Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas said, “Why was this perfume not sold?” … Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
— from John 12.1-8

Mary is Christ,
standing with another in his pain,
companioning him in his death,
pouring out her life for another’s balm,
enduring scorn with gentleness and compassion,
peering through her fallen hair
into the kingdom of hope.
She embraces death as all of ours,
seeking not to flee it but to face it with grace,
concerned not with how she can be saved
but how she will be spent.
She is the model for our faith:
taken in passion,
blessed in generosity,
broken in sorrow,
given in love,
filling the house with the fragrance
of her healing miracle.
All you faithful, honor her:
let down your passion’s locks
in the crowded rooms of this life,
your fingers trembling over the feet
of your doomed Beloved,
the fragrance of his death in your hair.
Pour yourself out for those who suffer,
and the one you will not always have with you
will be with you always.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

No extremes today.
No crisis, no balmy paradise, just a day.
The point is not to achieve ecstasy,
or to bravely survive a trauma
(those are the highs of our addiction to adrenalin);
it’s to be awake, and to devote ourselves
to the sacrament of the present moment.
Simple things are sufficient for wonder.
Ordinary. Boring even, if it is so.
But holy.

____________________________
Weather Report

Mild and partially clear,
as ice falls, heat waves,
hurricanes and dust clouds
bluster elsewhere to distract us.
You have made it through storms;
you can weather this.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

<0>Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
— Psalm 126.5-6

This path of life bears us through sun and shade,
valleys and mountains, pleasure and sorrow.
You, O Love, are the path.
I walk through sadness and difficulty with you,
and through joy accompanied.
You are the tears I sow,
seeds of sorrow scattered
on the soil that receives them.
And you are the sheaves of joy
I hold to my chest.
Sorrow is a sowing, a scattering
into receiving soil where miracles will come,
where rejoicing will arise.
Sorrow and rejoicing belong to the singing,
as sowing and reaping belong to the earth,
to the joyous cycle of living,
the great flow of all things growing into you.
O Love, I scatter myself into you,
and harvest the grain, singing.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________

Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away;
see, everything has become new!
— 2 Corinthians 5. 17-18

O Love,
I am ready for a new Creation.
I am willing to be in Christ,
to be a word in your song,
a ripple of your pond.

I am willing to be made new.
Everything “mine” I let go of.
All that is “so far” I surrender.
I am ready to be re-created
scoreless, nothing on my record,
created, given, not accomplished:

as your Beloved,
ready for the stunning beginning,
the first day’s wonder,
the orienting hope,
the shimmering not-yet-knowing,
the wide field of the world,
lifted out of this narrow grave,
opening before me.

I am open
for everything, all Creation
to be made
in an instant,
the next miracle,
this present moment,
now.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” … The older son said, “For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.”
— from Luke 15

This is a story about two sons who are both selfish, and a father who is lavishly generous. As are all of Jesus’ parables, it’s a story about abundance. Notice that both of the sons treat the father the same: they do not care about him or his presence; they only want his stuff. Isn’t that how we pray most of the time? We ask God for stuff: “Heal this disease. Make this work out OK. Answer my petition.” But we don’t simply open ourselves to God’s presence. How seldom we pray, “God, no matter what happens, I just want to be with you.” It comes from our fear that there won’t be enough blessing. When we feel that God does not answer our prayers, it’s probably because we’re just asking for God’s stuff. But God’s answer to our prayer is always the same: “You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”

Even in praying for others we can pray our selfishness— “here’s what I want” —and forget to pray our generosity: “Here’s what I trust; here’s what I offer.” Christ invites us to be prodigal (recklessly extravagant) in prayer toward God and others, even those who have hurt us. This spirit of abundance is rooted in our most basic prayer: our openness to God’s presence and blessing, and our desire to be present for the One who is present for us. It is to pray, “God, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”

Listen for God’s Presence, and entrust yourself to it.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________

Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them…. He came to himself. … “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” … “Let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again!’ … “I have been working like a slave for you.” … “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”
—from Luke 15

There come times when we “come to ourselves” and know that we can not be the person we are trying to be. We have no choice but to let that person die. The younger son can’t be the independent, self-defined maverick. Nor can he be the repentant sinner. The father won’t treat him as either of those, but only as his Beloved. The older son can’t be the righteous one to whom something is owed. He, too, can only be the Beloved. Even the father can’t be the patriarch of a close, healthy family. He can only be Beloved.

You can’t be that person you are trying so hard to be: the one everyone likes… the one who is right… the middle aged person whose body works properly… the spiritually mature person who knows what you’re doing…. You try to be such a person, but you can’t. That’s all right. Let that person die.

