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Simile Love
Sim•i•le Noun A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid (e.g., as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox). I’ve fallen in love with the simile. A friend suggested I use one in an article I…
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Summer Pilgrimage into Poetry
Iowa City is a place of poets and aspiring writers of novels, memoirs, flash-fiction, and sermons. It’s a place of independent book stores, all-you-can-eat Indian buffets and Hawkeyes—everywhere—Hawkeyes. I hope to post some of the writing that has bubbled up for me at the Iowa Summer Writer’s Festival. But for now a simple note of…
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Progress Report: A Year of Writing Lessons Learned
Last summer I made my writing a priority. I started this blog, hired a writing coach, and guarded a few hours each morning to practice my craft. It has paid off immensely. Not only did I get an article published in The Christian Century, but I have grown and learned more than I ever thought…
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Twelve Minutes
Last Thursday I settled myself cross-legged on my zafu and set my timer for twelve minutes of meditation. I had just finished scratching out my to-do list for the day—a mistake—it made me realize I only had an hour free this morning to finish writing my sermon for Sunday and meet a few other deadlines.…
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Wilderness Venture
I’m excited about the publication of my article “Wilderness Venture: Toward a more honest sermon” in the recent issue of the Christian Century.
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Remembering that we are Dust
“As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:13-14 Two years ago we received the tragic news that a young alum, Andrew Kuebrich, had been killed in an accident while bicycling…
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The Burden of Judgment
Thomas Merton stood at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in a busy shopping district of Louisville, Kentucky, when he was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that he loved all those people. That they were his and he was theirs, that they could not be alien to one another even though they were total strangers.[1]…
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Choose Life–Even When Life is Hard
I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live. Deuteronomy 30:19 Do you believe life is a choice? It doesn’t feel like a choice. Life feels more like something that just happens—something you can’t control. Life propels you forward and you just swim along,…
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Dear Church, Please Add Salt
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.” Matthew 5:13 There is a deadly threat looming over the church today. It’s a threat greater than any theological or…
Teri McDowell Ott 