psalms – Page 4 – 300 words a day

Recalibration

I woke up too early. It was still dark. The longest day of the year was already slipping away into a distant memory, so the light that normally seeped around the edges of the bedroom curtains wasn’t there. I wasn’t sure what time it was, so I looked at my bedside watch. It has a […]

by Jon Swanson

a blessed life.

(First published July 13, 2014) 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

From strength to strength

The mom of my friend died the other afternoon. We talked together a few hours before. He knew it was coming. He was anticipating the arrangements, the conversations, the travel. He was feeling weary. I knew the feeling. Some of you do, too. A couple hours before we met, I had been reading a prayer. […]

by Paul Merrill

Bittersweet fun

A new person that came into the group, and she fit a certain stereotype to a T. Her clothing reflected a style that passed out of vogue about 20 years ago. I was powerless. I knew a friend in that group would completely agree with my judgment and be equally amused. So after a tiny […]

by Jon Swanson

I am restless in my complaint.

So I took my own advice yesterday morning. I read Psalm 55. I am familiar with the prayer, particularly the part in the middle where David talks about being betrayed by a close friend. If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But […]