Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

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

Archives for August 2011

Exploring Sweden in a Motor Home

By Anita Mathias

Okay, we are exploring Sweden in a camper van. We’ve done 6 motor home holidays (Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand, Ireland and two trips to France). I mostly love camper van holidays—long dreamy days of watching the scenery go by, long times of lying down and praying while we get to places, writing on my laptop while dinner simmers, camping free in lonely wild places, waking up by the sea or lakes or waterfalls, a different one each day, seeing an enormous number of beautiful landscapes in one trip.
The girls though are 12 and 16 and we are in our late forties; are our days of this sort of holiday numbered? I miss my 24/7 internet coverage. Miss spacious showers and baths; there is more clean up in a camper; more opportunities to show grace.

First night was in a 4 star Stockholm hotel with a wonderful breakfast. Sweden is twice the size of England, with a population of 9 million rather than 60 million. 20% of the population are born elsewhere. I guess that is necessary given the low Scandinavian birthrate (a consequence of the high status of women). Sweden was (as a result??) the first country to outlaw the spanking of children.
There is an untranslatable Swedish word lagom, which expresses the essence of Swedishness, medium, not too much, not too little. We found that in renting our motor home, they went reasonably far in helping us (gave us modems and sims, but the tour was rushed and we are finding out that various things don’t work as they should.
Explored a National Park in Stockholm today—Tyresta. Perfect silence, birds, virgin forest, in one of Europe’s great cities. Wow!!

Please pray that our trip goes well, that we remain conscious of the presence of God through it, and that we show grace to each other, and that we use the opportunities of character development and consideration that spending time in confined quarters offers us.

Filed Under: random

Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him

By Anita Mathias

Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him,

for he shields him all day long,
and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”

Deut 33:12

Filed Under: random

Thought of the Day–What are you going to do with your one and precious life?

By Anita Mathias

 “This I have always known – that if I did not live my life immersed in the one activity which suits me, and which, to tell the truth keeps me utterly happy and intrigued, I would come someday to bitter and mortal regret.” ~ Mary Oliver

Filed Under: random

Thoughts on the London 2011 riots

By Anita Mathias

West Midlands police want to trace these people in connection with the disorder on Monday night

Roy and I stayed up till 2.45 a.m. yesterday following the coverage of the London riots on the Guardian’s live blog and other media and social media.
It was grimly fascinating watching the protests, rioting and looting spread from London to Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham and Kent.

There were however some peculiarly British features which separated the riots from those in Mogadishu to which  the German magazine Spiegel compared it

A burning capital city. Marauding bands stealing whatever they please. A police force that appears to be impotent. And a fire brigade that can’t put out blazes because its rescue forces are attacked by a mob. The television images dominating screens this week could be right out of Mogadishu. As difficult to imagine as it might be, the pictures aren’t from Somalia, but from London, right in the centre of Europe. And they will never be forgotten.

One of these which greatly amused us was that the looters queued outside the jewellery, sporting goods, electronics and mobile phone shops they had come to loot . First come, first served!

I read much commentary on the effective disenfranchisement and disengagement of the young (90% black according to eyewitness accounts) looters from society. In a milieu in which people are defined by what they possess, and wear, and in which the money to buy and own these coveted things is not easily come by, walking into a store cushioned by the safety of numbers of a mob and just picking up an iPod, iPad, sneakers, smartphone, gold chains, diamonds and bling must be an irresistible temptation. Big wants, small or no earnings–that probably played a role in the riots.

Sociologists will be dissecting these riots for a long time. I guess it was a toxic mix of underemployment, an unsatisfying education, poor career prospects, boredom, disaffection,  racism, low stakes in one’s community and society. Perhaps the handouts of a welfare state reduces the incentive to be entrepreneurial, and invent the rags to riches, Horatio Alger autobiography so beloved in America–and which continues to be written there.

