300 words a day

Looking for the beauty

Winter in North America… grey skies, cold temperatures, beige-brown fields, grey piles of snow. It’s easy to look at what we see and not be aware of hidden realities. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and […]

by Jon Swanson

Lord’s Prayer: That is really hard (Matthew 6:11)

Jesus says that we are to ask God to forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. Jesus says that there is a correlation between our asking God for forgiveness and us forgiving other people. We are to ask for forgiveness and, it seems, tell God to forgive us in the same way as we […]

by Jon Swanson

Inspiration And Hope

Rich Dixon is reflecting again. +++ Last time, I said I didn’t necessarily want to be the center of an inspirational story. Then, I met the mother of a former student who told me she was inspired by the story of RELENTLESS GRACE. And this week I received a call from a guy who hosts […]

by Jon Swanson

Lord’s Prayer: Enough for today (Matthew 6:11)

Sometimes context doesn’t seem to matter. Things seem clear at face value. Like a request for bread. What could be more simple? “Give me food today. (Please).” For the people hearing this model prayer from Jesus for the first time, the request was only partly about the future or about today. It had everything to […]

by Jon Swanson

Lord’s Prayer: Your kingdom (Matthew 6:10)

There are many debates about what the kingdom of heaven means in Matthew, about when it starts, about what Jesus means when he says “Repent because the Kingdom is at hand.” I wonder why we wonder so much? Why do we care so much about having exactly the right interpretation? Is it because we want […]