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Blog postOften at the hospital, I’m with families in the time before a loved one dies. I encourage them to talk to their loved ones.
The family members start talking about how much they love the person. They talk about the moments that mattered. They talked about how much they will miss the person. They start thanking this person for the ways they were helped. In the best situations, people are remembering together and out loud, making sure that this person hears that they mattered to these pe -
Blog postGod.
People will die today. In this building, in this community, in this world.
People will be born, today, too. In this building, in this community, in this world.
The rest of us will be living between birth and death.
We will be remembering, some of us, those who are gone.
We will be longing for, some of us, those who are coming.
And we will, many of us, we confess, be uncertain about the best ways, the most useful, the most meaningful, the mo -
Blog postAwhile back, I was cleaning up some files. I found this set of questions and sample answers. It turns out I published them more than a decade ago. Sometime after I published the list, I did some work to offer sample answers from the writings of people in the New Testament, but I never shared it.
What do I want to finish? Paul wanted the church in Corinth to finish their financial collection:“Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do -
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Blog postI don’t like heights.
My family knows this well.
For years, when our travels have taken us over tall bridges, they smile as both of my hands tighten on the steering wheel, my speed slows to the minimum legal level, and my eyes find a place to look that doesn’t magnetically draw them over the edge of the railing.
“I could do that,” Nancy said a couple years ago. “I could drive us over the Mackinac Bridge.”
I’m not sure why we didn’t have that conversation before -
Blog postA new word from Rich Dixon
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Most of us know the song Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious…I’ll bet you’re humming it right now.
Mary Poppins created a silly song around a silly word to comfort small children when they were scared at night. Today (courtesy of my friend Dick Foth) I propose another silly-looking word designed around Jesus’ words.
TAKECOURAGEIAMDON’TBEAFRAID
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A while back I talked about the time the disciples saw Jesus walkin -
Blog postThat’s actually not the right word, of course, for your workplace. It isn’t home, though we can talk about amount of time spent or degree of comfort or amount of welcome.
On Sunday, I was back at the hospital after 12 days not at the hospital, the longest gap for a long time.
About 7 hours into my 9 hours, I walked through one of our intensive care units on my way to a visit. It was shift change. There were twice as many coworkers as usual. Most were in one-on-one conversation -
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Blog postA man comes to Jesus wanting to know how to get eternal life. It’s the one thing that he’s not sure of right now, though it seems that he’s doing everything possible to be prepared for it.
This man is doing everything he knows to do spiritually to be right with God. He’s keeping the commandments. Jesus asks him about that, running through several of the 10 commandments. The man says, “I’m doing those things.”
And many of us think, “He’s got it made.” Because many of us think t -
Blog postGod.
You understand.
You are available.
In the middle of his struggles, Job wasn’t sure.
In the middle of his grief, Job couldn’t find you.
Often, neither can we.
And yet, you promised, Jesus, to be with us even to the end of the age.
You promised, Jesus, to fill us with your Spirit.
You told us, Father, to listen for your voice telling us which way to go.
Pierce our uncertainty with your calm assurance.
Examine our hearts with -
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Blog postI used to pick up rocks when I went into work at the hospital.
Sometimes I’d ask God for words and opportunities. And then, at the end of the shift, as I walked out, I dropped the rock, letting go of the day.
It was a routine to help me delineate between hospital caring and the rest of life.
I stopped, as best as I can remember, near the beginning of the virus cases showing up at our hospital, and then dying at our hospital. In spite of the best e -
Blog postGod.
I think that we’re wrong about you, most of us, most of the time.
We talk as if you are judging us with plague and pestilence.
We talk as if the most important thing to you is gathering in buildings. We talk as if you are most in love with – or least angry at – one nation or one party or one system. We talk as if you want us to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.
We forget that Peter says that following you makes us foreigners here.
We forget that you were he -
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Titles By Jon Swanson
This Is Hard: What I Say When Loved Ones Die. (Resources on Faith, Sickness, Grief and Doubt Book 6)
Apr 23, 2021
by
Jon Swanson
$0.99
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"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
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God. We Still Need You.: A Year of Pandemic Prayer and Practice From a Hospital Chaplain
Mar 23, 2021
by
Jon Swanson
$5.99
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A Great Work: A Conversation With Nehemiah For People (Who Want To Be) Doing Great Works
Nov 29, 2013
by
Jon Swanson
$0.99
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