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Allah and Jesus: Thoughts at Ramadan

By Anita Mathias

When we moved into our house in Garsington, Oxfordshire, four and a half years ago, we hired a local Muslim moving company. No complaints, they liked us, we liked them, we are accustomed to dealing with Muslims and understand them.

Oh, one oddity! Like clockwork, they stopped at certain times, put our boxes down, put their heads to the floor, their bums in the air, and prayed. When we hired them by the day, we were told that they would take prayer times off. And not move any alcohol or our massive Celtic cross. Fair enough. Then we needed odd bits of manual labour, and they worked for us at an hourly wage, on condition that we paid them for prayer breaks and lunch breaks. We did.
I thought there was something lovely about it–taking time off in the middle of a busy day, to prostrate yourself in a yogic posture and commune with the Almighty.
We are committed Christians. They cross-questioned us on how often we go to church, on how many times a day we pray. Once, in the sense of sitting down to pray, but many, many times, when it comes to asking for wisdom or guidance or help or protection, or saying, “thank you.” They were unimpressed!
Then I wondered if the God they were communing with, Allah, as they knew and understood him, was quite the same entity as the Jesus we knew and understood, a wonderful friend.
Jesus is unique among all Gods in being a fully rounded person. Who loves his friends, is hurt by them, betrayed by them. Who is hungry, thirsty, sleepy, exhausted. Who is confronted, mocked. Who feasts, weeps, is astonished. A wise story-teller. A magnetic teacher. Who faces our dilemmas with calm, with strength and wisdom.
But most of all, he is unique in his death. A most unlikely death for a God. He dies as an utter failure. Thereby redeeming failure and changing its meaning forever. He dies a shameful, humiliating, ignominious, excruciatingly painful death. The End. Apparently.
And from that, springs a second act of glory.
His death, as the historian H.G. Wells says, was the turning point of human history. More human beings define themselves by his name than by any other. It is the most common name of schools, colleges, hospitals, orphanages. More to the point, his counter-intuitive teaching of paradoxes changes lives and changes hearts 21 centuries later.
The more I think about it, it is so unlikely–this humble life, ending in shame and ignominy, becoming the most potent transformer of  history on a macro level, and individual lives and hearts on a microcosmic level–that it just has to be true. If it wasn’t true, it couldn’t, wouldn’t have survived with such potency. Though, perhaps this argument, like Christianity itself, is heart-logic, not head-logic.

 

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  1. Anita Mathias says

    August 17, 2010 at 10:13 pm

    Sadhana, I have many facebook friends, but none knows me fully, though my husband, parents and daughters come the closest to it. Similarly, there are, and have been many religious systems. I do not believe that they are all equidistant from a full understanding of God. I believe some are closer than others. Jesus gave us a principle for testing the validity or goodness of things, peoples, teachings, ideas–“good trees bear good fruit. By their fruits shall you know them.”

  2. VIKAS says

    August 16, 2010 at 2:34 pm

    Dear Anita, according to me GOD is like the yellow metal GOLD which can be moulded into various pieces of jewellery which are akin to different faiths,it does not matter how we Pray!-sadhana saxena

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Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

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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!
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