Dearly Beloved,
Grace and peace to you.

      A leper came to him begging him,
      and kneeling he said to him,
      “If you choose you can make me clean.”
      Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand
      and touched him.
                     –Mark 1.40-41

Who are the lepers who beg for our compassion,
whom no one will touch?

Are they the prisoners, who frighten us, or nursing home folks?
Those who are depressed, or transgendered or angry,
the drunk mumbling in the doorstep,
the guy with the cardboard sign at the stoplight,
the dying, before whom we stutter and stall?
The mentally ill, kidnapped from their own minds,
that we are afraid to speak to?
The kid with piercings, tattoos and blue hair,
immigrants who any moment will be hauled off,
people who are chronically poor and grumpy about it?
Who are we afraid to touch, to be touched by?

Don’t think we have no Untouchables
in our closely guarded caste system.
They live within you.
We are the ones with the dis-ease, who afflict them
with our refusal to reach out to them, to connect, to admit
that we are just like them.

What healed the leper was no magical power.
It was the willingness of a compassionate heart
to embrace.
We can do miracles in this world
with our own two hands.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and peace to you.

Those who wait for the Lord
shall renew their strength.
They will mount up with wings like eagles.
They will run and not be weary;
they will walk and not faint.
–Isaiah 40.31

Those who have no hope but God,
dragged out, drugged out and beaten down,
those who have to wait,
wait in line, wait for the check, wait for a place,
those who have surrendered everything,
the homeless and hopeless and harried,
the prostitute, the destitute, the dullest,
the single mom, the kid in the radio factory,
the woman trooping in for chemo
and the husband who drives her and the kids,
the prisoner in his solitary hell,
the native organizer at the mine in Chile,
the newly bewildered retiree,
the suburban housewife slowly drowning,
the kids of abuse and orphans with parents,
those who trust in something that has to be a mystery–
they will go on.
They will last the week, make the trek, bear the load.
They will beat the odds, they will defy the crowds,
they will overcome.
They will soar above their troubles.
They will be larger than their lives.
They will triumph, and be given victory.
Not by strength or will, not by brains or guts,
though they will need them all,
but because they are borne tenderly by the One
who created them. The Holy One lives in them, mightily.
Even angels are in awe. And they will prevail.

Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
The Holy One who gives life never misses.
Into those from whom this world has sucked all the life,
God pours infinite life, life that sings,
life that soars up, life that shines forever.
They are themselves in God,
and that will save them.
Those who wait for the Lord
will run and not be weary,
they will walk and not faint.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

________________________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up.
Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
—Mark 1.31

Bible stories are tales of transformation. God heals us, forgives us, calls us, gives us new vision, turns us into new people. Grace doesn’t just come to us; it flows through us and keeps moving. It leads us from being to becoming, and from receiving blessing to blessing others. When Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, she doesn’t just feel better: she gets up and serves them. Her healing goes somewhere.

Whatever the Good News is in your life, it’s not just that God is nice. God has changed you. God has acted decisively in your life to heal, to bless, to save, to create, to give life. And that blessing wants to move on.

• How has God blessed you, healed you, changed you?

• How will you pass on that blessing today?

God’s grace flows through you for the sake of the healing of the world.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

         
         
Gentle One,
I have too much to do today,
tasks and deadlines swarming,
wave after wave of demands,
and under every bridge the ogres
of people’s fears and expectations.
The monster of my failure lurks.

Loving One,
give me grace to step outside of this illusion.
To see through the smoke and mirrors
of pressure and anxiety.
To get out of other people’s fairy tales.
Let me see only what is real,
what matters, what heals.
Let me fall in love with you on the elevator.

Present One,
may my only desire today
be to be lovingly present in you,
to seek and to live your delight,
to do one thing at a time,
with attentiveness and grace.
May I walk gently with you
through this pleading and anxious world
with courage and healing in my heart.

Peaceful One,
the stones and arrows approach—
and on your face
a little smile.

         
         

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
The day we finally took our old dog in
to put him down he didn’t stagger, wheeze,
collapse or fail. We took our walk, and when
I let him off the leash out in the trees
he snuffed and rambled, poking down among
the old dead leaves with curiosity.
When it was time, he gladly came, and hung
his head out of the window, just to see.
With clarity and trust he laid his chin
upon my knee, and looked, and calmly felt
the needle stick. This wasn’t all to win
a case, delay, or riddle us with guilt.
He simply lived each moment, one by one.
No lesson, but to witness how it’s done.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

A hawk with no notion of air
moves through morning air.

A wind with a thousand names
whispers your name.

A river flows among stones,
stones who’ve never heard of rivers.

A wisdom deeper than instinct
enters the meadow, the streets.

A bird sits on a branch lightly,
watching to see what you will do.

Have you learned to strip naked
and swim in the sea?

