belief – Page 16 – 300 words a day

who else is there?

What makes you stay? When you are part of a group and public opinion shifts, what makes you stay? How much attention do you pay to the way people are talking? If lots of people are talking positively about your group, does that make you feel more attached? If lots of people start to raise […]

by Jon Swanson

another letter to Jesus

Dear Jesus: This has to stop We can’t keep up. We finally found you in the synagogue. of all places. We slid in the back. It was pretty crowded (squeezing 5000 people into a building is harder than spreading out on a hillside) but we managed. We got there just in time for the reading […]

by Jon Swanson

letting him into the boat

The disciples spent a lot of time on the water. Several of them fished professionally. There were sudden storms and bad fishing days but that was part of the job. It was annoying, but it was life. Until Jesus. With Jesus around, with their decision to follow him, to be part of his entourage, they […]

by Jon Swanson

A week later, Thomas

On Sunday night, ten disciples were gathered in a room. Okay, there may have been more than ten, but only ten of The Twelve were there. Judas was dead. Thomas simply wasn’t present. It was a gathering of uncertainty. The door was locked. The disciples had heard that Jesus was alive, but weren’t sure what […]

by Jon Swanson

When extraordinary is ordinary.

What looks like a miracle is looking from our perspective. I mean, on my own, I cannot heal people. I can encourage them, which can feel good, but I can’t touch people and make them well. I cannot feed huge groups of people without cooking. I cannot waterski without a boat, without moving fast. I […]