Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 12

A prayer for Friday.

God.

We know that we’re invited to love each other, that it’s the heart of your commandments.

“If you love me,” you said, “you will keep my commands.” And then a bit later you said, “here’s my command: love one another.”

And then you loved us. As you always have and always will.

I fear that we look more for exemptions than opportunities. We look more for adequate than extravagant. We look more for boundaries than boundless. We look for definition more than dedication. We argue abs...

Tell her.

I was in the room because it was Sunday, and he had done church at home for them for a few years since she couldn’t get out. And, you know, I’m a chaplain. And they needed a little church right now.

Decades into the relationship, only days left.

We were talking about her a bit. And about them. Remembering history. Telling stories. They had ice cream every day. Together.

He moved back to his spot at the head of the bed and she opened her eyes. They focused on his.

He talked to her...

One At A Time

Rich Dixon talks about why his riding matters.

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Last time I told you Sumi’s story.

Reflecting on her experiences, I’m reminded of a few things I tend to forget.

One single life holds infinite value for Jesus. He sacrificed himself for all of us, and for each of us. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, “Jesus would have gone to the cross if Sumi were the only person in the world.”

Rescue and restoration are one-at-a-time processes. The horrible evil of human trafficking is changed by r...

Follow him.

On the night before Jesus was killed, Peter promised that he would always follow Jesus. To the death. It’s the kind of promise we want to make to God.

Within a few hours, to three different people, Peter denied that he had been with Jesus, that he had known Jesus. Three times. He was scared. It’s understandable. And it was predicted by Jesus.

But Peter still felt awful. He felt like a failure.

He watched from a distance when Jesus died. He showed up the morning that Jesus was raised....

I want to see.

“I want to see everything.”

That’s our three-year-old grandson, Ben. He walks into the garage. He walks into my study. He looks around. He gestures. And he says, “I want to see everything.”

Often, seeing everything includes seeing with his hands.

And then starts the process of distraction, redirection, explanation, experimentation, education, and resolution.

The latter, resolution, is for me. “Before he comes the next time, put that away, put that out of sight.”

And I usually f...

A prayer for the third Sunday of Easter

God.

We are a little afraid of you. Some people I know are angry about you.

You don’t answer their prayer. And you answer the prayer of other people. And people who don’t even pray get what they want. That doesn’t seem right.

And you act really angry sometimes. At least we read that in the Bible. And so, people say that if you are the kind of God that swallows up people in the ground, they don’t want to believe in you.

Sometimes I understand what they are saying, even if I don’t a...

You can’t change it…

… but God can.

Recently I’ve spent time with different friends who are upset about what’s happening around them. More than ever, the world seems to be characterized by constant change and lots of the change looking bad.

But as I step back, I realize that worrying about what’s happening and trying to figure out what could be done differently are both completely fruitless.

Jesus said, “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing l...

Done

“That’s done. Next?”

We say that often in our house, Nancy and I. After every checkmark on a to-do list, after every project, after almost every every.

I’m fabulous at asking “Next?”

I’m not great at “That’s done.”

A sense of completion, a sense of finished.

Years ago, I walked out of our church building after the Christmas event I’d written and said to my boss, “Time to start working on Easter.” But it wasn’t. It was time to stop and be grateful and eat lunch and take a nap.

...

One Lost Lamb

Rich Dixon is back.

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Let’s interrupt the bike tour narrative for something far more important: the story of one of the kids from the Home of Hope.

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When “Sumi” turned 18, “Marta” decided it was time for Sumi to learn her origin story.

As a young girl, Marta was trafficked by her family and forced into sexual bondage. She believed this would be her life forever.

When Marta became too old to be “useful” as a prostitute, she became a madam. Still in bondage, she met a ...

Thomas the pragmatic.

I’ve heard people talking about Thomas and Martha recently. Not together, of course. But talking about doubting Thomas and being like Mary rather than Martha.

It’s making me annoyed, again.

I mean Thomas doubted the word of Peter for a week. And who wouldn’t? I mean at that moment, Peter had betrayed Jesus. Why would Thomas have any reason to believe him?

And Thomas’s doubt lasted for a week, in real life. He saw Jesus, trusted Jesus, and may have been the first to take the stories...