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Archives for April 2011

Buying a Griffin

By Anita Mathias


Griffin Outside St. Mark’s Venice

A new pastime I’ve taken up this year is our weekly or bi-weekly plant shopping trips to Garden Centres. 


Garden Centres are peculiarly English. They are almost tourist attractions, and are designated on highways with the same white on brown signs!


Many English people, those “of a certain age,”on weekdays,  make a day out of it, leisurely shopping for plants, interspersed with cups of tea, lunch, and varieties of ubiquitous cakes. You see a certain kind of Englishness in action in garden centres.


Garden Centres have everything, all manner of household geegaws which, though pretty, should have “Will be decluttered soon” health warning on them.


They also have garden geegaws, to which, sadly, I am not immune. When my kids were young, they loved this stuff. Coming across smiling sun faces, green men, squirrels, foxes, cats, toads, butterfly or humming bird stakes in odd corners of the garden. I too like the whimsy.


I have an gargoyle, of surpassing ugliness, which I am rather fond of.


And, on our last trip, I almost bought an enormous griffin.
                                       * * * 


Well, it had tons of character. I had a little chat with my conscience, and decided: I would rather have that griffin than £50. But wasn’t parting with any more money for it. It was £63. Okay, then, close shave.
                                          * * * 


So we tell the girls, ” We almost bought a griffin today.”


One daughter takes this in her stride. “Oh,” she says.


(What is she meditating on? She is as abstracted as her father.)


The other daughter says, “What, where would you have put it?”


Me, frowning, “In the garden.”


She, “What would you feed it?”


What? She studies Greek, Latin, French…. But I guess in some ways, she does live in a magical world, in which parents casually buy griffins. After we moved into this house, we did buy 9 pets in a single week, after all–ducks, hens, rabbits and Jake, the Collie. 


I play along.


“Raw meat.”


“Where would you put it to sleep?


Me, “It would sleep in the shed. Or in the conservatory. Or greenhouse.


“It will fly away, Mum,” she says contemptuously.


Me, “It would be like Canada Geese. They don’t leave easy food sources. We might clip its wings. At most it would perch on the willow.”


She “And how would we get it down?”


I, “You or dad would climb up and get it down.”


She, after a pause. “Are you still thinking of it?”


Me, teasing her “Yes, when I earn another 13 pounds.”


She, “And how long will that take you?”


Me, ” A day?” 


I leave, inwardly chuckling to record this interchange. She herself won’t believe it a year later. 


As I leave, I hear her tell her father, “Oh, it would be so like Mum to sit by the griffin with her Iphone, waiting for 13 pounds of sales to come in!”


And then off she goes to her laptop to record her close shave.
                                             * * * 




Realizing this, Roy and I simultaneously rush up, “Listen,” we say, “A griffin is a mythical beast.”  Or else, she would soon have told her Facebook world that her parents are going to buy a griffin.
                                      * * * 




And so I get the story after all!! 


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Filed Under: random

Home Quiet Home

By Anita Mathias

Our four pet rabbits

 

Botanists. Please could you identify this shrub in my driveway.  Is it worth saving?
Same mystery shrub needing identification

We’re home for this four day weekend, having enjoyed Italy over Easter.

We had Tomasz, our Polish cleaner, house-sit for us. He winked, as I left saying, “I’ll give your house a make-over. You won’t recognize it.”

Well, he did. I had asked him to paint three rooms, but he astonished us by thoroughly arranging the girls’ room; catching up with their laundry, and even mine!!; sorting out and tidying up the greenhouse; dismantling the old shed that I’ve been wishing away forever; sweeping up and tidying the garden etc. Wow!  And welcomed us back with fresh flowers and a kiss!

Sometimes God saves the best for last. I’ve got through so many cleaners and home helpers before I found someone just right for our family, who’s fond of us, and vice-versa.
* * *

We came back early for an Oxford Uni weekend course, “A Romp Through the History of Philosophy” taught by Marianne Talbot.

I love studying the history of things–Art, Literature, Christianity, and of course the history of countries, and tracking the evolution of ideas.

However, instead of a straight history of philosophy, this looked at the key thinkers in each of the four branches of philosophy–ethics, metaphysics, logic and epistemology.