Since I couldn’t sleep, I decided to pray. I have long stopped praying about things I do not feel passionately about–because I sense such prayers do not reach the heart of God. And so, instead of praying that the riots stop (which, of course, I should have done) I found myself praying for the individual looters. Young, frightened, confused, insecure and very, very angry people. Praying for a transforming spiritual encounter for them. That they would know the peace and comfort and fellowship of friendship with the Living God.

I would rate my own experiences of the living God somewhere near 1 on a scale of 100 compared to, let’s say,  John Leonard Dober and David Nitschman the Moravian missionaries who sold themselves into slavery to reach the Haitian slaves. But how life-transforming and peace and joy-giving this friendship has been!

I used to think the biggest field for evangelism in Britain was the Asian community–Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and ethnic Chinese, with their various religions. The Afro-Caribbean community are nominally Christian, and indeed church–very lengthy, joyful services with much singing, smart suits and dresses and fancy hats–is integral to their community life (as I observe on Oxford Sundays).

I heard the Ugandan bishop Zac Nyiringe say at St. Aldate’s that he wished his Ugandan people would love church less and religion less, so that it could spill out of a Sunday morning celebration into weekday life to a far greater degree.

And that is a challenge for all of us!

Filed Under: Current Affairs

Can an Individual Change Another Through Prayer Alone?

By Anita Mathias


I have a good friend, who prays constantly. 


He married, when very young, a woman who’s “feisty,” in his words, and bossy and critical. (They have 6 children, and not much money, so my sympathies are with her).


Anyway, my friend told me that when he sees something he does not like about his wife, or one of his children, he makes a note of it on the little index cards he uses to pray, and takes it up with God.


For instance, he started praying that his wife would be more gentle with him. 


That his son, whose ambition it was to own Microsoft would love God more than money. 


That his children would be less mean to each other. 

                                           * * * 

And most of these things came to pass. 

But not without several changes in my friend himself. These included an emotional and nervous breakdown during which he was unable to work and accepted the Kingship of Jesus over himself (the very Lordship he had so wanted his children to acknowledge.)

                                                     * * * 

Back to my question. Can an individual change another through prayer alone?


Yes, I believe so.  

If prayer works, and is for real–and the whole thrust of Scripture tells us that does and is–than prayer can change anything, including the people we love.

It takes a while, it takes faith–and since God has a sense of humour which borders on the perverse–it might often involves changes in the deep structure of our own personalities. 

                                                              * * *

Prayer is dynamite–explosive in its power–and we are invariably caught in the friendly fire of our prayer for another.

And change, the shedding of our dragon skin–is never without pain.

                                               * * * 

When I see a desperate need for change in someone else, which neither my advice, nagging, bullying or manipulation can bring about, I resort to prayer. (As I get wiser, I am glad to report, this is becoming more of a first resort rather than a last resort.)  And it does work, invariably, in surprising ways.

Hudson Taylor had this amazing goal and motto, “To Move Man, Through God, by Prayer Alone.” He used this in small things (when his employer forget to pay him) and in large, to raise tens of thousands of pounds for the China Inland Mission.

The hearts of people are in the hands of God, and he sways them how he wills. And an old adage goes, “Prayer is the hand which moves the hand of God.”

 

Filed Under: random

Christian Blogging and Holiness

By Anita Mathias

Image by Fitzy

Blogging –A Matter of Words

Holiness–A Matter of Heart
Anyone who has known many writers, preachers, and bloggers will know that the characters of those gifted with words–preachers, or Christian writers or bloggers–does not necessarily match their eloquence.
But we want it to match up, don’t we? 
I think it would be dreadful if my blog ran ahead of me. If the insights I developed and shared in my blog did not more or less match the insights I was living. If I were not making a serious effort to walk what I blogged.
                                   * * *
This blog, while steadily growing and finding its audience, is doing so more slowly than I would have liked.
And so when I go to Christ and ask for ideas, strategy, redirection (for, like everyone else, I do not like to fail at what I undertake–nor do I want to invest my time and energy in an enterprise which does not have God’s blessing) my session of prayer and discernment comes to this:
That I should seek to be filled with the Spirit each day, and that filling will pour out into blog posts.
That I should seek to follow Christ each day, and that adventure can then be recorded in my  blog.
That I should seek to love people–and that quest will stretch, shape, mould and refine me.

