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Three Lessons from a Productive Summer
Lesson #1: Pay attention to baby sparrows. A newborn sparrow surprised me last spring, unballing himself at the end of my driveway as I was heading out for a run. I had mistaken him for a leftover clump of dead grass. His feet, each with three long, hooked toes were bigger than his whole body.…
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Struggling with King David
Much of scripture’s integrity lies, for me, in its honest portrayal of biblical characters. King David’s image gets cleaned up in Chronicles, but in 2 Samuel it’s hard to read about him, his vile actions, his immoral decisions, his rape of Bathsheba and not see him as simply despicable. I was assigned to write about…
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Holding each Moment
I am growing accustomed to an annual end-of-the-summer episode of the blues. I am wallowing in this place now, grieving the passage of time. Mourning the loss of the summer’s long days when I read and write and giggle with my children. All this and the summer isn’t even over yet. No stranger to anxiety…
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I find you spiritually attractive.
I recently told a male rabbi about my age that I find him spiritually attractive. Actually, I didn’t tell him. I posted it to his Facebook page. Immediately before adding this message to his feed, though, I hesitated over the following inner monologue: Is this creepy? Am I over-complimenting? Will this be misconstrued as some…
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Nothing to Say: Master Class with Marie Howe
“We have nothing to say.” This was how Marie Howe began her Master Class at the writing conference I am attending this week. Her point was that words come to us, words write us, if we can open ourselves to receiving them. Marie, in her kind, encouraging manner, was determined to teach us something she…
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Mindfulness Meditation: There’s An App for That
I’ve recently heard about a new genre of “apps” that are being developed to provide “digital therapy,” or relief from all the stress and distraction caused by… all those other apps. Yeah, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. I’ve found the best therapy for my overworked, distracted, and oftentimes anxious mind, is to get…
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Spirit Waking in Michigan
For the past three summers, we have spent a week camping at Interlochen State Park in Northern Michigan. Opened in 1917, this is the oldest State Park in Michigan and, in my mind, the most beautiful. The sites are extremely well-maintained, the bathrooms have recently been renovated (and are cleaned daily!) and–the best part–every night…
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A Preacher’s Anxiety
I’m excited to share another article of mine published in the June 24th issue of The Christian Century, A Preacher’s Anxiety: Between Panic and Pride. All my life I have wanted to write for this extraordinary magazine. Still hard to believe this is real!
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Iowa City Inspiration
I just returned from a quick overnight trip to Iowa City. There are many things I love about this city. Like…. But the real reason I return to Iowa City every summer is the way it inspires my writing. Today I attended a free lecture by Juliet Patterson, “Alternative Fuel Sources: Powering the Non-narrative Essay.”…
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What happens when we die?
A few years ago a student was referred to me because he was getting in a bit of trouble. He was drinking and partying too much and making some poor decisions. This behavior was out of character for this student and his professors thought it had something to do with the fact that his mother…
Teri McDowell Ott 