Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
Times may turn dark;
they always have.
Our calling remains unchanged.
The voice of hope is undiminished.

The world may turn
toward ravage and greed;
the acid of fear stain our faces,
the voracious appetite of power
consume the earth and its silent ones,
but the Holy One’s tender mercy
does not waver or abate.
The voice of calm still whispers.

Your path may take you
through ulcered valleys of shadow.
The Gentle One is still with you.

Our path is not to save the world;
only One may do that.
Our path is to learn to love
even in the darkness.

Our calling is still to be woven in,
to cry out for the hurting,
to take mercy to the streets,
to be gentle among the violent
and strong amidst the fearful,
to mend the fabric even as it is torn,
to heal and bless even in our defeat.

Life may turn dark; it often does.
Crucifixion reoccurs.
But the world in its suffering
will be made pure light.
Even in the evening of our power,
even in the dusk of the world,
the light of the Merciful One shines on,
and we are given this: to share the light,
to share the light
until we ourselves are pure light.

         
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 unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
Farmers and bankers,
welfare queens and executives,
gun toters and tree huggers
all showed up, lined up, spoke up.
Some won the day, some lost.
But everybody spoke.

Yeah, votes are bought,
and the poor systematically silenced,
and the lazy stay home to conserve
energy for whining. But.

A woman came in
with her two little girls
to be heard.
It was this that set a song in my throat,
this that everyone longs for.
Now her two little girls have tasted this,
my greatest hope for them,
a power that, win or lose
will change the world,
a power you have every day,
the one thing that makes us great:
that we listen to each other.

         
         
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 unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
It is Election Day today in the US, where folks are divided between those who think voting is your sacred duty, those who think it’s useless, and those who want to vote but are prevented by voter suppression laws.

The world is divided between those who think prayer is your sacred duty, those who think it’s useless, and those who want to pray but are prevented by the fear that they aren’t good enough or they don’t know how to do it right.

The world is divided between those who think living a loving life is your sacred duty, those who think it’s useless, and those who want to but are prevented by other desires, deep brokenness, or fear.

Voting is in fact your sacred duty. So is praying, and living a loving life. They are all equally useless. Your vote is not likely to turn an election. Your prayer is not likely to save the world, or even yourself. A loving life may be swallowed up in the greed and wrath of a violent, commercial world.

But: a vote for a losing cause just disappears, while “unanswered” prayer, even weak and flawed prayer, still becomes part of the fabric of the universe. A loving life flows out of the Love that creates and sustains all things, and beautifies and strengthens that love. It matters. And in that spirit even a vote can be a prayer, an act of love. Even a losing vote matters. It gives voice to the truth, it seeks justice, it embodies compassion and our interwoven-ness with all people.

Maybe we ought to get little stickers that say “I prayed.”

If you are in the US, vote today. And no matter where you are, pray. Live a loving life. Your life does change the world. It adds to the energy of life. It delights God. It matters.

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 unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
      
         
                  
Autumn colors have settled
from Kandinsky to Rembrandt.
Trees cast down their crowns,
the ponds release their birds
bound southward, the sky
leaves its scarf in brown branches,
the round sun begins rolling up its things.

This scattering is also a drawing in.
Beds of leaves, mounds of leaves
the color of old books gather and rest.
The ground receives it all
and begins its dark, profound work
beyond my seeing, beneath my bones.
Even the leaves of childhood
and the sky’s drama of my long youth,
the naked, willing wood of trees,
and all the things piled around on my desk
like leaves when I return to the house,
are gathered in someone else’s hands,
bedded down, held close
for the long, bright winter.

         
         
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 unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com

I am dying.
I come to your door almost dead.
You are dying, too.
I come disguised as one living,
or nearly so;
you answer the bell as if alive.

And, for an evening sanctified,
you greet me, movie star or monster,
with delight,
and give me, princess or pirate,
good things.
So it should be.

We are dying, so soon, so sure.
Ourselves and not ourselves,
we come soon enough
to that little circle of light on the great porch
and are greeted with grace and feast.

Why not be alive while we may?
Why not meet each other now,
gruesome or glittering,
with good things—
before the day passes,
the candy is stale,
and our costumes are of no use?

 

Red hawk cries once
offering himself from the top branch,
hands spread in blessing

over the clearing
among turning trees,
flame and ash of leaves,
breath of wind.

One cry and my heart is pierced
by many colors,
the day is changed.

The sanctified don’t specialize in piety,
they live as they are made to be,
let the calm fire burn in them
and trust the rest.

 

Blessed are you who don’t have it:
        I give you my whole world.

Blessed are you who are broken:
        I hold you close.

Blessed you who are gentle:
        my love in you will conquer the world.

Blessed are you who yearn deeply for more:
        here it is.

Blessed are you who practice mercy:
        my mercy flows through you.

Blessed are you who love no matter what:
        you will always know my presence.

Blessed are you who do not pass hurt on to others:
        beloved child, that’s when you are most like me.

Blessed are you whom the world scorns:
        I am right there with you.

(see Matthew 5.3-10)

 

The leaves above the brook
begin their great journey now,
letting go and dropping into the water.
Who knows what worlds they will see?

Trees shed the weight of their work
and slip into something more comfortable.
Now the sun’s laying on of hands
is not so forceful, but more intimate, more gentle.

The hillside deepens from its reds and yellows
to the color of experience,
the color of knowing without having to say.

Leaves fall, each with its own little tap.
They gather in sorrow and gratitude,
ready to become what is next.

This is the season of bareness and of seeds.
This, too, is newness, and peace.

________________________
Weather report          

Release,
as all that is
passes and becomes what shall be.
An occluded front of attachment passes,
allowing what is before us
to be beautiful enough.

          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 unfoldinglight8(at)hotmail.com

                  
God, I am often so sloppy or lazy at my prayers,

or, even worse, my prayers are lovely and pure,
and the next sixteen and a half hours are a mess.

I do not pray to become holy,
but simply this: to remember.
To be mindful of your goodness,
to remember that you are here,
to be present in the moment you grant me,
to look around me, to listen…
to remember.

Amen.
 

                  
God, I am often so sloppy or lazy at my prayers,

or, even worse, my prayers are lovely and pure,
and the next sixteen and a half hours are a mess.

I do not pray to become holy,
but simply this: to remember.
To be mindful of your goodness,
to remember that you are here,
to be present in the moment you grant me,
to look around me, to listen…
to remember.

Amen.
 

Love your neighbor as yourself.

         •

Love your neighbor as deeply,
as instinctively, as surely
as you watch out for yourself.

         •

Love your neighbor knowing
God sees you both alike,
with the same loving delight.

         •

Love your neighbor to be true to yourself,
to discover yourself.

         •

Love your neighbor as you love them,
with your gifts and presence,
not as someone else.

         •

Honor your neighbor’s reality
as real and valid as yours.

         •

Love your neighbor,
who is your self.

         •

Let loving your neighbor
be your self, your life, who you are.

         •

Love your neighbor as yourself.