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
                  —Mark 1. 22-27

Jesus’ authority was not power, but authenticity, the harmony of words and actions, both flowing from a life-giving truth. The Buddha speaks of the eightfold path of right mindfulness, right intention, right action, right speech and so on. Jesus clearly embodied love that creates life and re-writes our stories, that “authors” a new reality. When we live with integrity rooted in love, we connect with a life-giving power that re-creates the world.

The spirit in the man cries out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” The spirits—they seem to be plural—are smart to feel threatened. They know that Jesus has indeed come to destroy them: he is out to undermine the very power of evil itself.

You don’t need to have miraculous powers. All you need to do is live with authenticity, live with integrity rooted in love, live your life as truly as the songbird sings its own true song, and you tap into Spirit, and through you flows a power that defeats evil and creates a new world.

Be lovingly present. Let your actions speak. Be transparent to God’s grace. In so doing, you draw on a power that helps you stand against all that would diminish life. And you shift the balance of power in the universe.
         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
—1 Corinthians 8. 1

God of love, by your grace
I seek to be wise and courageous,
to speak the truth boldly,
to stand for the good.
May I do so in your Spirit,
gently and humbly present for others.
By your grace may I desire
to be loving instead of being right,
to listen instead of talking,
to support instead of dominating,
to build others up instead of surpassing them,
to let others be heard instead of saying my piece,
to remember that they are as beloved as I,
to offer what they need
instead of getting what I want.
God of Resurrection, may I love others
with the same self-giving compassion
with which you love me,
and love all the world.
Amen.

__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

A decade ago I was campus pastor at Montana State University-Billings. I occasionally e-mailed news updates to interested students. After a while the messages evolved into a daily reflection that I called Unfolding Light. The earliest piece I can trace was on January 16, 2002. I’ve been doing it ever since. So I guess this is our 10th Anniversary. Think of that. Some of you have been reading this for ten years. Thanks for hanging in there. (And thanks to my family, who’ve patiently endured the time and money I spend doing this.)

I’ve posted two thousand, two hundred and sixty-nine blurbs, written and sent from home (three homes in three states) and occasionally on the road, in airports, in church basements, retreat centers, and, yes, on the backs of envelopes. And you’ve read them, passed them on, responded, used them in worship, argued with me, thanked me, critiqued my poetry, sent prayer requests, gotten your mother on the mailing list, challenged my theology, pleaded with me to publish, end even occasionally visited my church in order to meet me. But mostly, you’ve quietly received and read and pondered. I never know where these words go, who they might touch, how they will live their own lives. But you have been there.

I used to know everybody on my list, but now there are over a thousand of you in seven countries. (I have to use six different email addresses to get around spam limits. I’ve got to streamline that.) Some have left the list; some have let me know when they get accidentally dropped off the list. Some of you are friends; some are just email addresses. And I don’t know how many read this on the web site I started a couple of years ago, or your sister forwards it to you every day, or how many innocent bystanders see it quoted in some church newsletter. But I know you’re there. I think of you. And I think of you as “my people.” I often pray for you. And I thank you. This has been an important part of my prayer discipline, and every weekday morning I know there are people waiting for this. It keeps me at it. Thank you for being there.

It’s like preaching: there are folks who are willing to listen. But it’s also like praying, and this is as true for you as for me: your prayers go somewhere. They are heard. They are received. You don’t know where your prayers end up, or what effect they have. But there are unseen multitudes who hear them. Your prayers go out into the world like seeds, and they spring to life and bless this world in ways you can never know. Prayer can sound one-sided. (I wish I could be as attentively silent as God.) But it’s a conversation.

I give thanks for the mystery by which we are in this together. And I rejoice that whether or not you have an electronic audience, you are heard. Your prayers matter to The One Who Listens, who waits eagerly for them every day. Have courage. Keep at it.

Deep Blessings,

Pastor Steve

__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

God! You! Glory!

I thank you in my deepest guts,
         echoed by the whole tribe of God!

Your magic amazes me,
         confounds anyone who tries to understand.
Your miracles, brilliant and vast,
         come from such tender, loving hands!
The universe shimmers with grace,
         glows with your gentle mercy.

We are in awe: you feed us;
         you are steadfastly thoughtful toward us.
We see your grace in all that you do,
         mighty Creator, tender nursemaid.

Your love and justice sing through the world.
         When we hear it we know how to dance.
The song is eternal.
         To live is to sing it, sing it out loud,
         with eyes closed.

The bound ones you set free;
         the abandoned ones you marry.
This is your holiness,
         what sets you apart.

(Wisdom is rooted in awestruck wonder,
         overwhelmed by God.
Practice wonder,
         and you will know what you need to know.)

Lovely One, the universe is your praise.
         Infinite Beauty!
         Infinite Glory!

         
         

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