Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 317

Developing images

I only wanted to upload a couple photos from the microSD card. It was going to be faster than sending the images one by one from my stupidphone.

I didn’t realize that the card had photos from both Nancy and me, from last night and from 2008. And because the numbering scheme of the phones we use is odd, all those years were mixed together.

There was a photo of my dad, gone for almost three years. There were good photos from seasons I’ve not wanted to remember. There were images from events I’ve...

Characterized by distraction

“Don’t let your life be characterized by distraction.”

I wrote that in my journal Tuesday morning. I’m not sure why.

I mean, I know that I wrote it as I was taking some notes on a mentor’s last letter to his closest follower. A couple blank lines later, I wrote “Timothy, let your life be characterized by a wholehearted devotion to…” And then I didn’t finish.

That’s what my journal looks like. Many short sentences, incomplete thoughts. I’m working out conversations with God, with you, with myself...

What I mean when I say pray.

(first published September 12, 2007)

I have had some people ask me topray for them recently. I’ve told some other people that I am praying for them. I realized that I probably better tell you what I am doing when I agree or offer to pray. After all, it could be dangerous.

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Picture a conversation between a dad and a child, in kitchen of the house, early in the morning. The dad has been up for a long time and is on his second cup of coffee, the child not as long, but long enough to be sitting...

Offering counsel.

“I am not a counselor,” I said. “I give counsel.”

I should have been clearer about that when I was talking to my conversationalist of yesterday. I often say that when people begin to talk with me about struggles and challenges and pain. A counselor is trained in techniques of helping, of therapeutic caring. A counselor develops a care plan, works toward health.

I am not a counselor. Instead, I listen to God and for the struggle. And I consider the stories of the Bible, the teachings of the Bibl...

Sad feels better than manipulated.

She was committed to lying to herself. Or to me.

I want to believe she was committed to lying to herself. Because that would make her story incredibly sad. But sad feels better than manipulated. If she was committed to lying to me, then it means that she knows a difference between two stories and chose to tell me the one that is false. To win favor from me, to gain comfort, to find compassion.To get me to intercede.

The first, somehow, feels more hopeful.

When I first talked to her, she expresse...

Family business

First published March 17, 2010

The plaza guardsare still on guard.

The now-walking man is long gone.

The helpful man is still talking.

“Think of a dad. Think of a grown son, working in the family business. They love each other. They trust each other. They work closely together, as if they are one. Sometimes, the son goes out to look at the fields to see how they are doing. Sometimes, the son goes out to check on the workshops, to see how repairs are coming. Sometimes, the son goes out to check on...

Father and Son Redemption Company

First published March 16, 2010

There is a building.

There’s a sign on the door: Father and Son Redemption Company. Everyone knows it’s an important company. No one knows, exactly, what’s happening behind the doors. Things have been pretty quiet in there for the past 400 years. No one in, no one out through the front doors.

There is a big plaza in front of the building. People sit there, looking at the door, waiting for something, someone. They hear stories about what used to happen when the door...

From strength to strength

The mom of my friend died the other afternoon. We talked together a few hours before.

He knew it was coming. He was anticipating the arrangements, the conversations, the travel. He was feeling weary. I knew the feeling. Some of you do, too.

A couple hours before we met, I had been reading a prayer. I came across it, I confess, by opening my Bible to Psalms. No reading pattern, no plan.

“Blessed are those whose strengthis in You,whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.”

That’s us, you and me, those of...

Portable routines

As much as I love the idea of routines, I admit that I struggle to follow through with the routines that I know will help me. Here are some of the struggles from recent weeks:

When you are out of your routine surroundings, what are the prompts that will remind you of your habits?
If you need an hour for your morning routine and you only have fifteen minutes, what do you do?
If you need solitude for your morning routine and you get up second, what do you do?
If you need a chair and are away from h...

I love the routine.

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 new routines. If I give up 10 minutes of web-browsing every morning and spend that 10 minutes talking with God. That’s a form of fasting. After 40 days, I can find out whether I needed that ten minutes as much as I thought....