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about a daily spiritual practice
We can hardly get Christians today to observe a weekly spiritual practice, let alone daily. This was my response to the teacher of the meditation conference I was attending who claimed he had never visited a church that encouraged a daily spiritual practice. My teacher was a writer whose writing flourished once he embraced Buddhism…
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about Martha
Luke 10: 38-42 “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” You are worried and distracted, worried and distracted, worried and distracted. Jesus, I can’t get your words out of my head. …
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about the church
I love the Church. To be clear, I love the old, mainline, rooted in tradition, liturgical, theologically complex, organ-blaring, butt-numbing pew kind of church. I have given my life to this Church. I am passionate in her service. I am emboldened to lead a new generation through her doors. And yet, sometimes I stop to…
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about my clerical collar
When I bought my first clerical collar I had questions: Did I want the plastic band that goes all the way around the neck? Or the shorter plastic tabs that slide beneath the made-to-order clerical shirt? Was there a female protestant pastor version? Would it work with blue jeans and my favorite boots? Would it…
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about the widow of Zarephath
1 Kings 17: 1-24 I am irritated with the prophet Elijah. He assumed the widow was afraid. Commentators assume this too. They say Elijah needed to assure the widow that she could trust him. I don’t read it this way. The widow doesn’t feel afraid to me. She feels done. She tried to tell Elijah…
Teri McDowell Ott 