• Facebook
  • Twitter

Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

  • Home
  • My Books
  • Essays
  • Contact
  • About Me

Facebook posts from August

By Anita Mathias




That hilarious little Irene has been following Roy and I around with her laptop, recording our conversations, then playing them back to us. “Could some gift the giftie give us/To hear ourselves as others hear us!”


 Zoe has been in a Shakespeare workshop at the Oxford Playhouse; the strain of a week with just me and Irene is telling on Roy! We are SO similar, so it’s like being with Anita squared, or Irene squared!

Provide for those who grieve in Zion— a crown of beauty instead of ashes/ the oil of gladness instead of mourning,/ and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair./ Isaiah 61:3 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Isaiah 35.

Revising the plot! When our lives seems to have run into the desert sands of barrenness, and we wonder if we’ve lost our way, constant prayer can bring a surprising plot reversal–beauty from ashes, streams in the desert–rescuing one from inexorable cause and effect; sin/weakness and its consequences. It can rewrite the direction and story of one’s life. This has often happened to me, and I need it to happen once again!

Satisfying day. Yoga class w. Roy while our girls swam. Picnic at the Univ. Parks with church friends. Too tired to go to evening church; Roy & Zoe have gone. No more swapping church for yoga, though yoga makes me feel v. smiley, energized, calm & happy! Can’t risk being too tired for p.m. church, bec. church is such an important part of my relationship with God. Enjoying our church’s summer Bible school on prayer!

Had a lovely chat with Karoline Sassenberg, back from Sierra Leone where she’s a missionary. While loving & forbearing with difficult people, she said God gave HER a gift: a changed heart. She learned to love! She has watched her friend B. deal with trying people & circumstances & become daily more beautiful. A changed heart is a spiritual prize I covet, yet adopting the ways of love where you win that prize is hard!

Roy & I should be sound asleep, and soon we will be–hopefully!–but we are in the process of buying tickets for our summer vacation in Europe. Yes, tres late, given that we are leaving during the last week of August for 2 weeks. We’re looking at Norway.

We’re set! We fly to Norway for the last week of August and first week of September, and are renting a 4 bedded motor home with kitchen, loo, shower. Planning to explore the fjords, mountains, coast, forests, Northern Lights, trolls… I’ve been fascinated with Scandinavia because of a childhood obsession with Norse mythology, and am thrilled to be going there. As are Roy and the girls. Yippee!

Zoe was cute in the Comedy of Errors at the Oxford Playhouse’s drama workshop last week. This week, apart from Zoe’s sleepover, we’re reading books, playing tennis, swimming & relaxing. The electrics & underfloor conservatory heating are being installed, & everything should be done before we leave for Norway end month. Next week, Zoe camps in Somerset with friends, and Irene will be in a drama workshop (Shakespeare).

Anita Mathias sprayed the weeds & regravelled our driveway. Roy wanted to get a contractor, but I’ve had too many workmen around! During R’s 9 month sabbatical, we’ve updated t. plumbing, & brightened the house with chandelier-style lights. I was way slower than a pro–walking to and fro from the gravel stacks w. a cup; should have used a wheelbarrow! Relaxing task–until a 10 yr. old chatterbox joined me. Farewell, contemplation!

Hey, I like Britain’s NHS on the whole! During the 17 years I lived in America, I had so many American friends–writers, artists, and regular folk who have held on to jobs they hated because of the “free” health insurance, and knew partly insured folk who have been crippled by medical bills. I think universal healthcare would be a good idea for America–and every other nation too!

Today’s sermon at Aldate’s: What we focus on,the longed-for destination, our Ithaca: success, wealth, God…, shapes us, our characters, our journeys. Our hearts’ deepest desire determines a myriad actions & decisions, & course of our lives & our happiness. But we can, many times a day (as I do!) choose to repent of an unworthy focus & revise & reset our desires on what is worthy.

Zoe’s in Somerset w. friends, camping at Soul Survivor, the premier Christian Youth (deep spirituality & loud music) Conference. I walked in our paddock w. Jake, our border Collie. He catches the sticks I toss him with the same sense of accomplishment as when Roy obligingly serves a tennis ball EXACTLY where I am standing, & I volley, & for a fleeting, phantasmagorical second, fancy I’m Federer.

10 yr old Irene is enjoying Romeo & Juliet rehearsals. Coincidentally, she did it last term & remembers the lines beautifully. They were given HW: to research interesting facts about R & J, & Irene researched obsessively on the net, since the director called her “the expert on Romeo & Juliet” in public. The power of words, the power of praise! Move over, you ancient dons who taught me at Somerville; a new age dawns!

