Tag: spirituality
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What I Know and What I Don’t
“Why did this happen to me?” She looked directly and desperately into my eyes as she asked, tears welling and spilling from her own. I had moved to her good, right side so she could see me after her husband had slipped out of the room to speak to the doctor. In this brief moment […]
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A New Mantra: No Big Deal
I preached a dog of a sermon this past Sunday. Walking that dog for fifteen minutes in front of my small congregation was exhausting. I was working hard to connect—but since I was disconnected from my sermon, so was the congregation. Some people politely feigned attention, which I appreciated. Others stared out the church windows […]
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Following a Star–A Christmas Sermon
What follows is my sermon, “Following a Star” from our Monmouth College Christmas Convocation based on Matthew 2:1-12. Writing a sermon for me is like following a star that has suddenly risen in the night sky. When I begin this journey, scripture text in hand, I have no idea where I am being led. I have […]
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The Practice of Doing Nothing: Sitting with my Suffering (Part 2)
On a bright summer morning, I dropped my 5-year-old daughter off at day camp placing her in the care of counselors who all appeared to be in high school. Looking at Ella’s counselors I remembered myself at their age, and the parents who entrusted their children to me. I didn’t take the same precautions with […]
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The Practice of Doing Nothing: Sitting with my Suffering (Part 1)
Do all funeral directors believe death takes precedence over life? Or just the ones I have to work with? I got “the call” from our local funeral director informing me that there had been a death in our community. The family (whom I did not know and do not serve as pastor) had requested that […]
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The Practice of Doing Nothing: Introduction to Meditation
My meditation practice began with the purchase of a new, maroon zafu and zabuton—fancy names for the pillows I learned were a must for those who suffer while sitting cross-legged on the floor. The cushions feel good under my sit-bones, keep my back straight and my anklebones comfortable. I sit in a dark room near […]
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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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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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Foolishness of Faith
“We are fools for the sake of Christ” 1 Corinthians 4:10 I oftentimes find myself struggling with the foolishness of the Gospel. I want to be faithful, but I also want to be responsible and reasonable. In the Spring of 2006 I got completely engrossed in the news about a hostage crisis in Iraq. Four […]
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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 […]
Teri McDowell Ott 