She started with Socrates, whom I have always been enthralled by, and I was, predictably, enthralled.

And then jumped to Hume. What? The reasoning was abstract and irrelevant compared to Socrates’ forthright, to the point reasoning. I grew increasingly bored, and could not see myself sitting through 4 more lectures. (It was a weekend course).

I spent about 15 increasingly bored minutes, choosing between the rudeness of leaving a lecture which bored me, or staying. Left.
* * *

Zoe, for a reason I don’t get, wants to do an A level in Philosophy, in addition to Theology, English and French. (We would rather she did Psychology or Italian rather than Philosophy.)

So I called her enroute home, with the bad news that she was to go to the University, and sit out the weekend course. She went, with some grumbling.

And loved it. And still wants to do philosophy.

Better brush up my debating skills then!

Filed Under: random

Unjustly Framed. Blog Through the Bible Project

By Anita Mathias

Unjust accusation

  Matthew 26 57-67
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin

57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 58 But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome. 59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.
The Sanhedrin was the supreme ecclesiastical court of the Jews, centred in Jerusalem. The Romans were ultimately in control of all judicial proceedings, but allowed their subjects some freedom to try their own cases.


Finally two came forward 61 and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
So what had Jesus said?
John 2:19 “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
His words were misquoted, taken out of context and distorted. They led to his death.
But his Father saw to a resurrection.
Which means, one need never fear. Our father will provide a second act.


62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent.
Why does he remain silent? Because he would have not been believed anyway? Because it would have been pointless.
There is great dignity in silence, and Jesus sets us an example in remaining silent when to speak would have been pointless.
Jesus’s silence fulfills Isaiah 53:7
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
Caiaphas wants Jesus to admit to this charge so that he can be accused of insurrection against Rome and tried before Pilate for treason.
NIV Jesus refused to answer the question of v. 62. But when the high priest used this form, Jesus was legally obliged to answer.


64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
You have said so: A Greek expression which deflects responsibility back upon the one asking the question.
Jesus declares that he is not only the human Messiah anticipated by the Jews, but also the divine Son of God, who sits at the right hand of God, and who will come on the clouds in power to reign on the earth. 


65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered.
Few of us will survive life without unjust accusation. At least, the Messiah has gone before us.
ESV–If Jesus lied by claiming to be the son of God, then he deserved death from the standpoint of the Jewish law. The irony is that he will be executed for telling the truth.

67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
Mark and Luke record that they blindfolded Jesus, which explains their mocking question. I believe that mockery–saying something other than what you truly believe– is despicable to God, the straight-talker. 
One of the traits of those who are blessed in Psalm 1 is that they do not sit in the company of mockers.
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers, 

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Filed Under: Matthew

Injustice

By Anita Mathias

Injustice.

Matthew 26 47-56 Blog Through the Bible Project
Jesus Arrested
 47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

 50 Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”
Jesus at his most unfathomable–gentleness and kindness shown to the one who impelled by his own greed, doubt, and inner divisions has betrayed him (which Judas will soon regret).
Jesus has run through the gamut of human experience–the unimaginable pain of the knife twist of betrayal. The kiss, the customary way for friends in ancient and modern Israel to greet one another now becomes the means of betrayal,

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
Peter, the impulsive one

   52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
A chastening thought. Jesus does not approve of violent means to achieve our ends. Because we live in his Father’s kingdom, and his Father, in his own time, can send legions of angels to rescue us. 

53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
Jesus is the willing sacrifice. He suggests that if at any point, he had said, “No. I have changed my mind,” his Father would yet have rescued him.
72,000 angels. A Roman legion at full strength had 600 soldiers. 

55 In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

 Jesus mildly protests the manner of his arrest. The crowd sent by the Sanhedrin had come after him as if he were a dangerous criminal or insurrectionist. And then he again reiterates his surrender to his Father’s will.

 The disciple’s courage failed faced with the large crowd “armed with swords and clubs.” Death or severe injury was likely. And arrest. Who can blame them?

