Richard Swenson - Contentment: The Secret to a Lasting Calm

Dr. Swenson is an unusually gifted writer, teacher, and interpreter of our times. Drawing upon Scripture, history, and his own experiences, he has fashioned a book that confronts the dehumanizing dimensions of twenty-first-century culture that drive so many people to anxiety, depression, and despair. A first-rate physician, Dr. Swenson offers us prescriptions from the Bible that will help us see how God at once calls us to contentment and shows us how to get there. This is a book we need to listen to and share with others.

Reverend Dr. Lyle Dorsett, Billy Graham professor of evangelism, Beeson Divinity School of Samford University

Lost your joy? Have no peace? With wisdom, wit, and discernment, Dr. Swenson leads us down the hidden path to serenity, happiness, and satisfaction. In these chaotic times, we need to practice the principles he prescribes daily. Its exactly the medicine we need to experience contentment. Dont miss this journey!

David L. Stevens, MD, CEO, Christian Medical and Dental Society

Ever the family physician, Dr. Swenson guides us in embracing a lifelong lifestyle change guaranteed to improve our quality of life and relationships with both people and God. This book is counterintuitive to the pace and direction of life today but is the kind of life-giving information you want to hear and share. Contentment is more than a book to be read; it is to be heeded and applied.

Dr. Gary Benedict, president, Christian and Missionary Alliance, U.S.

If contentment comes from deciding not to yearn for what I cannot have, deciding to take steps to free myself of some of the things I do have, and deciding to enjoy what remains, then Dr. Richard Swenson provides a rich garden of reasons to make those decisions, an arsenal of practical ways to implement them, and a compelling motivation to live a life within them. For the sake of the kingdom and the vitality of the church, I hope this book becomes a classic in the tradition of Christian spirituality.

Walter J. Schultz, PhD, professor of philosophy, Northwestern College

Contentment: The Secret to a Lasting Calm

Copyright 2013 by Richard A. Swenson. All rights reserved.

A NavPress resource published in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

NAVPRESS and the NAVPRESS logo are registered trademarks of NavPress, The Navigators, Colorado Springs, CO. TYNDALE is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Absence of in connection with marks of NavPress or other parties does not indicate an absence of registration of those marks.

Cover design by Arvid Wallen

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked GW are taken from GODS WORD, copyright 1995 Gods Word to the Nations, used by permission of Baker Publishing Group, all rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Swenson, Richard A.

Contentment : the secret to a lasting calm / Richard A. Swenson, MD.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61747-182-7

1. Contentment Religious aspects Christianity. I. Title.

BV4647.C7S94 2013

241'.4 dc23

2013002545

Build: 2021-04-21 09:55:19 EPUB 3.0

To Linda

Loving, patient co-laborer in the writing life for thirty years... a life impossible to imagine under any other terms

Writing, at least in my case, is a profoundly solitary experience: agonizing, up-till-dawn, drawn out, all else cast aside. That said, writing is also a privilege and a calling. At the end of every night, the question must be asked: Where did these words come from? At the end of every book, the question must be answered: Creativity is a gift from above. Yet, even in my isolation, God has ordained that such creativity be supported by others beyond my own efforts.

First in line, as always, is Linda. Although it is impossible to fully explain the material in my spirit struggling for expression, she understands it better than all others combined. She does not chide my groaning nor when we have breakfast at midnight nor when my research area looks like a bomb went off, and she is my biggest affirmer, corrector, editor, researcher, and encourager. Impossibly, Linda goes over the manuscript again and again, tirelessly, each time finding something to be set right. Other family members follow closely, Matt and Suzie, Adam, Maureen, Katja, Caroline, Karen, Marcia and Jerry, Hazel, Paul and Comfort, Tom and Vicki, Heather and Ron, each contributing in their various ways.

Jack and Diana, even the extreme distance did not stop nor slow your interest and prayers. Allison and Brent, you both contributed in ways that made a difference. Bill and Gail, know you are always appreciated. Beth Rubusch, your specific and timely prayers aid us in extraordinary ways. Sincere thanks also flow to Kris, Donna, Aggie, Roger and Joanne, Hector, Kathryn, Opal, Debbie, Marilynn, and Loretta Hoover. Don Simpson, you are a patient and wise saint. Arvid Wallen, thank you for the inspired cover design, my favorite over a two-decade span. Kris, Tia, Erica, and all at NavPress, thank you once again.

A Gift from Another World

We are spiritual beings having a physical experience.

D ALLAS W ILLARD

Katja, our seven-year-old granddaughter, stepped in it, as they say. She had doggie droppings on the bottom of her tennies. Not just one foot, mind you, but both. Her mother, Maureen, suggested she leave the shoes outside, where they could be cleaned after lunch.

An hour later, Adam and Katja went for a walk to fix the problem. She put on her shoes, looked for a good stick, and off they went down the street. When they came to an appropriate spot, she sat on the curb and started scraping. Thirty seconds later, she stopped. She looked up at Adam with a smile, down at her shoes, then at the brown stuff scraped onto the street.

You know, Daddy, she said, this would make a very good meal for a dung beetle.

The contentment range of unspoiled children is a mile from end to end. Joy beacons, I call them, Gods little ambassadors to cheerless cynics. The laughter of just one child is enough to lift a crowd of fifty. Where do they get this capacity? How do they pull it off so casually, to make happy connections between a shoe full and the disgusting culinary habits of ugly beetles? According to statistics, four-year-olds laugh 26.6 times more than I do. No wonder Jesus preferred the kids to, say, me. To be honest, I prefer them to me too.