advent – 300 words a day

Saint John and the Cubs.

Nancy and I walked past Arnie’s Jerseys and Stuff. It’s the local sports memorabilia store. We usually ignore it, not being fans of the teams, the old players, or the markups. This time I stopped, staring at the Ernie Banks Cubs uniform shirt. It was part of a display of Cubs items. After they won […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 17: Camping with Saint John

That evening, we went to the address John had given us. As I thought, it wasn’t a house. It was a campground not far from the mall. The sign said that the campground was closed, but even from the parking lot, I could see a couple of tents attempting, unsuccessfully, to hide from view. And […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 16: Saint John and the geography lesson.

I got a note from a friend. She’d been visiting the mall late one evening. She said that she had looked for Saint John but missed him, “though we didn’t go through the Macy’s or Penney’s mattress departments where I assume he sleeps.” I hadn’t thought about that. “Rabbi, where are you staying?” I said […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 15: Saint John and Christmas Performance.

“Can we go back to talking about expectations?” I said. John had pointed to the whole “meaning of Christmas” perspective, to the expectancy of the one bringing good news to the poor. But it didn’t solve a struggle that I kept having. I was still wrestling with the practical implications of doing stuff at Christmas. […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 14: Expectations and expectancy.

Nancy and I were talking about why we don’t care for Christmas. It’s not that we are against the Incarnation of Christ. It’s not that we are protesting the commercialization of the holiday. It’s not that we are refusing to take sides in the “Holiday/Christmas” debate. We realized that it’s about the expectations. There are […]