The great crowd consisted of a detachment of Roman soldiers, assigned by Pilate to the temple for security, who were carrying swords, and Levitical temple police and personal security of the chief priests and Sanhedrin (elders) carrying clubs. 
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Filed Under: Matthew

When Prayer Costs Everything

By Anita Mathias

 

Jesus in Gethsemane

 

Matthew 26 36-46–Blog Through the Bible Project
Gethsemane
 36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
I love these depictions of Jesus as fully human. Longing for friendship. Longing to lean on his friends. 
 
That is why Jesus is such a great friend to us, and knowing him is such a great experience. Because Jesus knows what it is to be really, really sad and to experience great sorrow.
 
Gethsemane means “oil press.” A garden area among the olive groves on the Mount of Olives.
 
 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
All through his life, Jesus has been modelling various types of prayer–in the prayer he taught his disciples, in his own prayers at the Last Supper, in his modelling of prayer for healing… 
 
Here he models prayer during an excruciatingly difficult time.
 
He asks his Father that if  possible, the cup of suffering may be removed from him.
 
But then he says that it’s okay if things happen not as he himself wishes, but as his Father wishes.  
 
Whereas, through God’s mercy, the cup of extreme suffering presents itself to us only rarely, every day of our Christian life requires this “death” : “Not as I will, but as you will.”
 
Sometimes, God calls us to small tweaks. Sometimes, what he calls us to feels like death.
 
Perhaps this prayer of the Lord’s should be incorporated into our daily devotions. “Lord, today, not as I will but as you will.” 
 
What would it involve for me? Spending more time with people rather than on work? Getting back on track a bit with my house, which tells the tale of Easter holidays? Not being so insistent on my own way in family life?
 
ESV Jesus falls on his face in a typical posture of abject humility in prayer and lays his life before his Father in complete honesty and surrender. Jesus faces the most agonizing struggle of his life to date at the moment when he is ready to accomplish the culmination of his life’s mission–to bear the sins of the world, which is what this cup signifies.
Jesus was the Lamb of God bearing the penalty for the sins of the entire human race. The wrath of God was turned loose upon him. This partly explains the agony of Gethsemane.
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Temptation surrounds us. Temptations to unhealthy food. To laziness. Selfishness. Untruthfulness. Bad temper. Dishonesty.
 
One is not to be blase about temptation, but watch and pray that one does not succumb. Because while our spirits are willing, parts of our human nature are very weak indeed. 
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
At first, he asks his Father to remove the cup from him, if it is possible. But then, as he hears his Father’s voice more clearly, he modulates his prayer.
 What he now says is, “If it is not possible that this suffering be taken away, may your will be done.”
 43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Even in extremis, he has compassion on his disciples. And allows them to sleep.
 45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
And he get up from his prayer, from his struggle unto death, fortified and resolved to face the bitter onrushing anguish with fortitude. 

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Filed Under: Blog Through The Bible Project, Matthew

A Contemplative in the World

By Anita Mathias

Angelus, Millet

If I were to formulate my ideal for my life and spiritual life it would be to be “a Contemplative in the World.”

I want to live quietly and peacefully. Mindful of Christ. Rooted in Christ. Immersed in him. And in Scripture.
I want to remember to pray through my day. To seek God’s wisdom on my thinking and actions. Both the little and trivial, and the large

I want to lead a quiet life. To do some work with my hands in my garden as the monks of old did.

I want the words and ideas of Scripture to run through my mind through the day.
                                    * * *
Some contemplatives, for instance, the Trappists, take an additional vow of stability. Stability of place. That is, they commit themselves to live in a particular monastery until they die.
This monastic ideal is very appealing to me. I’ve moved around so much–I have lived in 13 towns in 3 countries–India, England, and America–which is less than some people, but more than most. And for me it feels like too much.
I have a longing now for rootedness. To stay in a place for a long time. To know its seasons. Its plants and trees and flowers and  wildlife. Its history. The same people over a period of years.  To settle down.
When Thoreau was asked if he had travelled much, he answered in the affirmative. “I have travelled a great deal in Concord,” he said. I want to travel a great deal in Garsington, in my garden, an acre and a half in Garsington. To really know it.
* * *

Most monastic life is based on the Rule of St. Benedict. A day held sleep, prayer and study, and manual labour in roughly equal balance.

During their waking hours, they balanced prayer, study and manual labour. It’s amazing that Benedict stumbled upon this perfect balance of mind, spirit and body.