I (successfully) tried to get the lean, muscular Roy to go to the gym with me. Exasperated, he said, “Anita, I married you for better or for worse, richer or poorer. I did not say “for stupider or cleverer.” Irene listened with furrowed brows, then whispered, “Mummy, what does he mean? Who is getting stupider? Could it be Daddy? It couldn’t be you; or does he mean both of you?” Well, it’s certainly not little Irene!

We live surrounded by farmland, w. wheat & rape fields on either side of us, & behind us. It’s generally idyllic & bucolic. We see horses and ponies grazing from our right windows, and herds of Jerseys and Holsteins from our front windows. The grumpy days are when the fields are harvested, as today, when I am staying in, & doing internet work & play with portable air-conditioners on, because I cannot stand the noise!

Quiet day today. The tenant farmer who farms t. fields around us (wh. belong to Christ Church College, Oxford!) employs migrant workers (gypsy, I’m guessing, or Eastern European) who are paid per job, not per hour. Once each season, they work from early morning till 1p.m. at night–until the job is done. Roy, a sound sleeper, doesn’t believe it, but I sleep lightly & hear the noisy harvesting across t. hedge from us.

Set my blackberry & mobile broadband dongle to work in Norway. My business, Benediction Classics (publishing out-of-print books, 162 so far) can be run on t. fjords of Norway or i
n my study in our garden! So I travel a lot! My head whirring with business, I walked, & thought of Isaiah, “The Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea” & prayed that I might be so filled! Quietened down!

Late summer & abundance everywhere! We inherited an orchard w. 6 apple trees, & pear, plum, mulberry, medlar, hazelnuts, walnuts, blackberries, raspberry, grapes, figs, peaches, cherries (1.5 acre). It’s our 4th year here. I used to try to use much of that fruit!! This year, I am not trying! We’ve told our neighbour, an elderly Englishman, who house-sits for us & is v thrifty, to help himself. He makes pies & jams!!

Getting excited about going to Arctic lands for the first time next week, and reading up on Norway. Norwegian humour: A tourist asks a lad, ” Does it always rain in Bergen?” ” I don’t know. I’m only 13.”

A centrifugal day! Zoe returned exhausted from a week camping at Somerset. Irene played chess at Warwick. 6-18 year olds played against each other. Irene lost to big boys for her first 2 games, but won her 3rd. The games were 2.5 hours each! Roy was the national high school chess champion, & Irene, a natural, has his genes, & used to win effortlessly & intuitively, but now needs to work. Will she continue? I hope so!

“There’s a providence which shapes our ends/ Rough-hew them how we will.”

BATTER my heart, three person’d God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow mee,’and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurpt towne, to’another due,
Labour to’admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely’I love you,’and would be loved faine,
But am betroth’d unto your enemie: 1
Divorce mee,’untie, or breake that knot againe;
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you’enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.
John Donne

More from my site

  • Personality Types–The Planter and the FinisherPersonality Types–The Planter and the Finisher
  • Ninja Blogging versus Stream of Spirit BloggingNinja Blogging versus Stream of Spirit Blogging
  • When Faith falls into Place like a Jigsaw, Piece by PieceWhen Faith falls into Place like a Jigsaw, Piece by Piece
  • A caterpillar in a ring of fire: Martin Luther on GraceA caterpillar in a ring of fire: Martin Luther on Grace
  • My Sunday walk around my garden and the Oxford countrysideMy Sunday walk around my garden and the Oxford countryside
Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter

Filed Under: random

« Previous Post
Next Post »

Sign Up and Get a Free eBook!

Sign up to be emailed my blog posts (one a week) and get the ebook of "Holy Ground," my account of working with Mother Teresa.

Join 643 Other Readers

Follow me on Twitter

Follow @anitamathias1

Anita Mathias: About Me

Anita Mathias

Read my blog on Facebook

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
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

The Story of Dirk Willems

The Story of Dirk Willems - Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk
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

Categories

What I’m Reading

Apropos of Nothing
Woody Allen

Apropos of Nothing  - Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright
Michael Richardson

Amazing Faith -- Bill Bright -- Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Wanderlust
Rebecca Solnit

Solnit --  Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer\'s Life
Kathleen Norris

KATHLEEN NORRIS --  Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96
Seamus Heaney

Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96 Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Archive by month

INSTAGRAM

anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
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. 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 or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  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 to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
Load More… Follow on Instagram

© 2021 Dreaming Beneath the Spires · All Rights Reserved. · Cookie Policy · Privacy Policy

»
«