lent – Page 11 – 300 words a day

Interesting talk about the boring parts of Exodus.

“Is it okay if I sort of skim through the end of Exodus?” my friend said. “Those details about assembling the ark and the curtains and the tabernacle get really long.” He’s reading through the Bible for the second time. The first time took him three years. Now he’s doing it again to pick up […]

by Jon Swanson

What if you decided to read the Bible?

What if you simply decided to spend seven weeks reading the Bible? For a couple months setting aside the usual distractional reading, the escape reading, the three-minute-break reading, the just-one-more-link reading. Making the Bible be your reading while you fall asleep, while you are waking up, while you are in the bathroom, while you are […]

by Jon Swanson

Prayer and a paper carrier story.

My friend sent me an email. “This is hard for me, to be quiet and still. I feel like my prayer life is like a paper route. I lob prayers to God, much like the paper carrier lobs papers down the street, but I keep moving, and forget to listen for the response. The paper […]

by Jon Swanson

my simplest statements about Lent for Non-Lent People.

I’ve tried to simplify how to talk about the book I wrote for Lent and how I describe myself in a couple places. With Lent starting one week from today, I wanted to share these with you and ask, if you would be willing, to share them with people who may find them helpful. And […]

by Jon Swanson

Preparing for a conversation

“Okay,” my friend said. “I gave you a week to think. I want to ask the question again. Should we celebrate Lent?” I shrugged. “I don’t think it’s a matter of should. I think it’s a matter of could. I think it’s less a matter of obligation and more an opportunity. If we have to […]