The one weakness of monastic life is relationships–it does not allow for marital relationships, parent-child relationships or one on one friendships. I would be so lonely without these–which is why I would like to be ” a contemplative in the world.”

However the monks and nuns did live together in community, which is a stabilizing influence, and a safeguard against nuttiness, extreme selfishness or against undisciplined excesses in food, sleep, prayer or study. The anonymity of the monastic life also provided a safeguard against the drudgery of ambition.
* * *

I find I need the manual labour which was part of monasticism for mental, psychological and spiritual health, leave alone physical health and strength. It rounds out and completes what can be a very cerebral, intense, edgy and often highly-strung personality. I do my best thinking and praying while working in the garden, or pottering in the house, though I do have a cleaner, since I don’t potter particularly regularly.
* * *

I committed my life to the lovely Jesus when I was 17, and then and now being ardent, asked, “What should I do?” So momentous a decision had to express itself in action I felt.And so, being a novice Christian, and not realizing the importance of the seeking the whole counsel of God, I picked up a bit of the jigsaw.

Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me.” And so I decided to serve the least of these.  I lived near Calcutta, and so at 17 and a half, went off to become a nun and work with Mother Teresa.

It was a temperamental mismatch. I had spent my childhood in an exclusive dreamy boarding school in the Himalayas, run by Irish, English and German IBMV nuns, and where I read, and read, and read. I was reading Thomas Hardy, George Eliot, Matthew Arnold, Galsworthy, Shaw, James Joyce “the Portrait,” not Ulysses), Joyce Cary…

Suddenly, I joined a community where many people were just learning English, literacy was basic , there was no reading except spiritual reading. I had been so used to living in my mind, in books, in language, and I felt bereft of that. In fact, I took an old Bible which had both Latin and English and patiently taught myself some Latin by matching the words.

The hardest part was living in community. This was community in extreme–25 women sharing a single room, which with a constant moving of furniture became a dormitory, refectory, class-room, living room. No privacy, except at times of prayer and meditation–and then, it was your mind and thoughts which were at rest, your body was with 400 others.

Phew. I loved God, loved thinking of Him, talking to Him, learning about Him. Still do. Loved Scripture. Still do. But I just needed a lot more solitude and quiet than I could get in a service-oriented community.

After 14 months there, I realized it was not for me. Mother had another order, called Sisters of the Word, devoted to a contemplative life. They spent their mornings in prayer and reading Scripture, and their afternoons in proclaiming the Word to the poor, the” spiritually poor,” on the streets, wherever. I fancied it would be just the thing for me.

Mother Teresa had her doors open all day. I asked if I could either leave and go home or if  I could transfer to her contemplative branch from her active branch. She thought I was too young–at 18–for a contemplative life which is generally considered psychologically, spiritually and emotionally more difficult than an active religious life, and asked me to apply to that order when I was 21.

When I was 21, of course, English in Oxford absorbed all my thoughts. My faith was virtually non-existent. And that was that!!
* * *

But now, in a quiet season of my life, I am getting increasingly fascinated with trying to figure out how to incorporate contemplative rhythms into my daily life.

This Saturday, Roy and I are going to a conference on incorporating monastic rhythms into daily life.

IAN ADAMS
‘CAVE, REFECTORY, ROAD – MONASTIC RHYTHMS FOR CONTEMPORARY LIVING’
SAT 30TH APRIL 2011
10AM-4PM | FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE, OXFORD
A day of teaching, stillness and contemplative practice with Ian Adams, exploring how we might incorporate the wisdom and patterns of the monastic way into everyday life 
Ian Adams is a writer, teacher and artist working with themes of spirituality, culture and community. He is a director of the Stillpoint project, nurturing spiritual practice from within the Christian contemplative-active tradition. An Anglican priest, he was the founder and abbot of the mayBe community in Oxford. He is the creator of the daily morning bell call to prayer and author of Cave Refectory Road: monastic rhythms for contemporary living [Canterbury Press 2010]. Ian is a member of the spirituality group for Greenbelt Festival. He has a particular interest in how a contemplative approach to daily living can bring about personal change, community transformation and renewal of the earth


http://www.thestillpoint.org.uk/

We are also exploring a Christian community in Oxford, http://maybe.org.uk/ which seeks to incorporate some monastic values into daily life, me with more enthusiasm, Roy, who would happily travel all day in his garden, with less. Will report on our progress.

