waiting – Page 2 – 300 words a day

Advent 3: Silenced

Zechariah was doing what he was supposed to do. He was a priest in Israel. He was at the temple for his annual season of work. On this particular day, he was feeling pretty proud, in a humble sort of way. On this day, he was at the pinnacle of his religious career. There was […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 1: Empty

When people think of the Christmas story, they often go to the book of Luke in the Bible. Years of hearing Linus recite the story of the shepherds put the words of Luke in people’s hearts. And for some people, it isn’t Christmas until they hear Linus. And they wait with great anticipation. They check […]

by Paul Merrill

Way to listen

(Paul Merrill writes here every First Friday.) “My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.’ ” (Psalm 20:7) That’s a great way to start a day. Or end a day. David, the guy who wrote those words, preceded those thoughts by saying, “Hear me […]

by Jon Swanson

someday you will understand

Much happens in our lives that we don’t understand right away. We have conversations, we watch things happen, we see things in the moment. We think we understand. A person is cranky. We think they are mad at us. Or that they just have issues. A person moves slowly. We think they are lazy. Or […]

by Jon Swanson

the day in between

We know how the story turned out. We know that there was a resurrection. We know that hope was realized, that everything turned out great. We know that Sunday made up for Friday. But on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, on the first of those Saturdays, on the one that happened before […]