Month: May 2010

by Jon Swanson

Remember

I’m not particularly patriotic. I pledge allegiance to the flag and I am grateful to the sons of friends now serving, but I am unwilling to say, “my country right or wrong” when I know there are good people in other countries saying the same thing and when I am called to be a citizen […]

Read More…
by Jon Swanson

more on reading the Bible

Yesterday we talked about about reading the Bible. I suggested a couple answers for one question I hear: Why is the Bible so confusing? Here’s another suggestion: Remember that you read poets and letters, genealogies and histories,  critics and SparkNotes  in very different ways. Poems reveal deep feeling. Poems leave out details. Poems often make […]

Read More…
by Jon Swanson

But I never understand

Yesterday, I gave a couple suggestions about researching ideas in the Bible. I could suggest many more. But first, I need to think through a couple questions that come up when reading the Bible. I hear the first one often:  Why is the Bible so confusing? I understand. There are days when I read a […]

Read More…
by Jon Swanson

What do you want to learn?

I read a lot. Most of it is pretty random. (See Addicted to Story). Often I will be in  a conversation and I will think, “I need to learn more about that.” But then I forget and read randomly. You forget too. So what if we agreed that we didn’t want to forget? What if […]

Read More…
by Jon Swanson

workin’ on it.

I walked down the hallway, heading to the car.  To my left, in the conference room, a math teacher was working equations on the white board. Two high school students were at a table, asking questions. It’s an after-school tutoring session. They want to understand, he wants to help. To my right, from a classroom, […]

Read More…