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In which I am surprised by Christopher Columbus

By Anita Mathias

“Christopher Columbus,” Jo March of Little Women cried whenever she was astonished.
Well, he’s surprised me.
                                             * * *
I first pondered Columbus in 1992, five hundred years after he sailed the ocean blue. Visited a few quincentennial exhibitions, especially one in Minneapolis, which was chiefly focused on the noxious effects of the Columbian Exchange particularly on native peoples.
More recently, in reading Mark Batterson’s Wild Goose Chase, I learned that Columbus was a man of faith.
Most experts believed that finding a westward route to the Indies was impossible. But Columbus challenged the assumption.
He later said that it wasn’t intelligence, mathematics or maps that made his voyage a success. He credited the Holy Spirit with the idea.
Columbus wrote, “It was the Lord who put it in my mind, (I could feel his hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvellous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures.” (Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory).
And Columbus sailed with a crew not one of whom had ever been more than three hundred miles offshore.
* * * 
Columbus was honoured by King Ferdinand which aroused some jealousy. His rivals murmured that anyone could have sailed there, and discovered a New World.
Columbus called for some hard-boiled eggs. “Can you make them stand up on end?” he asked his critics at court.
“Of course,” they said, but failed.
He slammed an egg down on the table, and it stood up on its flat, broken end.
“We could do that,” the nobles muttered.
“But you didn’t think of it,” said Columbus. You could have taken my route—but you didn’t think of it. I “thought” of it first.”
* * * 
When I wander around modern art galleries, I frequently hear one matron say to another, “My child could have done that.”
Ah, but did they think of it?
Genius thinks of what no one else has before, and makes it appear simple.
And the Holy Spirit gives us ideas no one has had before, and makes them appear elegant and natural.

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  1. Anita Mathias says

    September 10, 2012 at 11:07 am

    Columbus probably was a man of faith with many blind spots, things which he didn't recognise as sin, and things he did, but continued with anyway–such as his abysmal treatment of the indigenous peoples, and his greed.

    Just looked up divergent thinking, LA. Very interesting. I think both my husband and I have a streak of it. I soon get bored at jobs in which I have to play by the systems rules (and in fact, resign within 6 months), but enjoy running a small business in which I can make up the rules. Same with Roy!

    I think with the explosion of the internet, and the consequent alternative economies, and the increasing opportunities to be self-employed, our world will increasingly reward divergent thinkers! High time too!

  2. LA says

    September 8, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    Sorry, didn't mean to be so curt in my above post…that's what happens when I comment before I'm awake. I wasn't intending to dismiss the part about him being a religious man, but the thing with the egg really caught my attention.

  3. LA says

    September 8, 2012 at 12:39 pm

    Divergent thinking is the lesson here. Look it up in google and read more about it. Absolutely fascinating. One of the main reasons we homeschool because unfortunately our modern schooling inadvertently gets rid of it through this concept that there's only one right answer -to any question. True in chemistry, not so true in literature or art.

    Read “Breakpoint and Beyond” where a group of kindergarteners were given a test – the paper clip test for divergent thinking…a major component of creativity. 98% of the kindergarteners tested in the genius range, after 5 years of formal education, they only scored 50% in the genius range, by high school these exact same kids scored in the 5% range. Same kids followed in a longitudinal study. Columbus likely scored in the genius range even as an adult. Einstein was considered retarded, yes truly, by the education system…because they couldn't stamp out his amazing divergent thinking skills.

    Divergent thinking, a key component in creativity, stamped out by the education system. It's why homeschoolers excel at stuff like Destination Imagination contests (where the kids have to come up with creative solutions to open ended problems). http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/the-case-against-college/2011/08/17/gIQAYy3ILJ_story.html

    This article talks about the fact that employers are looking for this kind of thinking, but feel the education system continues to churn out really good factory workers, which we don't need many of anymore. Columbus probably would have been ridiculed and bullied in our modern schools as well. Divergent thinkers are picked on as non-conformists and “different”.

  4. g.a.b. says

    September 8, 2012 at 10:13 am

    Interesting take on Mr. Columbus, Anita. Didn't know he was a man of faith.

    -Gene

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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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