psalms – Page 2 – 300 words a day

Psalm 6

(First published July 20, 2011.) It happens all the time in songs (and in stories.) For the first two verses, everything is bad. And then the hero comes, the story turns, the cavalry arrives, the light dawns. We love to read these stories, to sing these songs, because they give us hope. The first two […]

by Jon Swanson

An old new song.

(First published October 15, 2012.) I’ve never talked with you about Psalm 121. It’s a song that strengthens me. When my heart sings it, I am encouraged. It has been shaping me for several decades but I’ve never talked with you about it. “The sun will not smite me by day, nor the moon by night.” […]

by Jon Swanson

Psalm 1.

(First published July 13, 2011) When you pick up a book of poetry or a book of song lyrics, you have to work. You cannot read Gerard Manley Hopkins or W.H. Auden or Bono the same way you read Malcolm Gladwell or Donald Miller. With poems, you have to stop often, read out loud at […]

by Jon Swanson

You may be moved.

There are times when I watch something or read something or hear something that makes me stop, makes me weep. This video brings together four people whose relationship accomplished that stopping. I’ve been shaped by Eugene Peterson for thirty years. I read A Long Obedience in the Same Direction when I was teaching speech in […]

by Jon Swanson

Every Monday

First published October 8, 2012 It happens every Monday morning. Every Monday is a restart of our pilgrimage. Every Monday we say, “I want this week to be different. I want to be more committed, more caring, more thoughtful, more loving, more focused, more significant, more successful.” And then we open our eyes. And shuffle […]