creed – Page 3 – 300 words a day

affirming the scandalous.

An angel and a girl have conversation. She’s going to get pregnant without having sex. And no one is going to believe the story. Her fiance won’t. The community won’t. She’ll flee ridicule, spending several months with a relative. The relative was herself pregnant, long after menopause, shortly after her husband talked to an angel. […]

by Jon Swanson

taking a turn in the creed

If you are following along in the creed, you will notice that the story takes a turn. “I believe in God the father almighty and in Jesus Christ is only-begotten son, our Lord” Until those last two words, everything has been observation. Now we are involved in the story. It’s not just a story about a […]

by Jon Swanson

only-begotten.

John 3:16 shows up everywhere. At least everywhere if you watch sports. As I think about it, I’ve never seen the magicmarker-made sign at awards shows or a Broadway musical. Perhaps the carrier of the sign enjoys sports more than music or movies. Certainly, that sign is in the background every time a crowd gathers […]

by Jon Swanson

Not a last name

In my family, everyone came from Sweden. At Ellis Island, one brother became Larson, another brother became Lawson, and a cousin became Laure’, because he didn’t want to look like a Swede. We use last names to be informal (“Swanny”) or to be formal, (“Dr Swanson”). We use last names to discover connections (“Are you […]

by Jon Swanson

maybe not about me.

I’m writing about a creed, a statement of belief. I have a post about “Jesus Christ, his only-begotten son.” I’ll put it up in a couple days. When I wrote that post on Friday, I was happy with it from a theology perspective, but it sounds like theology. So I’ve been thinking about it through all weekend. […]