character – Page 13 – 300 words a day

a travel writer and the kingdom of heaven

I was listening to Rick Steves the other day. He does travel shows on public television. He concentrates on Europe. He wants people to become “temporary locals,” to live like residents of the country. In the interview, he talked about his sense of responsibility as a travel writer to visit places that are portrayed in […]

by Jon Swanson

Moved with compassion.

Where was I? Oh, right. I was telling you how I write and think about you. Sometimes anyway. I ended by suggesting that God thinks about you and what might help you. If you are like me, you read that and thought, “Sure. A nice idea. But I bet God’s usually pretty annoyed with me.” […]

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

Are you the one we are expecting?

This is Advent, a time of expectation. It is easy to confuse the expectation which characterizes Advent with the expectation which characterizes Christmas. For Christmas, we expect gifts. Many of us look forward to something good to add to the pretty good we already have. There is an anticipation that we will get something which […]

by Jon Swanson

An interesting prayer story.

I love stories about people praying and then having answers. It’s exciting. I mean, look at this story. Paul writes a letter to some people in Rome. He talks about his travel schedule and his desire to visit them. And he asks them to pray for him. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers […]