Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

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

Archives for August 2011

Cats and Dogs and the Human Bestiary

By Anita Mathias

Irene and I. Notice the secret of Irene’s happiness in her fat little paw!

 Ever since childhood, I have both consciously and unconsciously looked for animal equivalents for people I encounter. 

This helps me see understand them better—and offers surprisingly accurate clues on how they might behave in the future, and how one should deal with them. (Of course, if one has read them wrong, and got the animal wrong, then you are in trouble). Both J.K. Rowling and Philip Pullman mine this territory with their patronus and daemons, animals which provide an objective correlative, an exact equivalent of a human’s inner spirit.
Some people have the personality of big bounding dogs. Some of petted cats. I remember an American fellow church-member who had the hunted flickering eyes of a hunted rabbit. It turned out that she was from an abusive family, had been put in care, married well, made good. Her eyes, however, told their own story. She would never be entirely relaxed, entirely open and disingenuous; she remembered the days of being hunted, so to say. She was always, figuratively speaking, on the edge of her seat, ready to flee. You could never get the whole of X, just as a wild rabbit will never be entirely tame.
Irene had a classmate who for the six years I’ve known her, always struck me with her unpleasant “swinish” expression, I’d say, as I warned Irene to steer clear of her (maternal intuition!). In Year 7, she turned deeply nasty, writing filthy anonymous letters, stealing kids’ medication, trashing their belongings, Lord of the Flies territory. Her face had told the tale years before—as did her mum’s face which bore the identical expression.
Our family had a big debate on holiday as to which animal we were. When I was younger, I was definitely a puppy, a big bounding golden retriever, perhaps. Now, I would say, I am becoming a cat, perhaps a Siamese or Persian cat. All cats need to be happy is a warm sunny spot somewhere, and a saucer of milk. They have an unerring ability to find the warmest and most comfortable spot even in a cheerless, cluttered room. Amid scenes of devastation, war, tsunamis, earthquakes, you see cats, curled up and comfortable in a sunny corner amid the wreckage. While they will consent to being petted, if you ask them nicely, they are emotionally independent.  And while I would rather be comfortable in comfortable surroundings, I find I can curl up and be happy anywhere, with my laptop, and a book, and a figurative saucer of milk, i.e. a snack. So I travel well, and enjoy it.
Roy was more of an emotionally independent cat when we got married. Now, he has morphed into a dog. A big mastiff or Saint Bernard, shaggy, affectionate, home-loving, devoted to those he loves. Or perhaps he is a big hairy German Shepherd, fiercely loyal and devoted, though snappish when pushed too far. (He generally doesn’t read my blog; isn’t that wonderful?) And while we are generally the kind of cats and dogs who enjoy snuggling up together, we are sometimes proverbial cats and dogs!
If our older daughter, Zoe had a daemon or patronus, it would also be a shaggy, good-natured, home-loving dog, a big fluffy sheepdog, which is what Roy always lovingly called her. Irene, at present, is a sleek, pampered cat, rather pleased with itself, though people’s personalities change through life, depending on the hand life deals them.
So, if you were an animal, which animal would you be?

Filed Under: random

“Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind” Thought for the Day

By Anita Mathias

“Oh, do not let us wait to be just or pitiful or demonstrative toward those we love until they or we are struck down by illness or threatened with death! Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind!” Henri Frédéric Amiel September 27, 1821 – May 11, 1881) Swiss philosopher, poet and critic.


Filed Under: random

What is Man: “Totally Depraved” or Made in the Image of God?

By Anita Mathias

 

What is Man: “Totally Depraved” or Made in the Image of God?

 
Romans 1:29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;   they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 
 
I first looked at this passage closely in a Bible study with my pastor, Bob Hopper in 1995. I was horrified, and burst out, “But how can one live in the world if this is your view of people?” Everyone looked at me, a bit amused at this naive outburst.
 
But perhaps they were not reading carefully. Wouldn’t it be hard to go out into the world, if you knew for sure that you were going out among people ” filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.   Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice….Gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;   they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.”  One shudders.
Luckily, every scriptural moon has its bright side as well as its dark side.  Though sometimes, we experience an individual behaving like this, or a group of people when the mob behaviour takes over (we can sometimes even experience all this in a toxic church) in general, I am relieved to say that this is not my experience of people. Neither, I daresay, is it yours. 
* * *
I have been travelling a good deal for the last quarter century, since I was an undergraduate–as much as I could afford. In the beginning, my wanderlust was greater than my spare cash. Travel used to eat into our cash reserves. (Now, though it may seem self-indulgent,  I have set a little nest egg aside for our family hobby of travel,  which I find valuable for rest, relaxation, refreshment, family time, couple time, learning, newness, the revitalizing of a change—and try not to spend more than the growth on the capital on each trip.) 
 
When we were younger, and travel ate into savings, we were sometimes anxious : Is the taxi driver fudging the meter, taking us the most direct way ? Can we trust the waiters’ recommendations, or will he suggest the most expensive dish? Are they pulling those hotel room rates out of thin air? Were we being overcharged? Ripped off? Should we bargain harder?
 
I suddenly realized that I was avoiding countries in which there is really no fixed price for anything—in which you are charged what they think you can pay.  So looking rich is a disadvantage; however, if you don’t look rich enough, those in the tourist trade may be less interested in offering a sensible price, for lodging for instance.  A sucker may come around the next minute.
This was fear—I was sticking to Europe, and avoiding some second and third world countries for fear of being ripped off. I repented of what was after all fear; and went on to visit countries like Costa Rica (a fabulous country) Mexico and Israel. (Though we still like Europe best—the combination of history, art, architecture I love, food, nature: it’s all hard to beat as far as I am concerned.)
                                                                 * * *
Over time, I discovered that I had relaxed. I didn’t hugely mind if I were overcharged (though it really, really infuriates my younger daughter!) The way I look at it, God’s financial blessings are a river; they have flowed to me through his goodness. I am cool if they flow from me to other people, deliberately or inadvertently, because God is a waterfall, and he will replenish my stores (or develop my character if he chooses not to do that immediately!!)
 
So I am pretty relaxed when we travel, and just enjoy the people I meet. Yeah, sure, negotiating the world like a smiling, happy child must mean that I occasionally get ripped off and overcharged, surely, but by expecting to be treated more or less fairly, I can enjoy the taxi drivers, and waiters, and street vendors and hotel receptionists, and the people whose second homes I rent for the week, and engage them in conversation and learn their stories. And this attitude of observing people, trusting them within reason, and expecting them to be lovely, in fact elicits surprising goodness from all sorts of people in all sorts of ways. The girls are often surprised when people throw in things for free, like simcards and drinks and barbeques when we rent motor homes, upgrade us in hotels, give us things on the house in restaurants, put themselves out to help us when we rent their homes, though that wasn’t what we were after; we were just interested in people from another culture.
That is surely the way to deal with people with joy. Expecting them to be made in the image of God, expecting them to be lovely, rather than being suspicious and cautious and expecting them to be “totally depraved. ”
Believing in total depravity is believing in a theological truth against the evidence of one’s senses and experience. That could count as a working definition of insanity.
(Though sometimes, I do believe in what Jesus says, despite the evidence of what my eyes see, and my experience teaches me. Such as that the meek inherit the earth. I totally believe they do because Jesus says so. But how?  I don’t know. Perhaps being meek is a blessing in itself. Being aggressive and scheming is exhausting. Perhaps being meek leaves room for the power of God to act. 
                                                    * * *
    Our friends the Sassenbergs, German missionaries from Word Made Flesh, an incarnational mission in Sierra Leone house-sat for us when we visited Sweden  last week. They said one of the hardest things about working in Sierra Leone was the daily and nightly beatings,  of children especially. The shrieks, the crying , children blinded, deafened, scarred, burnt, as a result of violence from parents, stepparents, grandparents, uncles, teachers. Swollen faces, pummelled bodies.
And then we visited Sweden, which partly due to the pioneering work of Astrid Lindgren (creator of Pippi Longstocking)  was the first county to outlaw the spanking of children. Outlaw it!! Wow.  Proverbs has a verse which says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it out.” So how did one deal with children when the rod of discipline was banned?
     Well, with declining birth-rates in Scandinavia, children are exceedingly precious.  The little Swedish children we saw frequently had two parents, or a parent and 2 grandparents, or a grandmother, mom and grand-aunt in tow. 3 adults fussing over a child! It was democratic, I observed. I saw a little toddler with a shaggy white hair of a polar bear object to being put in his stroller till he turned red in the face with his crying. No problem. His mum picked him out of the stroller, allowed him to toddle around, pull out a few plant tags in the botanical garden, play with a rose or two, and then, with quiet resignation, he got back into his stroller.  Negotiation and compromise!
If man was indeed totally depraved, I said to Roy, Scandinavian children, who generally seem as well-brought up as their elders would be as savagely beaten as those in Sierra Leone; it would not be possible for man to refrain from violence. 
                                                                        * * *
 
eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar on the premise that man is basically good. He created a rudimentary website, which later became eBay, on which people could advertise their surplus, purchasers would send sellers a cheque, and the sellers would then send Pierre a small cheque for his cut of the transaction.  (Eventually, so many cheques piled up that Omidyar stopped cashing them).  Omidyar proceeded on the premise that since people were basically good, it was not risky to send a total stranger a cheque believing that you would get your stuff, and Omidyar his cut.  (eBay, interestingly, has moved on from this model of total trust, though it is still a lot more trusting than Amazon. It’s a nightmare to get a refund from an eBay seller who doesn’t want to give one.)
I recently read of an pay what you can experiment by Panera Bread,   which offered restaurant quality food to everyone regardless of their ability to pay (to provide a dignified way to help those bitten by the recession).  Of course, if man was totally depraved as John Calvin maintained, then it would not work, but it did. Just 20 % of people did not pay the suggested price, which was balanced by the 20% who paid extra. I’ve often wondered how these pay what you can afford schemes work. Now I know.  
    Of course, more interesting than the question of whether total depravity is a fact (which it cannot be!!) or a theological dogma with little basis in fact, is the question of how we should proceed. Should we deal with people as if they were made in the image of God, or as if they were totally depraved?
* * *
                In my mind, it all comes down to Jesus. How did he treat people? With openness or suspicion? I would say with openness, but circumspection.
 
He healed everyone who came to him for healing. However, even when it came to believers, John tells us that  « Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. » John 2:25.
 
                He did, however, entrust himself to a chosen few, one of whom betrayed him, one  of whom denied all knowledge of him,  three of whom fell asleep in his hour of need, and eleven of whom were nowhere to be seen as he bled to death asphyxiated and in excruciating pain.
 
And yet, his last instructions were that we learn to love each other. 
* * *
     So perhaps that is the balance one needs to learn rather than putting one’s faith in extreme theological statements; that is the best way to go out into the world, to treat people, to deal with people. With kindness, expecting the best. Not being over-hasty to trust, being aware that people’s capacity for betrayal lurks just below the surface, but that people also have a surprising capacity for kindness and self-sacrifice.   
 
            Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery, as the Desiderata   put it. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.  Never underestimate the kindness of strangers or willingness of people to commit random acts of kindness and of love.
 
From Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Filed Under: Blog Through The Bible Project, Romans

The Questions Jesus Asked

By Anita Mathias

 


Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God

Some very penetrating and hard-hitting questions from the Gospel of John

1 Do you want to get well, John 5:6
2 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God. John 5:44

3 Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. John 6:6

4 John 6: 55 Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.   57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.  

