What not to say after someone dies.
“It IS a good morning.” That’s what the minister said. A woman died an hour earlier. Her death was both
Author: Jon Swanson
Social media chaplain. Author of "This is Hard: What I say when loved ones die." Writer of 300wordsaday.com and thisishard.substack.com. Helping people help others in hard times, particularly in grief.
When there’s no hope of recovery, how do you recover hope?
When there’s no hope of recovery, how do you recover hope? You and I both know that question, I’m guessing.
A conversation on hope – video
Dr Dave Johnson and I spent some time talking about the importance and nature of hope. We both work in
A conversation about pain and grief – video
I sat with an old friend, Dave Johnson, for a series of conversations. This one is about pain and grief.
The most important lesson for a funeral service.
I’ve done words for a long time. I’ve been around funerals and memorial services for a long time, too. I
What I learned by being in the hospital
A couple weeks ago, I experienced the hospital from the other side of the bed. I wasn’t the chaplain. I
Pain, grief, and forgiveness.
I talk in patient rooms and hallways all the time about pain and grief and forgiveness. For obvious reasons, there
Hospital hermeneutics
How working as a hospital chaplain shapes the way one writer approaches the Biblical text. (Hermeneutics)
Hospital prayer
As a pastor then, as a chaplain now, I often navigate in a space bounded by positional obligations and patient (and family) expectations, and God’s invitation. So in that space, when it occurs in hospitals (or other places of pastoral care), what does it look like to talk to God on behalf of and in the presence of other people? And, perhaps, to talk to people on behalf of, and in the presence, of God.
Social Media Chaplain 