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Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

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 On Not Wasting a Desert Experience

By Anita Mathias

So, after Paul the Apostle’s lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us…

And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. There he pondered on the simple teachings of Jesus in the context of the logic and story of the Old Testament. There he came up with Big Word Theology… Atonement, Justification, Sanctification, Passive Righteousness, and worked out the beautiful, intellectually challenging doctrines of Romans and Galatians. In the desert.

The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper.

England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.

A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years… John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them.

 

Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection

Let’s use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray.

 

And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty. The vocation or call we have ignored or procrastinated on obeying.

Write the book, declutter the house, get your body strong.  Don’t waste the opportunities to mine for the treasures of darkness during this prolonged period of global upheaval.

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Filed Under: Applying my heart unto wisdom, In which I decide to follow Jesus, In which I explore Spiritual Disciplines, In which I just keep Trusting the Lord, In which I pursue happiness and the bluebird of joy Tagged With: benefits of lockdown, Coronavirus, Covid-19, david the Psalmist, desert experience, Jesus in the desert, lockdown, pandemic, Paul the Apostle, quarantine, spiritual benefits of quarantine, the prophet Elijah, wilderness experience

A Mind of Life and Peace in the Middle of a Global Pandemic

By Anita Mathias

                                        From a walk by the River Thames. I have been thinking about this sentence in the Book of Romans, “The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Th … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Applying my heart unto wisdom Tagged With: being mindful of emotions, being mindful of the body, being mindful of the mind, Coronavirus, housewalking, peace, quarantine, Trust

On Yoga and Following Jesus

By Anita Mathias

I returned home from boarding school in Nainital in the Himalayas, aged ten, to find everything in my father’s life had changed. He, aged 56, had taken up yoga. And so our mornings became dramatic with simhasana, the lion’s roar, which punctuated the … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: In which I celebrate discipline, In which I decide to follow Jesus, In which I get serious about health and diet and fitness and exercise (really) Tagged With: yoga

Silver and Gold Linings in the Storm Clouds of Coronavirus

By Anita Mathias

So, over the last two weeks, life, as I knew it, has been unrecognisably altered. While this is just a drop in the ocean of virus-sadness, we were about to go to Prague on holiday when the Czech Republic closed its borders to British citizens (and … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Applying my heart unto wisdom Tagged With: Bible walking, blessings in disguise, Catherine Marshall's Beyond Ourselves, cocooning, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Hound of Heaven, lockdown, navigating change, Paul the Apostle, silver linings

Trust: A Message of Christmas

By Anita Mathias

He came to earth in a  splash of energy And gentleness and humility.   That homeless baby in the barn Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn Who would have thought it?   But perhaps those attuned … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: In which I stroll through the Liturgical Year Tagged With: angels, animals, Augustus Caesar, Bethlehem, Christmas, colossians, connections, Jesus, King Herod, nativity, power, shepherds, stars, wise men

Life- Changing Journaling: A Gratitude Journal, and Habit-Tracker, with Food and Exercise Logs, Time Sheets, a Bullet Journal, Goal Sheets and a Planner

By Anita Mathias

 So, when I monitor and record my behaviour, I am far more efficient, happy, and confident that I can actually make a change. Toni Morrison said, “If there’s a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, why then you must write it.” … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: Bullet Journal, Exercise Journal, Food Journal, goal sheets, Gratitude Journal, Habit Tracker, Time sheets, To Do and Planner section

On Loving That Which Love You Back

By Anita Mathias

I'm reading Sarah Bessey's “Miracles and Other Reasonable Things" sent me by her publisher for review. One thing that struck me was her distinction between self-care and self-comfort in times of sadness, stress and boredom.  Bessey explains that sh … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Applying my heart unto wisdom

“An Autobiography in Five Chapters” and Avoiding Habitual Holes  

By Anita Mathias

 (All images taken on this summer's memorable trip to Iceland) Earlier this year, my husband Roy and I took a mindfulness course through the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, a truly mind-expanding experience (a wonderful thing in mid-life, when we can o … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Applying my heart unto wisdom, In which I resolve to revise my life, In which I Travel and Dream Tagged With: An Autobiography in Five Chapters, avoiding holes, Portia Nelson, revising life, the dread task of packing, Travel

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Anita Mathias: About Me

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My Books

Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

Wandering Between Two Worlds - Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Francesco, Artist of Florence: The Man Who Gave Too Much

Francesco, Artist of Florence - Amazom.com
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The Story of Dirk Willems

The Story of Dirk Willems - Amazon.com
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Premier Digital Awards 2015 - Finalist - Blogger of the year
Runner Up Christian Media Awards 2014 - Tweeter of the year

Recent Posts

  •  On Not Wasting a Desert Experience
  • A Mind of Life and Peace in the Middle of a Global Pandemic
  • On Yoga and Following Jesus
  • Silver and Gold Linings in the Storm Clouds of Coronavirus
  • Trust: A Message of Christmas
  • Life- Changing Journaling: A Gratitude Journal, and Habit-Tracker, with Food and Exercise Logs, Time Sheets, a Bullet Journal, Goal Sheets and a Planner
  • On Loving That Which Love You Back
  • “An Autobiography in Five Chapters” and Avoiding Habitual Holes  
  • Shining Faith in Action: Dirk Willems on the Ice
  • The Story of Dirk Willems: The Man who Died to Save His Enemy

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What I’m Reading

Fierce Attachments: A Memoir
Vivian Gornick

Fierce Attachments  - Amazon.com
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Wanderlust
Rebecca Solnit

Solnit --  Amazon.com
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Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life
Kathleen Norris

KATHLEEN NORRIS --  Amazon.com
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Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96
Seamus Heaney

Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96 Amazon.com
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