When we let go of the person we think we ought to be, then we have no option but to receive the person God gives us to be. That one is neither sinful nor righteous, but Beloved. And, like the father in the story, one who has died and been raised is loving, generous, patient and forgiving. This is the mystery of dying and being raised.

Let the person you are trying so hard to be die and rest in peace. Let God, with infinite grace, grant you the person you truly are: Beloved.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________
Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com

Blessing! You have forgiven me
My sin you have washed away.
You find nothing wrong with me.
What lives in my soul is true.

When I was not honest about my sin
it ate at me.
My body bore its weight all day.
It sapped my strength like a hot, humid day.

When I was honest with myself,
and stopped trying to fit the old of a “good person,”

when I gave you my real self, just as I am
you forgave me! You forgave me!

So when we want our lives to be blessing
we attend to you.
In you there is no distress:
even rushing floodwaters can’t reach us.

You are my safe place:
you stand between me and trouble;
you put your arms around me
You show me the way of Life;
you guide me from within.

I can act like a hungry animal, a stubborn mule,
all muscle and instinct with no intent.
But living from one pang to another
only begets more pangs.

While trusting in you,
I am bathed in steadfast love.
We are glad in you God! We rejoice!

We who love you sing for joy!

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________

Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight(at)hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

The woods are all around, all around.
Night sky wraps itself about me,
snow cherubs sitting in the trees,
ornaments made of stars
hanging in bare branches,
the snow rounding everything up
to the next nearest shape.
The snow, not cold enough to squeak,
shuffles as I walk, making sounds
like turning over in bed.
A skinny, pre-pubescent moon
follows me without wavering.
I walk out into the meadow, look up,
and the trees are gone but not the ornaments,
or the shy little moon.
I remember riding in a car, real young,
dark out, forehead against the window,
amazed that the moon rode with us,
shooting through the trees, slipping
behind buildings and reappearing,
so calm, right there, staring at me.
All these years later, she’s still here.
Standing on the belly of the earth
I can feel the earth breathing in her sleep
under this dream of snow.
What you said to me walks beside me;
I turn around and even in the dark
there is it, breathing little clouds.
I carry the bundle of my body out here,
with warmth I got earlier, from the sun
I guess, and from food from some far places.
My blood is a wild animal that stalks,
close, always hidden. My breath isn’t mine;
each breath is given to me and given again,
though I can’t see it in the dark. I believe
I am made of this stuff: snow and stars and
puffs of breath. Turning for home,
I think there is no such thing
as all alone.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________

Copyright © 2010
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

Listen. Are you thirsty?
Come.
What are the guts of your soul starving for?
Here. Eat. It’s good.
Why spend yourself for junk,
for wrapping without food?
Listen: here is a Word you can feast on,
something you can chew on forever.
The Word is: Listen.
Just keep listening and you’ll live.
The Holy One says, “I listen to you
like the moon listens to the earth.
I promise myself.
I’ve wed myself to you for generations.”
There is a royal part of your heart that knows,
that shines with regal splendor.
People won’t know why they are drawn to that light.
(Because: the Beloved is in you!)
Seek the Present One in this moment,
not in some wish or regret.
She is here. Call to her and listen.
Let go of your life-pinching ways,
your fearful thoughts.
Turn instead to the Delightful One,
who will only be gentle with you,
who will forgive, and bless, and delight you
way more than ought to be possible.
(Of course this sounds strange.
Can you put your hand around the moon?
No, nor your thoughts around God.)
Loving Mystery says:
“Your thoughts can’t get at me.
Your ways won’t lead to me.
This is a different way of thinking,
a different way of being.
Let my ways transform yours, my thoughts yours.
Rain and snow fall, and don’t turn around half way.
They water the earth and make it green,
bringing out seed for the sower and bread for the eater.
So is my love that rains from my heart.
It doesn’t turn around half way.
It fulfills its purpose.
In it, everything is completed.
Here.”

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

_______________________________

Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com

Holy
One,
you are my Being.
I seek you.

My soul thirsts for you,
my flesh is weak without you;
I am a dry and thirsty land
without water

I have seen you in the heart of things,
your power and glory right here.
Your steadfast love is better than life.
My being is your praise.

So I will live as your blessing,
and my mindfulness will be your name.
I who was thirsty have feasted.
I speak of you with my mouth full.

I soak in attentiveness to you as I go to sleep
you are my first awareness as I wake.
You are my Life, my Heaven, my Friend.
In the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.

My soul comes from you.
You hold me close, strong and gentle.
Holy One, you are my Being.
I seek you.

_______________________________

Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com