Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.
         —Matthew 4. 1-2

Jesus went out into the desert to confront his temptations. He went to see his fears, desires and attachments more vividly, to name them and be more free from them, in order to become more loving.

The Spirit that led Jesus is also in us: Love that yearns to become perfected in us. In Lent we go with Jesus into the desert, not to suffer or wallow in guilt, but to see more clearly. We go to see our sin, in order to see through it to God’s love— and to get free of what inhibits love. We engage in Lenten disciplines in order to expose our temptations, to face our needs and fears and desires and attachments, to name the evil that is in us, and to see beneath them to our deepest, truest hunger, which is for God. We see our sin more clearly, and beneath it we see our belovedness. The more honestly we face our needs and fears, our failings and weaknesses, the more clearly we see how we habitually identify with them. But they do not define us; God’s grace does. So we pray and fast and give generously in order to see through the things that get in the way of our receiving and giving God’s love. And we let go of them, setting free the love that is already in us.

This Lent, go into the desert with Jesus to look at yourself honestly, to see through your sin, to see more clearly and become more deeply who you truly are: God’s Beloved, deeply loving.
         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
We stand before the divine majesty of God
with dirt on our faces
as if we’re babies who can’t feed ourselves
little kids fresh in from playing with fire
fighting with each other

in a neat little cross
as if it’s on purpose
and not the stain of inattention
inability to keep ourselves up
smear of greed
slopping slipping in low places

as if it’s ice cream
not
ashes of our old palms
tragic underside of our praise
scar of all the times we got burned
not seepage sewage tears
blood spattered shed
wound of grief and shame
dirt from our own grave
soot of our cremation

This is the mess we show up in before God
who gazes at us
and the death on our faces

(it’s only after this
amazed out of our old life
that we die
shed our lives like skin
become for the first time again:)

who gently
licks her thumb
and wipes us clean
and says,

“There now.”

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
Lent is a season of repentance, marked by the traditional practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. As a form of fasting, people often went without rich foods during Lent, so on the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, they would use up all their milk, butter and eggs by making “fat” foods,” like pancakes. Hence today is sometimes known as “Fat Tuesday” or “Pancake Day.”

We often pick something to “give up” for Lent. I don’t plan to give up milk and eggs. But I do intend to fast, and to do without sweets, snacks and unnecessary food, and to avoid eating in a hurry or standing up or while doing something else. The point is not to deprive myself, or make my life uncomfortable. The point is to be mindful. How much do I eat without needing to, just out of habit or “because it’s there?” How much do I eat without even thinking, without enjoying, without appreciating? By eating mindfully during Lent I don’t expect to be miserable. I expect to enjoy my food even more.

The reason for repentance is God’s judgment. If you think God’s judgment is condemnation and punishment, then I suppose Lent should be pure misery. But God’s judgment is simply the loving truth about us. So Lent is a time to become more mindful, to see ourselves more clearly, to and to realign ourselves with God’s love. Fasting is a practice that helps us expose and transcend our usual desires and attachments, and focus beyond ourselves and our immediate wants. But fasting goes along with prayer and almsgiving. Fasting without mindfulness and generosity is not a real fast. The point is not to improve self-discipline, but to deepen our love.

So besides “giving up” something, observe Lent by committing to a deeper practice of prayer or sharing. While I’m fasting, I’ll be writing letters on behalf of the poor through Bread for the World, and on behalf of prisoners of conscience through Amnesty International. The point of Lent is to move beyond our self-contained-ness and become more fully connected with God and others in love. Choose a way to observe Lent that helps you become more mindful, and more in harmony with God’s love for you and for others. You will likely experience in it a rebirth that will prepare you well for the miracle of Easter. And you’ll enjoy those Easter eggs all the more.
         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

“God,
I have stumbled again,” I prayed.
“Can you forgive me?”
         
And God said,
“Beloved,
“if you had any idea what I know
         
that you do not
         
of your burdens—
how my back aches from them,
and my legs are weak—
         
you wouldn’t need to ask.”

         
         
         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

We don’t go
behind the curtain
that is this world,
in front of which
things are what they say
and as they appear,
a bird is a bird, a flower a flower,
but behind which,
really,
the smallest flower is the sun,
and a bird is a prayer,
the language of your deepest longings,
something in you that has traveled far
and returned,
someone smaller than the wind
but free in it,
hope with a sense of geography,
a song that lays eggs,
a gesture of praise with children,
your death, singing above you,
branch to branch….