And from that will come blog posts with life.

Now, being me, I am likely to forget this in a couple of months when my blog stats displease me, and so I am recording it now, so that I can re-read it and again try to live it then.

Filed Under: random

Ninja Blogging versus Stream-of-Spirit Blogging

By Anita Mathias

Painting by Fitzy


Rachel Held Evans and John Piper are Ninja bloggers. Pretty much every post is well and carefully written, and appears to have gone through multiple drafts.
I sometimes wonder if I should blog that way–producing the best writing I am capable of in every post, even if I have far fewer of them.
                                   * * * 
I produced carefully written, much revised and rewritten work for years. And also developed writers’ block–was so self-critical that writing became anxiety, self-doubt and work rather than play for me. It lost its joy.
For me to try to blog that way would be the sure way to stress and writer’s block. 
For me blogging is a way to psychological, spiritual and emotional health, as I keep current with what I am working out intellectually or spiritually or emotionally. It is deep play.
So, I have made peace with being good-enough rather than consistently excellent in my writing on this blog (as in all other areas of my life).
                                  * * * 
One of the most empowering writing teachers I had, Charlie Sugnet at the University of Minnesota, would give us really low-bar, low risk of failure assignments. I did the best writing of my life that term. (See this  or this published in my first book, Wandering Between Two Worlds).
 
Setting a low bar—being willing to open myself to the possibility of small failures on a daily basis–that is the only way I can see myself maintaining this enterprise of sharing my innermost thoughts with the world on an almost-daily basis without burning out.
* * *
What I am far more interested in could be called, I suppose, stream-of-Spirit blogging.
To hear what the Spirit is saying to me. To record it.
When I don’t know what to write about, which is often, I either look at my drafts folder for the overflow of those creative days when I have ideas for five posts, or I ask, “What is the spirit saying to me? What worry, joy, emotion, idea, insight or epiphany is uppermost in my thoughts?” And then I play with it. And as I do, the germ of the idea frequently develops into a fully-fledged 800 word blog post.
My blog will consist of other posts, of course, but this will be one way for me to maintain my own interest in it. To try to hear what the Spirit is saying to me, and to record it. (God’s ideas are limitless, and by tapping into them, we too find limitless ideas for blog posts.)
“A man’s reach must exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” Robert Browning wrote.

So I guess my perhaps far-fetched ultimate ideal for the blog is that I may overhear what the Spirit is saying to me, and saying to the Church, and record it. Can a blogger or a blog have a sort of prophetic ministry? Who knows? Perhaps!
                                          

Filed Under: random

Anyone can come. Anyone can play.

By Anita Mathias

The Friend of God

“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend” James 2.23. 

Cool, how low that bar is. All one needs to do to be accounted righteous, and to be God’s friend is to believe. 

And it’s one of life’s cooler experiences when your thoughts naturally turn towards Him, through the day, and in wakeful nights, until you realize that God, incredibly, mysteriously, is your friend.

That is an amazing thing about the Christian faith–the very low bar. The generous, immense rewards promised in return for very simple actions.

Like coming. 

John 7: 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 

Ignite that thirst in me, Lord. Remind me to come.

Fill me with your streams of living water–which will then naturally flow out of me.

 

Filed Under: random

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

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 638 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

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Barak Obama

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance- Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

H Is for Hawk
Helen MacDonald

H Is for Hawk - Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Tiny Habits
B. J. Fogg

  Tiny Habits  - Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

The Regeneration Trilogy
Pat Barker

  The Regeneration Trilogy  - 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

© 2020 Dreaming Beneath the Spires · All Rights Reserved. · Cookie Policy · Privacy Policy