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Blog postI’m not sure why we were talking about perseverance.
We were driving from Paradise, Michigan to Sault Ste. Marie as part of what’s become an annual trip up north. You drive south from Paradise about 10 miles, and then turn east on the Curley Lewis Memorial Highway. It runs along the south edge of Whitefish Bay.
We got up and looked at the sunrise. We’d worked a little in the morning on projects for back home, and then drove and talked and took pictures and looked for a rest ro -
Blog postThe first Sunday of Advent is November 29. Christmas is a few weeks later. But the truth is, we’re not sure we’re ready to figure out how to celebrate this year.
I’ve written about Advent before. In Anticipation: An Advent Reader and Saint John of the Mall: Reflections for the Advent Season, I provided reflections from Scripture to prepare us through Advent.
This year calls for something different.
Giving a Year Meaning: A Healing Journal for Advent 2020 will help peop -
Blog postAt the moment, we’re in Michigan. In Paradise in Michigan. In state with the ad campaign “Pure Michigan”, you probably can’t get much better than Paradise.
The ad campaign tries to show us the essence of Michigan. The leaves, the water, the snow, the smiles, the slow motion drone footage that makes everything look better.
The challenge, of course, is that there is much of Michigan that doesn’t look like the ads. And our temptation is to look at those things as impure Michigan. -
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Blog postGod.
We are anxious.
We are anxious to and anxious about.
We are longing to and longing for.
And we are, a little, dreading.
Then we read about Moses on a mountain with you.
You tell him you care.
And in the middle of the cloud of your presence, hearing the whispers of your voice, with the experiences of eighty years of confirmations and affirmations and appearances and miracles, Moses still asks you for three things:
Show me your wa -
Blog postWe’ve been talking this week about Paul’s list of things to think about instead of worrying. We’ve looked at true and noble.
I want to suggest that when Paul talks about focusing on what is right, he’s talking, in part, about justice. The justice of keeping your word. The justice of responding to human needs .
So, practically, what does it look like to think about what is right?
That question was on my mind when I was heading to coffee with a friend.
When my fr -
Blog postRich Dixon continues thinking about his place by the river..
In 1987 a doctor explained the consequences of my accident.
Lots of medical details, but the evidence was simple and devastating – spinal cord injury and permanent paralysis below my chest. I listened carefully and replied, “No.”
I wanted my normal life back. I didn’t want to be a quadriplegic stuck in a wheelchair, so I got angry and basically threw a 10-year temper tantrum. Of course, my denial o -
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Blog postI confess. I’m no fan of pedestals. (Except for the pedestal sink we’re thinking about)
When we make celebrities of humans, we create expectations for them and in them that are inhumane. And in the absence of boundaries, humans do not thrive.
Self-destruction stories fill our news feed and feed our gossip. Depending on the person in the story, we rejoice at their fall from grace or we lament the damage to the group we and they are part of.
When Paul says to think about -
Blog postSo how would Jesus invite us to think about what is true?
Intriguing, he told parables, which are not measurably true, to help his followers and enemies understand the truth that he was speaking. Perhaps when we are so focused on facts as the only measure of what is true, we may be missing what is true.
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Who is my neighbor? It’s a pretty simple question to answer, from a geographical perspective. It’s a pretty easy question to answer from the perspective of common i -
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Blog postWe think about using our time better. We think about unfollowing or unfriending people. We complain about what people are saying, what the media are saying, the noise that is coming into our hearts and our minds, and the tension that seeps into our bodies and souls.
Paul talks about spending some of that time telling God about our concerns rather than worrying about them. And then he give us something to do with the time and attention we gain from not worrying.
Finally, brothe -
Blog postGod.
We wish you would say something.
In the chaos and storming of social media, we wish that you would say “Stop”. Like you did standing in a boat in a lake in Galilee two millennia ago.
And in the sudden calmness, we would say, “God.”
And we might weep.
We forget that we can do that ourselves. We live in a story of our own allowance. We are, some of us, in a storm of our own creation. And we can whisper, “stop” and set aside our phone.
But we -
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Books By Jon Swanson
"God. We Need You.": A Year of Prayer in a Hospital Chapel (Resources on Faith, Sickness, Grief and Doubt Book 5)
Jun 21, 2020
by
Jon Swanson
$0.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
A Great Work: A Conversation With Nehemiah For People (Who Want To Be) Doing Great Works
Nov 29, 2013
by
Jon Swanson
$0.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
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