John – Page 5 – 300 words a day

Advent 2: Anticipating a conversation

We have other obligations most Sundays. So it wasn’t until Monday morning that we went walking again. I looked for the man from Saturday. “Saint John of the Mall” Brenda had called him. We started our walk at Red Robin. We tossed our coats on the bench near the door. At 7:00 on the Monday […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 1: Saint John of the Mall

Nancy and I started walking at the mall a few winters back. It saved our lives. That sounds dramatic, like it kept us from a heart attack. For all we know, it has. But we started talking every day while we walked. And since then, we’ve weathered a variety of life events. Deaths of parents, […]

by Jon Swanson

good news. I’m not.

A woman runs into town. “Come and see! Come and see!” No one looks up. She’s fallen in and out of love so many times that no one much cares what she says. Her judgment about what is worth looking at is, shall we say, uncertain. “I think I might have found the Christ.” You […]

by Jon Swanson

Become one of us.

Last year, Chris and Julien wrote a book called Trust Agents. They talked about people we turn to because we trust them. They carefully and thoughtfully build reputations. They care about other people. Even though they may be part of an organization or company, they care more about people than about the structure. One of […]

by Jon Swanson

a scorecard

Nope. It’s not what you think. When we hear the word “scorecard” and the topic on the table is “Bible” many of us start to think about how we’re doing, about who’s keeping track. In this case, however, I’m thinking more about the phrase, “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard.” The roster of […]