300 words a day

We told him to stop

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” It was a statement, not a question. John was telling Jesus about the loyalty of the disciples, of their commitment to protect the identity of this small group known as […]

by Jon Swanson

A prayer for the sixth Sunday of Easter

I wrote this prayer a couple months into the pandemic. Lockdowns, restrictions, uncertainties. When I looked at it later, I realized that those particulars have changed. But the things in this prayer are actually still all true. So I’m using it again. And I understand that this is the day we call Mother’s Day. And […]

by Jon Swanson

You can be of encouragement.

Feel free to plagiarize this today since I’m stealing it from myself: Hey friend/Sue/sister/Jim/dude- You’ve been on my mind this week/last night/for the past month. It’s been about a month/ year/ decade since your dad died/ since you changed jobs/ since we last talked/ since you set out on that cool quest/since you gave up […]

by Jon Swanson

Learning humility.

There’s a story in Luke about the disciples arguing over which one was greatest. This was just after everyone had been marveling about the greatness of God. Which was their response to Jesus healing a boy that nine of the disciples couldn’t heal. So it makes us wonder if the conversation started with Peter saying, […]

by Jon Swanson

Begging

Rich Dixon is talking about being helpful. +++ “Doesn’t begging people for money feel awkward?” The question came up in a conversation about raising funds for the kids at the Home of Hope. I suspect it’s a common sentiment. I’ll confess – when we first started doing this, asking for financial support wasn’t easy. But […]