Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 13

My grading is done.

All my words have gone to students.

Time to recharge for all of us.

See you tomorrow.

(You can read about Finals Week over ay my other newsletter. – “Finding Words in Hard Times.”)

A prayer for the second Sunday of Easter

God-

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday. You know that. But I feel like I almost forgot.

In the busy of this week I forgot that last weekend, we talked about the resurrection of Jesus, about the invitation to relationship you offer.

Some of us committed ourselves to being more aware of the forgiveness you offer and the peace that you provide and the possibility of living without so much fear.

That’s what we thought in the excitement of Sunday. And then the work of Monday showed up. And...

A hospital Easter: Good news

The good news this Easter morning is NOT that all illness is abolished, that everything we ask for will happen.

And I understand the people who say, “If I pray and God doesn’t fix things, I’m not going to trust God.” I understand that feeling.

But I’m not going to let you believe that your frustration with God means that God doesn’t exist. God’s apparent unwillingness to do what you want God to do doesn’t mean God ignores you or hates you. The healing of some people for the short-term a...

A hospital Easter: Alive

A hospital Easter: Part one

A hospital Easter: Why are you crying?

“Why are you crying?” the angels ask. THEY know that there is no reason for sad tears, they know the whole story. But Mary doesn’t. With the single-minded focus of a grieving person on a mission, she has one question. Where is his body?

She’s not interested in explaining her tears, in stopping and taking a breath. Her question matters. It’s the thing that is on her mind.

She turns from the tomb to keep looking. Sh...

Just a Bike Ride

Rich Dixon starts a new ride.

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Before we began FREEDOM TOUR 2018, I shared this excerpt from RICH’S RIDE with my teammates.

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The long road to “amazing” usually begins at “crazy.”

Initially, I just wanted to go for a bike ride.

I didn’t imagine a website or a blog. I didn’t consider branding, logos, media exposure, didn’t think about fundraising or sponsors. I didn’t begin with a clear vision, a mission statement, or measurable goals. I just wanted to do an extended ...

A hospital Easter: Why are you crying?

Continued from yesterday.

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On Sunday morning, as early as she could she went out to the graveside. Mary M and some of the other women were going to do what women in some cultures still do: clean the body, pack spices around it, wrap it up carefully, wrap it up right.

When Mary got there, the grave was open. The body was gone. And Mary was upset, as she should be. It’s like going to the funeral home and finding that they don’t have any record. It’s like finding out from family memb...

A hospital Easter, part one.

I’ll admit it.

Easter is often hard in the hospital. We hear about the hope of the resurrection, that Jesus rose victorious over the grave, that we have life because he does.

But we are in a building that exists because death still exists. Cancer still lives inside these walls. Accidents happen elsewhere and come here.

I walk the halls. I sit in rooms. Sometimes I see someone in tears, though I don’t know why And so I gently ask, “Why are you crying?”

I suppose sometimes it’s obvi...

A prayer for Easter.

God.

It is Easter. It is Resurrection Day.

It is a massive celebration of new life and bunnies, Peeps and people singing, chocolate and resurrection, new dresses and empty grave clothes. It is a day of arguing over how to celebrate you and how to find you and who has the best party.

It is, we confess, a really confusing day.

We confess that we want to celebrate you but we often celebrate us.
We confess that we want to understand resurrection but we want to resurrect ourselves.
We co...

For Good Friday, 2025

This is for our service at the hospital today. It’s longer than usual.

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In the days of His humanity, He offered up both prayers and pleas with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His devout behavior.  Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, being designated by God as High Priest according to the o...

On that last Thursday evening together.

I wrote this three years ago. It seemed worthwhile to share this again.

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I’ve spent some time starting to write for you today, feeling a little, perhaps, like a chef in a cooking competition:

“Judges, today I have made for you words about Maundy Thursday. On a base of Judas’s betrayal there is a side of bitter herbs and a synthesis of implications of unleavened bread. The invisible but likely present lamb was roasted with suggestions of Peter’s denial and sliced with a sword.”

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