“I don’t really want more time;
I just want enough time.
Time to breathe deep & time to see real & time to laugh long, time to give You glory & rest deep & sing joy…
I just want time to do my one life well.
Life at its fullest is this sensitive, detonating sphere —
and it can be carried only in the hands of the unhurried and reverential—
a bubble held in awe.”
~ One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
A new year is upon us.
It’s time to take down the old calendar, and if it has nice pictures, save it—you can use it again in 2022— and put up the new one, or the 1984 one that you’ve saved for 2012.
As you do, ponder the old calendar. Look at all those days. God was with you on every one of them. Think of all you’ve done, and give thanks for your endeavors. Give thanks for all the people you met, the folks who did things for you, the souls you touched, the companions you had on the way. Give thanks for all you’ve seen, and marvel at how the things that you’ve experienced, and the ways you chose to receive them, have become a part of who you are. Give thanks for the challenges, the terrible days, the long hauls, for they, too, are part of the journey that has brought you to this day, and part of who you are.
And of course remember all your mistakes, and even more important, what you learned from them. And know that as you leave behind the old year, all those mistakes are forgiven. The little goofs and the profound betrayals, the odd slips and the unbreakable habits, all are forgiven. They are as past as that old year, gone. All that remains is wisdom, what you learned from them.
You have changed and grown. That’s the good news as you stand at the threshold of a new year: we can change. In the new year we can become new people. Of course we resist change, but the truth is that it’s really not change that we dislike so much as loss. It’s our resistance to change that’s hard. Change, and the loss of the familiar, puts us in a vulnerable, powerless position, a place where we’re not in control, and we don’t “know” enough. That’s what we don’t like.
And that— that place of powerlessness, dependence and not knowing— is the gospel place, the place where our only hope, and our only power, is God. It’s the place Jesus invites us to be. It’s all about dying first and then rising. Did you notice last Sunday what Simeon in the temple said about the baby Jesus? “This child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel” (Lk. 2.34). Not the rise and fall, like coming and going. But the falling (first) and then the rising. So 2012 is the year you will die.
And rise. You will surrender everything to God’s infinite love, and let God re-create you. Enter the new year ready to die and rise in the Spirit of the Eternal One who gives you life as a gift.
As you put up the new calendar, even if it says 1984, be mindful that you are about to become someone new. This re-creation will involve loss, and you will be tempted to resist it. But God will be with you every single one of those 366 days. Be ready to accept the changes that will come, to rely on God’s merciful presence, and to be re-created in this new time. The whole year will come at you one moment at a time; you can enter into each present moment, willing and lovingly present, for you will be in the Loving Presence.
May God deeply bless your new year. It will be good.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
If you intend to take goal setting seriously, you must up the ante by writing 
down your goals and revising them continuously. By choosing your goal and writing it down, you gain an edge. Most people simply respond to conditions rather than create conditions for a better life. While there is no magic pill or equation for success, one thing is sure: Those who fail to plan by not writing down their goals, by default, plan to fail.
~ Gary Ryan Blair
Goals
The year is quic
kly coming to a close!
2012 is almost here and this is the week to think about our lives and make a plan for the coming year(s)!
I’m not talking about some silly resolution which will be broken in the first few days – I am talking about really making a plan towards happiness.
Begin by thinking about this past year – what did you like – what didn’t you like – about this past year? What can you do differently to make this coming year better? You must start where you are, and you must be very honest with yourself. You cannot make your life better if you don’t. There may be tough bridges that need to be burned. Transformation is not always easy, but it is worth it.
I wrote a 5 year plan 4 years ago – this year, as I look back, so much has changed, but I am so much closer to my goal! There will be major updates to my plan this year, based on where I am at this moment. It is so exciting! I love reading where I was and where I am now. It has been a long road home for me – but I have come soooo far!!!!
My hope is that we all begin to make choices to become who we have been created to be, and that on our path of becoming, we join together to share unconditional love with others who are hurting. In so doing we will change the world in every way for the better!
I heard the bells, on Christmas Day,
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth,
good will to men.
Henry W. Longfellow
May God be with you
and bless you; May you see
your children’s children;
May you be poor in misfortune –
Rich in blessings;
May you know nothing but
happiness
From this day forward!
may your Christmas be like chocolate,
deep and rich.
Savor it.
___________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
In your deepest darkness
may the eyes of God
twinkle like stars.
May the sounds of the world
become song,
become angelic.
May you always hear,
like voices in the next room,
glory.
May God come,
whole,
into your life.
May you receive
the most holy gift
of wonder.
May God give you the courage
of the young mother
in the darkness.
May you hear the song
of the presence of God
within you.
May your ordinary life
be a sign of God’s nearness
to the lowly.
May all the refugee families
in your world
find shelter.
May you always ponder
the mystery of your dear,
umbilical life.
May the cries
of the Christ child
keep you awake.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
life: acoustic & amplified 