December 2010 – Page 4 – 300 words a day

The story might have been different

I was thinking about Mary on Sunday morning. That’s good, I suppose, given that I was in church and it’s a couple weeks before Christmas and the sermon was about Mary (the mother of Jesus). I mean, if I had been thinking about Moses, that wouldn’t have made sense. If I had been thinking about […]

by Jon Swanson

housecleaning

I spent some time in the attic last weekend. It was time. Stuff accumulates. Empty boxes saved in case something breaks. A broken string trimmer saved in case someday I know how to fix it. Mugs saved because someone gave them to me . . . from events that are over . . . at […]

by Jon Swanson

A cry for the helper.

I wish I knew whether it was December when David wrote Psalm 70. Not that the time of year matters, of course, but somehow it fits December. Short days, long nights. A sense of expected delight but a feeling of impending doom. And lots of allegations of inconsistency, much of it coming from inside our […]

by Jon Swanson

Family resemblance

Recently, I told a guy, “I’m Andrew’s dad.” He said, “I see the resemblance.” I look like my dad. Hope looks like me. Apparently Andrew looks like me, too. And I think Hope looks a little like Nancy (which is a very good thing). But no one has ever said that because they have seen Andrew […]

by Jon Swanson

Shepherds (an Advent post)

On the first day of a new job, one of the first tasks is to introduce the newbie to everyone. It’s part of the orientation, part of saying to the newbie, “Here are our heroes, here are your colleagues, here is what the job looks like, here is the heritage you are joining.” On the […]