Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires
Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art
Whereas other cultures greet each other with the time of day, the amusing English greet each other with a comment on the State of the Day.
It is a beautiful day today in Garsington, Oxfordshire–sunny, blue skies, but not hot, and, as I walked Jake, and tried bravely to jog, everyone, without fail, greeted me with “Lovely day, isn’t it?”
Indeed and indeed!
I have long been a fan of Flylady, who recommends one does not get caught up in the guilt of recycling until one has one’s act together, i.e. is flying.
Well, the South Oxfordshire County Council was having none of this and limited us to one wheelie bin of trash every TWO weeks. So the non-recycling Mathiases had to become recyclers.
It was not easy in the beginning. Our black bags were constantly protruding well over the limits of the wheelie bin, being shredded by magpie, and mice, as were the black bags around the wheelie bin, which the good-natured Council workers finally stopped clearing.
So we took a trip to the tip to get us caught up. And now, every week, we become more focused recyclers. Have a special trash can for recycling upstairs and downstairs. Recycle more and more. The green wheelie bin is now full with several boxes beside it to be cleared (they will pick up infinite recycling, but not infinite trash). And our trash, most fortnights, fits in our black bin.
Yay!!
Jake plunged me into despair by running away, and was away for hours. He came back lame, limping, with the pads of his feet worn off. Where did he go?
Guilt. For not exercising our lovely working dog, a Collie, enough.
I adore Jake, and just don’t know how I would cope with not having a dog with me 24/7.
Dogs are among the most wonderful things God made.I love those statues to collie dogs in the hills of New Zealand. Sheep farmers would not have been able to settle the high country if not for their collie dogs.
American poet William Stafford offers this advice: “There is no such thing as writer’s block for writers whose standards are low enough.”
Be of good cheer. Do not think of to-day’s failures, but of the success that may come to-morrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere, and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles–a delight in climbing rugged paths, which you would perhaps never know if you did not sometime slip backward–if the road was always smooth and pleasant. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost. Sometime, somewhere, somehow we shall find that which we seek.
An image which stuck out from the John Arnott conference was little Simba, trying out his lion roar, to the amusement of the hyenas. Then, suddenly, his father appears behind him and roars. The hyenas scatter.
We are princesses in God’s kingdom, crowned with glory and honour. Behind us is Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His father, the Emperor is behind him. The Holy Spirit, visible love and comfort wraps us in golden light.
The hills around us are ringed with angels in chariots of fire.
And THAT is who we are, who we truly are, as we face our days.