Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 5

A prayer for the twenty-fifth Sunday in ordinary time

God.

Sometimes we feel like we could weep all the time because of the pain we see around us. Sometimes we feel like we are crushed.

Sometimes we feel like weep like Jeremiah wept.

And we struggle to know how to talk to you.

Because Paul tells Timothy to pray for those in authority and Jeremiah weeps because of the destruction that came from those in authority.

Paul tells Timothy that God wants all people to be saved and Jeremiah weeps because of the crushing of the people of Go...

Chaos and memories are almost the same.

My desk is in chaos at the moment.I could blame Ben, of course. He stood here at wanted to see all the tools in (one of the) mugs I use for writing utensils. And then he wanted to see “that”. The orange thing. And I got down the small truck my dad brought home from a trip decades ago, the one that was broken when I got it, the one with the tiny plastic tires that have come off the wheels for the same decades.He left his phone here, the one his mother and uncle played with, the one ...

Listening to Messiah in September.

Tuesday evening, Hope had sectional rehearsals for Philharmonic Chorus. Last Saturday, the chorus and the FWPhil and some traveling musicians sang the music of Queen. Tuesday, they were working on Handel’s Messiah.

And at the moment, I’m listening to side two of my three vinyl disk recording, released in the 70s of a performance in the 1950s.

I usually need quiet for writing, but there are a handful of classical pieces I can listen to. I’ve listened so much that the novelty has worn of...

A long ride toward being helpful.

Since March 2020, Rich Dixon has been writing here every Wednesday. It was his way to help me out as my hospital work got intense. He’s taking today off. The floor underneath us in the photo is being refinished and he’s offline for a bit.

I decided to run this post I wrote a few years ago about Rich and Becky. They were at our house, we’ve been to theirs. I’m grateful for the ways that connections made online can last. And change your life.

+++

Rich and Becky Dixon are friends. The...

Looking for Jesus in the hospital

I think we wonder sometimes if Jesus knows we are in the hospital. The shepherd unaware of the sheep who are here. 

Because if he knew, he’d be here, right?  Climbing the stairs, two at a time. Holding up a hand to stop the protestations of public safety. Winking at the RN, asking the tech for a blanket, and then telling the patient, telling you, to stand up and walk. After a month of tests, after a decade of illness, after a day of the tiniest of NICU breaths, a miracle. 

All the well ...

An open invitation.

Sometimes people say to me, “God wouldn’t want me.”

I ask them if they have killed Christians. So far, no one has.

(Except by the measure of Jesus who indicated that if you hate, that’s like murder. With that measure, many people who identify as some version of Christian and talk on social media or gossip about friends or read stories and say, “Who in their right mind would support him (or her or that)” would fall into the “deprive people of the value God gave them and do or desire dama...

A prayer for the twenty-fourth Sunday in ordinary time

God,

We are wanting to be looked for.

Instead of thinking we have to find you,
thinking we have to be earnestly seeking you,
we wish that you were actually looking for us.

That you wanted us.

Or instead of thinking you are searching for us with the malicious intensity of a predator, trying to take us down, we wish you were seeking us with the tenderness of a parent.

Forgetting, of course, that the stories you tell us about yourself have that tenderness.

You created the relatio...

Rest and honor and remember

Our team of chaplains gathered for our monthly staff meeting on Wednesday. It was our first gathering since the death of our colleage, Kent. It will be the last gathering before the retirement of our colleague, Dianna. It was my turn to start with a reflection before we turned to the remembering. Here’s what I said.

+++

I want to talk about the value of stopping. And the value of honoring. And the value of remembering.

I want to talk about those things, but you all know well that s...

Our team of chaplains gathered for our monthly staff meet...

Our team of chaplains gathered for our monthly staff meeting on Wednesday. It was our first gathering since the death of our colleage, Kent. It will be the last gathering before the retirement of our colleague, Dianna. It was my turn to start with a reflection before we turned to the remembering. Here’s what I said.

+++

I want to talk about the value of stopping. And the value of honoring. And the value of remembering.

I want to talk about those things, but you all know well that s...

Celebrations Are Okay

Rich Dixon reminds me of my own words in a helpful way.

+++

Jon said something last week that I found comforting and reassuring.

Jesus doesn’t say, “Don’t have a picnic, give your food to the foodbank.” We might think that would be the best use of resources. Instead, Jesus says, have your parties, your events, your celebrations, your feast. Put the energy into planning. Do the cooking and decorating. Do everything the same as now, as well as you can.

When we do the FREEDOM TOUR C...