300 words a day

What Jesus said he was doing.

Sometime before Thursday night of Holy Week, Jesus summarized his work. And when John writes the story, he puts this summary between the time Jesus walks away from the crowd and walks into the upper room, the place where he’s going to eat supper with his disciples. You can read it in John 12:37-50. It’s […]

by Jon Swanson

Retention.

Nancy is hard at work on retention these days, helped kids to come back to the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir for the next season. Her hard work includes such strategies as treating families as people, answering the questions of the head and the heart, offering smiles and tears and time. I offer some of those […]

by Jon Swanson

Social Media Examen

I published this several years ago. I came across it after a particularly difficult hospital day. The questions that invited me to think back through the presence of God in the middle of pain were helpful. Perhaps they will help you as well. +++ At the end of the day there is often value in […]

by Jon Swanson

A prayer for Palm Sunday that is actually a prayer for the week.

God- We call this Holy Week. We try to figure out new things to say, or new things to feel about all that happened during this week. Jesus was celebrated. Jesus turned over money tables. Jesus debated and won. Jesus washed feet. Jesus started what we call communion. Jesus gave the disciples a summary of […]

by Jon Swanson

Disruptions.

Traffic and construction are frustrating. They are frustration because they keep us from our schedules. They remind us that we may not have planned well enough, that we may have left too late, that we may have made commitments we shouldn’t have made. They remind us that we are not the center of the universe. […]