Filed Under: random

How to Handle Argumentative People

By Anita Mathias

Carl Heinrick Bloch

Matthew 26 31-35 Blog Through the Bible Project
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
 31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
   “‘I will strike the shepherd,
   and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
 33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
   34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
 35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Jesus shows his gentleness in his concern for his friends even before his own hour of greatest trauma.

He assures them that he will go ahead of them to Galilee, which, of course, they all forget in the dreadful trauma of the next day. His love remains constant, despite their betrayal.

How little even the best of us know ourselves. Peter loves his sublime radiant friend and Lord, Jesus. Peter overestimates his strength of character.  He cannot imagine either himself or his friends ever leaving or disowning Jesus, even if he had to die with him. 

And yet, in the night terror of soldiers and blows, and scourging and fixed trials, he does just that. 

And Jesus lets Peter have the last word.

He says what he has to say, and leaves it.

Arguments are a waste of time. Better let the other person have the last word. 

And remember: We are never as strong as think we are. 

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Filed Under: Matthew

The Forgiveness of Sins–Blog Through the Bible Project

By Anita Mathias

consecration.jpg picture by kking888
Matthew 26, Blog Through the Bible Project
The Plot Against Jesus
 1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

Jesus predicts his crucifixion for the fourth and final time. He has a foreknowledge of what is going to happen, though that does not make it less painful.

Verse 5 Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims annually made the journey to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, and nationalistic fervour ran high as they recalled the liberation of their ancestors from bondage in Egypt. 
Popular uprisings were increasingly common during such festival periods, and so the chief priests were reluctant to arrest Jesus openly because of his popularity with the people. 

The Last Supper
 17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
 20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
 22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
They loved him after all. It was unthinkable.

 23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
 25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
   Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

The breakdown of love and trust between Jesus and Judas was so extreme, that Judas does not heed his warning, “It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 
The height of disloyalty and betrayal was turning on someone after sharing a meal with him.
The chief priests, very savvily had prepaid him after all.
The rest of the disciples address Jesus as Lord, but Judas addresses him as Rabbi or Teacher. There is no record of Judas ever calling Jesus Lord. 
“You have said so,”–A Greek expression which deflects responsibility upon the one asking the question.

 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Jesus defines, and redefines love. Love is giving yourself for those you love.
When one reads this, one feels “How can I ever love like that?”
As Jesus said, it is good for us that he had to go, because if he had not gone, the Holy Spirit, the comforter, would not have come. 
So, when we feel powerless to love, we can implore the Holy Spirit to come and help us in our weakness. 

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
 30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Theologically foundational words. Jesus’s body will be the once-and-for-all reenactment of the ceremony of the Passover Lamb, as he will become the sacrificial atonement for the sins of the people.
His blood is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. God forgives those who have put their faith in Jesus, who are grafted into Jesus because Jesus died an excruciating death to pay the penalty for our sin. His blood was poured out for many so that they would not have to pay the eternal consequence of their sins.
Forgiven, reconciled, at peace with God. The enormity of it is hard to grasp.
And because Jesus did this for us, we too are called to let it all go–the offences men have committed against us, those who have lied, manipulated, schemed, abused us and hurt us.

The cup was likely the third cup drunk at the Passover, the cup of blessing or the cup of redemption corresponding to God’s third promise in Ex 6:6 “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great acts of judgment.”


The cup foreshadows the shedding of Jesus’ blood and the absorbing of God’s wrath, which opens the way for the redemption of all peoples through the new covenant relationship with God that was promised to the people of Israel.
My father’s kingdom–The Messianic Banquet.

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Filed Under: Matthew

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

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The Story of Dirk Willems

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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

Categories

What I’m Reading

Childhood, Youth, Dependency: The Copenhagen Trilogy
Tove Ditlevsen

  The Copenhagen Trilogy  - Amazon.com
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Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright
Michael Richardson

Amazing Faith -- Bill Bright -- Amazon.com
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On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King

On Writing --  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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Andrew Marr


A History of the World
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https://amzn.to/3cC2uSl

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Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96
Seamus Heaney


Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96 
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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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