 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?
5 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. John 6:75
6 “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40
7  John 13:12 “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
 
8 Again he asked them, “Who (what) is it you want?”John 18: 7


9 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” John 20:15
10 John 21: 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
   “No,” they answered.
 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
11 Again Jesus said, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
12 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
 22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
from Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Filed Under: random

The Eucharistic Nature of Creativity (Talk by Rob Bell at Greenbelt, 2011)

By Anita Mathias

The Eucharist–This is my body, broken for you. This is my blood, shed for you. 

Writing from the heart, close to the bone has these eucharistic characteristics: pouring out your life-blood.
And so, it’s no wonder that one sometimes feels depleted. Emptied. Exhausted.
Bell recommends taking a break when this is the case, coming unplugged, unwired. Going away perhaps, and waiting for the springs to refill at their own pace and time.
The results sometimes surprise one!!
He suggests balancing time spent shedding one’s creative blood with time replenishing the empty tanks, and letting God refill them with fresh wind, fresh fire.
Bell also suggests laying down your work when you are feeling burnt out, laying it down for as long as necessary, and when you come back you are renewed and refreshed and can approach your work with fresh vision, passion and perspective.
Good to hear since I work best in short, intense bursts, and regularly burn out.
                                                    * * *
90 % of the energy expended in one of his books was spent on “mind-games.” Second-guessing his work and its reception. Don’t do it. Get it out there. Leave the reception to God.
                                                     * * *
After his glorious vision of angels ascending and descending the highway, Jacob says, “Surely God was in this place and I was not aware of it.”
We live in a God-drenched world, and being out in it, experiencing it, puts us in touch with infinite springs of creativity, with God himself.
Moses in the desert saw a bush which burned and was not consumed. Bell suggested that that bush was always burning. It was just that Moses slowed down enough to notice it.
It burns for us too, eternity in blades of grass.
“My father is always at his work, to this very day, and so am I,” Jesus says. God is always at this work, creating newness, sharing his visions with us. Those who can see God always at work, in our hearts, in the hearts of people and in the world will never run out of things to write
Rob Bell seems quite relaxed, happy and confident in his own skin, apparently quite unscathed by the tsunami caused by Love Wins.

Filed Under: In which I explore writing and blogging and creativity, random

Love Wins, and Other Possibly Dodgy Theological Speculations

By Anita Mathias

Hana Gaddafi

“In my father’s house, there are many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have told you.”

Room for Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein, perhaps;
for Mubarak and Mobuto and even Assad, who knows;
room, it might be, for crazy, tormented Hitler
whose last act before their suicides
was to make an honest woman of Eva Braun,
–just because she wanted it.
And even–I do believe it,
room for me!

Filed Under: random

Hello World: A catching up post

By Anita Mathias

Phew, I am have in the eye of a hurricane for the last few days, and now am quite ill.

Returned home from Sweden on Wednesday, having got caught in Stockholm’s crawling, bumper to bumper traffic on Tuesday, and missed our flight. Slept in the airport’s very expensive Radisson, and caught the mornings 7 a.m. flight (just!!).
                                                                          * * *

Zoe’s GCSE results the next day were good, all A*s and A’s. She was disappointed as she had wanted all A*s, the highest possible grade. She missed her Greek A* by 2% on a translation paper, and feels sure they must have inadvertently skipped a page or something, so we are going to get it re-marked. I am pleased and relieved at her results, though she is disappointed.

It struck us that we are going to have girls taking public exams every year from now to 2017, with just a break in 2013 when Irene is in Year 10. 2017!! 2017!!
                                                                            * * *

I was so looking forward to the Greenbelt Festival, but I seem to have picked up a cold, cough and mild flu. I even got into the car, and drove till the end of the lane, but then found I was coughing and my eyes were closing. One of my life verses is

For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,

 “In returning and rest you shall be saved;
 in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
 But you would none of it. Isaiah 30:15.


