lent – Page 3 – 300 words a day

Six weeks to Easter.

What does six weeks feel like? It depends. Six weeks of what? Around the hospital, we sometimes hear measurements of six weeks. Six weeks to live. Six weeks until birth Six weeks of rehab. Each of those has a different feeling. But each, I think, leads to a change in a way of living. Each […]

by Jon Swanson

Changing for the sake of love.

Forget, for a moment, the season of Lent. Forget the debates about obligation and grace and structures. Set aside the comments about what tradition you did or did not grow up in. Instead, today ask yourself two questions. Start with this: What do you want to change about how you interact with God and other […]

by Jon Swanson

Lent is an opportunity, not an obligation. Maybe.

Some of my friends with spiritual interests anticipate Lent with a sense of gratitude. They are thankful for what they learn about themselves through the disciplines of giving up and of moving toward God. They appreciate the invitation to participate with others known as the Body of Christ. I have other friends who argue a […]

by Jon Swanson

Some recipes for routines that will help you.

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by Jon Swanson

How routines can shape our lives.

I don’t think of Lent as a time to form habits. I think of it as a time to give up. But embracing something new always has in it surrender. And surrender always has offers something new. So what if I approached Lent as a time of testing? Not being tested as much as testing […]