Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 47

Next?

From Rich Dixon:

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A dream is a story waiting to be written.

It was the opening line of the book I wrote about our journey. We thought it was a one-time thing; God had a bigger idea.

Apparently 1500 miles was just a chapter in this story, so the obvious question becomes, “What’s next?”

But perhaps there’s a more foundational issue.

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I believe this dream was God-inspired. The word “inspired” implies breathing, taking in something life-sustaining.

I believe God pl...

A prayer – don’t leave me

“You aren’t going to leave me, are you?”

When you are getting to know someone too good to be true, you have questions.  You acknowledge their greatness. You ask them for help. You acknowledge your weakness.

Then, after all that, as you are starting to relax a bit, you are suddenly seized with fear. What if they aren’t going to stick around? What if they aren’t going to follow through? What is they are going to be like everyone else we have ever known in our lives who sometime, someday, ...

A prayer – trespasses

Jesus says that we are to ask God to forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Unless, of course, he says that we are to ask God to forgive our trespasses.

That used to be the clear way to distinguish between low church and high church, by whether we say “debts” or “trespasses”. And, ironically, in the struggle to decide which to say, many people were reminded of the difficulties between debtors and those who trespass against us.

And in the middle of this prayer, while asking for ...

A prayer for the fifth Sunday in Lent.

God.
Have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Your people have asked that for as long as you have had people.
For as long as there have been people.
For as long as there has been death that feels untimely and illness that endures.
For as long as there has been weakness and those who exploit it.
For as long as there has been hopefulness thwarted.
For as long as we’ve been unmotivated and unrepentant.

Lord, have mercy.

Which, Jesus, it sounds like you said, too,
when you offered up prayers with fervent...

A prayer – more on bread.

I shared about daily bread yesterday. Since I wrote that in 2009, I read Eat This Book: a Conversation about Spiritual Reading. This post from last year reflects Peterson’s insights.

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The choice was cornbread as a cake or as muffins. Nancy was making me decide, and my usual, “whichever is easier”, was not helpful.

We agreed that muffins were preferable. The leftovers could be frozen, along with the leftover chili for another time.

If the measure had been “which has better memo...

A prayer – daily bread

Sometimes context doesn’t matter. Things seem clear by themselves. At face value.

Like a request for bread. What could be more simple? “Give me food today. (Please).”

For the people hearing this prayer for the first time, the request was only partly about the future or about today. It had everything to do with the past.

Israel was in the desert, having left Egypt (with God’s assistence). They were, they thought, without food (though they did have flocks of animals with them.)

They...

Labels And Differences

Rich Dixon is following up on a conversation from a couple weeks ago.

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I use a wheelchair.

If you notice that obvious fact, does that mean you’re labeling me?

I don’t think so.

Frankly, if you met me and didn’t notice the chair, I’d be a bit worried about you.

It’s silly to pretend we’re all the same or to claim we don’t observe obvious differences like physical disability or skin color. That’s simply denial.

Noticing and caring about individual differences is a posit...

A prayer – On kingdoms

There are many debates about what the kingdom of heaven means in Matthew, about when it starts, about what Jesus means when he says, “repent because the Kingdom is at hand.”

I wonder why we wonder so much? Why do we care so much about having exactly the right interpretation?

Is is because we want to be kings of understanding your kingdom? Is it because being right will make us special?

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Jesus, did you know how much we love to be the most right one, the most understanding one, the...

A prayer – hallowed.

I realize, God, that I don’t know exactly what hallowed means. And so for all the years I’ve been praying this prayer, I’m not sure I understand, exactly.

So does it mean that you want me to ask you to keep your name special and set apart? Does it mean that you want me to affirm that your name is special, to affirm that I don’t take lightly the fact that I get to call you Father? Does it mean, we ask you that your name will always be kept holy?

Because I want to affirm that, I really do...

A prayer for the fourth Sunday in Lent

God.

The truth is, we feel like shoddy workmanship.
The truth is, we feel drained.
The truth is, we are uncertain about what’s next.
The truth is, we are crying out to you in our trouble and distress, like your people have before.

We know that bodies aren’t always healed. We know that relationships aren’t always fixed. We know that suffering and loss are part of life.
But we also know that you are rich in mercy and that you have great love for us and that we individually and together are yo...