This verse has saved my physical and emotional health so many times, and contributed greatly to my happiness,  and general sanity. There must have been scores of times when I pulled out of doing something because of this verse.


In returning and in rest, you shall be saved. So since I was physically exhausted by illness, sleepy, with a bad chesty cough, I turned right round, and returned home to my laptop. I will still have three whole days of Greenbelt, and will enjoy them thoroughly for being less ill.  
                                                                                * * * 


And my daughters are in…..India! We arrived home at noon on Wednesday, and they left this afternoon. I was too ill to help them pack, so I just hope they have remembered everything, like cameras!! I fear they have not, alas!! It is traditional to give lavish presents when you return to your hometown, but I was far too weak and ill to contemplate shopping, so sent Zoe and Irene to shop–with a budget. They bought lovely stuff, including a beautiful red cashmere sweater I nearly captured, and they kept within budget, by dint of removing stuff at the checkout. That was good as I never manage to keep within budget when I go present shopping. Nor do I shop as carefully and thoughtfully as those girls did!! (They did buy £150 of boxes of chocolates to give as gifts, but they are just 12 and 16 after all!!) 


I was dreading the busyness of that 48 hour period, but being ill I found almost everything could be delegated. Yay! The stress of the break-in to our campervan and the stolen iPad, iPod, and two laptops, wallet, credit cards etc caused a white streak in my hair to appear overnight!! Gosh! I really cannot go white before I turn 50, so did manage to drag myself to my Iranian hairdresser for an application of natural Iranian henna. I now have coppery-mahogany streaks in my hair!! Roy was a bit amused and incredulous at my vanity–and so was I!! Especially since that seems to be the only thing I have achieved in the last two days!

Filed Under: random

Psalm 23 for Busy People by Toyi Miyashiro; and Psalm 23, the 12 Step Version

By Anita Mathias

23rd Psalm for Busy People
By Toki Miyashiro
The Lord is my Pace-setter, I shall not rush;
He makes me to stop and rest for quiet intervals.
He provides me with images of stillness, which restores my serenity.
He leads me in ways of efficiency, through calmness of mind.
And His guidance is my peace.
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day
I will not fret, for His presence is here.
His timelessness, His all-importance will keep me in balance.
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity
By anointing my mind with His oils of tranquillity.
My cup of joyous energy overflows.
Surely harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours,
For I shall walk in the pace of the Lord and dwell in His house forever.
“Japanese version of Psalm 23″ published in Guidepost Magazine

The Journey of Recovery in Psalm 23 (For People in 12 Step Groups)
Published in A Walk with your Shepherd by William Gaultiere, 1992
The Lord alone is the Shepherd I need
For without him I can’t manage my life.
In his greener pasture my soul does feed;
In him I trust and lay down without strife.
I drink from the still waters of his love
Then I look close to see me as he can.
When I fall I call for help from above
And he restores me to my feet again.
He guides me to the path that’s right for me;
To all the other paths I must say “no.”
Though the path goes through a long dark valley
I won’t fear since he’s there to help me grow.
With his rod he disciplines me wisely
And helps me set boundaries that protect.
With his staff he always guides me safely
And inspects me when I pass under it.
He leads me up to a mountain plateau
There are enemies there I must forgive.
His oil heals and anoints so I can go;
His cup for me oer-flows so I can give.
My steps back home I know I can retrace
Because he follows and has made me new.
In life’s journey I look to Shepherd’s face
And he guides me to home all the way through.

Psalm 23: A David Psalm
From The Message By Eugene Peterson, 1994
God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.
Even when the way goes through Death Valley,
I’m not afraid when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure.
You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.
Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.

Filed Under: random

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

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 642 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

Childhood, Youth, Dependency: The Copenhagen Trilogy
Tove Ditlevsen

  The Copenhagen Trilogy  - 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

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King

On Writing --  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


Andrew Marr


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

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