Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 32

Presence: and celebration

Jesus went to the wedding. Cana was 16 miles, a day’s walk, from Capernaum.

Turning water into wine has become a humorous reference. We often preach (or laugh) about the miraculous sign, but there’s a story wrapped around the wine. The story is about Jesus going to a family celebration with his mom and with his disciples. It’s about being in conversation with his mom, talking with the servants.

It was being present with people he knew, and likely, who knew each other. The disciples wer...

Hurt Feelings

Rich Dixon is thinking about perspective.

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One last lesson from the second FREEDOM TOUR – a little bit of theology can lead to hurt feelings.

It was my first attempt at leading a group discussion about justice for the kids at the Home of Hope.

We read Micah 6:8:

  And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

I described “justice” from Jesus’ perspective. He came to set things right, to put them back as God inte...

Presence: Already present

“God has the first word.”

I wish I could remember who said that simple statement.

When the gospel of John starts, it starts with, “In the beginning was the Word.” So that may be where that simple statement comes from.

When we are talking about Jesus being present with people, it’s not that we are God is waiting on our invitation (or invocation) to be there. It’s that Jesus is present and then invites people to be present with him.

At the beginning of the gospel accounts, when John...

Presence

I’m teaching a class in pastoral care this fall. For the weekly devotions, I’m exploring the idea of presence, particularly as we look at Jesus. I’m sharing those reflections here over the next few days.

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We talk about presence all the time when we are talking about how to offer support to people who are grieving. Early in my chaplaincy journey, I wrote, “Intentional non-invasive presence” on my clipboard to remind me of what do to, what to be.

As part of a research project that ...

A prayer for the twenty-sixth Sunday in ordinary time.

God.

We talk about you taking sides, about being on your side.

We test whether people are on our side and use that as a way to measure where they are with you. Or you are with them.

I think we get it wrong, most of the time.

Especially when we use our prosperity to measure your affection,
our health to measure your blessing,
our recovery to measure the quality of our faith and prayer.

And yet.

As the song says, “If God had not been by our side when we were trapped and attacked...

A blessing.

God.

Some days, we simply aren’t sure.

We’re not sure our contribution matters.

We’re not sure our skills are enough.

We’re not sure we’ll have what we need for the conversations and the procedures and the challenges and the uncertainty in front of us.

But we are doing work that matters.

God, we have responsibility for the care of the people in front of us. And we have the opportunity to serve everyone they, and we, are connected to.

Give us wisdom that goes beyond our t...

Some words at a graveside.

This week, I had the opportunity to do the graveside service for a person I hadn’t met. Here’s a bit of what I said.

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On Jesus’ last night, he was talking to his followers. The disciples.

Here’s part of what he said:

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may ...

Comfort

Rich Dixon and dreams and more:

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Last time we talked about God-sized dreams and Jesus’ encouragement:

“Take courage! I am. Don’t be afraid.”

It’s an invitation to face fear and move forward, toliterally step out of the boat. Don’t know about you, but I prefer the safety and comfort inside the boat.

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God planted the dream that became the FREEDOM TOUR during a decade of handcycling. I thought it was about completing a 1500-mile ride, which was frightening enough.

T...

Accepting some discomfort.

(Adapted from the message for last Sunday.)

James talked about conflict that exists in us, the arguments we have with ourselves and each other. Conflicts between people. Conflicts between companies. Conflicts between countries.

James says that the source of those conflicts is our desires to make ourselves happy, to make ourselves comfortable, to avoid hard honest conversations.

Think about the arguments that happen in the car seats of cars between kids. Think about the arguments that...

No really. Let go.

I talked to you on Friday about letting go of a couple things right now.

You may have read that and thought, “Good for you, Jon.”

Thanks. But I ended that post with a real invitation for you. And so I start this week with a question: “What did you let go of?”

Seriously. If you are feeling weary or overwhelmed or stretched too far, what did you, what will you, let go of?

I know that we often talk about letting go of worry, because Paul says that we’re not to worry, but instead, can...