We don’t go because
just as easily as we could become
the graceful swan
we could also become pure flame

and disappear

or the wren outside your window
looking in.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

The trees are not waiting, as I am, for spring.

The snowmelt falling without guile
into the brook, why should it be mindful
of dark Atlantic currents, clouds rising and
sweeping within weeks along the steppes?
It’s only dropping with its pure plop
into this black water spinning under the cedars.

The trees are not waiting for spring
or even a sunny day.
They are not patient. They do not know.
They stand, as I am, knee deep in snow
with their little buds in their hands,
attentive to the press of bird or breeze,
or none, upon their limbs
and sing one note at a time
in their vast, unfolding song of praise.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
May the blessings of March be yours:

the fierceness of its changes
brace your heart;

the strength of its winds
give you confidence;

the melting of snow
give courage to your repentance
and your forgiveness.

May the possibility of spring
haunt you.

May all that is frozen, hard and hidden
begin secretly to soften
and come to light.

May green living things,
tender, still and strong,
beneath what is seen,
begin silently to stir and rise.

Crocuses, dear, prepare
to pierce your heart.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
He led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
         — Matthew 17. 1-5

A mountain top, a man shining with light, the appearance of great leaders long dead, a bright cloud, a voice from heaven—let’s face it: there’s just no explaining the Transfiguration. Peter tries to contain it—and we join him—trying to put it in a box, make it fit, make it “mean something.“ But it doesn’t.

Sure, it’s a vision of the Risen Christ appearing in glory, and an image of Jesus as the light of the world and the completion of the Law and the Prophets, and so on. But really, it’s about this one thing: mystery. There’s power, and there’s glory, and there’s the story of the journey to freedom with Moses and the revelation of the Truth by Ezekiel. But mostly there’s just mystery. This is where the philosophers can only say, “Hm,” and the theologians, “Oh;” while the saints cry, “Ooh!” and “Aah!

We follow a mystery. We are allured by wonder, led by inexplicable light, claimed by a grace that defies all logic and transcends all understanding. We let our minds, as tools of control, rest. We let our confidence in knowing what’s going on take a sabbath. Instead we gaze. We go to the place where we are in the dark, where the Voice that speaks us says, “Let there be light.” We seek the faith that is a willingness to be overwhelmed, and a trust that the unknown is benevolent. We stand in silent wonder until our hearts catch fire, until we ourselves are transfigured by astonished delight. When we die and stand before God in judgment on on our lives, the great cry of faith is not our beliefs, but the song of the saints, echoed by the angels, raised by all Creation. It is simply this, a cry close to the sound of “Yahweh,” the name of God: Wow.

Life is mystery. Faith is trust in it. Stop trying to explain it, Peter, and simply let it be. Be in awe. Be at a loss for words. Be amazed. Pay attention. Don’t miss it. Listen.

Wow. Amen.
         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

When you meet a challenge,
a time of change or uncertainty,
a time of difficulty or sorrow,
a time of great hope or fear:
you can treat it as a loss or a threat,
and grapple with it
by the might of your anxiety
and the weight of your will.

Or you can accept it as an invitation
to deepen
your awareness,
your rootedness,
your prayer,
your trust,
your soul.

You can fight,
or you can deepen.

The bumps and crevasses
you struggle over
are only the wrinkles
in God’s hand.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
         
         
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?… Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?’ or “What will we drink?’ or “What will we wear?” … But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
         — Matthew 6. 25, 31, 33

Sadly, for millions life really is not much more than food, clothing, shelter and medical care. It certainly isn’t much without those things. It might sound like Jesus is telling the poor to tough it out and wait for the blessings of the afterlife instead of expecting worldly comforts in this life. Or maybe that if they live morally upright lives God will somehow reward them with material goods. But this teaching does not let us off the hook of God’s demands for justice. We might get away with that if “the Kingdom of God” were something private and individual. But “the kingdom of God” is a community.

Strive first for the community, not for yourself. Seek the community of God: a community of compassion, with just and merciful relationships. If we who have food and clothing (and power and privilege), share with those who do not, everyone will have enough. What prevents us from sharing more? What prevents us from taking risks in order to reshape economic systems of injustice? Our fear of not having enough. So it’s not the poor that Jesus is talking to, but us. If we cling to our riches and comforts, we will have only our materials goods, but not real Life. If we strive for the community of God, everyone— even we who have enough— will have enough.

         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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