
take the divine infant in your arms,
touch the holy that is here,
here,
and give thanks
that your Lord is no distant star
but here among us,
whom you may touch—
see the Holy One
in all of them—

a wonder to be held.

— December 26, 2014

God is with us.
The Beloved comes as a child,
tender and willing,
in deepest love.

No power in our hands can undo
this great gentleness;
no tragedy can overcome this light.

May the deep peace
of God’s gentle presence
awaken you to wonder
and fill you with love.

May the deep blessing
of God’s peace with us
bring you peace
with all living things.

May the tender love of God
bring you joy.

Alleluia!

— December 24, 2014

O Come, Beloved,
in this night of our travail
in which we cannot see;
breathe with us, in us,
and be the saving arm around us.

O Life-making Word,
speak your light in our heartbreaking darkness,
and call this world into being anew.

O Borning God,
in the well of this deep night
wrap all our expectations in your mystery,
shroud in darkness all our knowing
of how you are among us,
bundle tightly our wisdom
in your smallest box,
and come to us otherwise.

O Intimate Dawning,
bear us through the night
and birth us into a new day,
changed,
infant,
breathing.

— December 23, 2014

Gabriel was sent to Nazareth in Galilee,
to Mary, engaged to Joseph.
         In the particular real things around you
         look for God.

He said, “Greetings, favored one!
The Lord is with you.”
         Sitting here now at your computer,
         God is with you. Welcome the Holy One.

She was perplexed, but the angel said,
“Do not be afraid.”
         God’s whispers can rattle us.
         Don’t be afraid to listen.

“You will conceive a son,
and he will be great.”
         God’s grace is blooming in you.
         Nourish the Holy within.

“He will rule over the house of Jacob forever;
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
         God is renewing all of Creation.
         Trust your part in the Great Work.

“How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”
         It’s not about you, but God,
         whose goodness can use what life you offer.

“Now Elizabeth in her old age has conceived.
For nothing will be impossible with God.”
         Nothing.
         Nothing.

“Here am I, the servant of the Lord;
let it be with me according to your word.”
         Yes.
         Yes.

Then the angel departed from her.
         We don’t always feel God’s presence;
         but the promise has already been kept.

[Luke 1.26-38]

— December 22, 2014