lent – Page 14 – 300 words a day

occupational lent.

That phrase came to mind recently while reading a book Hope needs for a class. I got to it first and began to read. The writer talked about a passage from Augustine’s book on rhetoric, De doctrina Christiana. I pulled it off the shelf above my desk to look at the passage. In the slowly […]

by Jon Swanson

A Sabbath in a year.

We were talking about Sabbath on Saturday night in our Sabbath group. I don’t have time or space or energy to capture the whole conversation. But somewhere in the middle of the conversation, I said that many people don’t like the idea of Sabbath because they think it feels legalistic. They start trying to figure […]

by Jon Swanson

From reading to practicing

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 Paul is wrapping up […]

by Jon Swanson

Lent, Valentine’s Day, and real love.

I was working on an amusing post for today. Because it’s Valentine’s Day and it’s the day after Ash Wednesday, I was going to talk about the idea of corporate sponsorships for Lent, inspired by Valentine’s ads. We would expect that a weight-loss chain would approach the fasting from a personal benefit perspective: “please God […]

by Jon Swanson

How do you want to be when you grow up?

“How do you want to be when you grow up?” I was talking with a couple of high school seniors. They were asking some questions about resources. I like to have context for the recommendations I make. So I asked “How do you want to be when you grow up?” They looked at me quizzically. “Can […]