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Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. And a Musing on what the Arts are Good for

By Anita Mathias

midnight-in-parisI had a magical Sunday morning in Oxford, watching Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. I bought the DVD, because it was Woody Allen, without having read reviews.

And so I was particularly enchanted. Here was Zelda, as edgy and high-energy and fragile as Scott Fitzgerald depicts her in Tender is the Night. And charming Scott himself. Hemingway, talking in complex, monosyllabic sentences. Gertrude Stein, a brash, rich, arty lesbian who berates the artists and writers in her circle, comes across just as she does in the oddest autobiography/biography ever written, “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,” which Stein kindly wrote for her lover and companion, Alice!

T.S. Eliot appears, measuring out his life with coffee spoons. And artists—Dali, Picasso, Degas, Gaugin, and Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Luis Bunuel. The magic of a late-career director, free, liberated, confident and playful. Loved it!

* * *

 There were years in my twenties and thirties in which I immersed myself in the arts obsessively—in reading poetry, and novels, and essays, in haunting art galleries, and watching good films and now that my daughters are older and self-reliant I am so enjoying soaking up the arts again.

That’s one of the great gifts of the arts: Lethe. Forgetting everything. Forgetting time, sorrow, failure, undone tasks.

And that’s a great gift, isn’t it? Forgetfulness, and being immersed in beauty, and the greatest wisdom the artist learned. Camus wrote, “If man needs bread and justice, and if what has to be done must be done to serve this need, he also needs pure beauty, which is the bread of his heart.”

The arts are one of the most enriching and delightful ways we can spend our time. I can only persist on my long walks (now morphing into runs) because I am immersed in a good audiobook: I listen to a mixture of novels, memoirs or spiritual books.

* * *

 I went through three and a half difficult years from 2006 to 2009, when I was first trying to establish, then trying to run, our family business.

During that time, I barely read books, barely watched movies, rarely went to the art galleries and museums I so adore. I guess I felt a little bit would be a painful reminder of how much I used to read and write and enjoy the arts, and the longing and sadness would be too intense.

But also, I had more urgent questions to which I needed the answer, riddles I needed to solve partly because I was working so hard which made my life so hard that I could cry just thinking about it!

And the questions to which I urgently needed answers were: How do I find joy and happiness? How do I hear the voice of God? How can I be filled with the Spirit? How do I live continually in the waterfall of God’s presence and power? And always, always, “Lord, teach me to pray.”

And I have found some answers, and am burrowing away in the right direction to experience the full richness of other answers.

* * *

 Though I am stunned that I took such a long break from reading, for reading has always been my life’s greatest pleasure, I am not heartbroken I did so.

The arts do not solve life’s ultimate riddles. They can help you forget the passing of time if your spouse leaves you, or suddenly dies; if you lose your job, or are reduced to bankruptcy, if your health vanishes, or your friends; if illness or mental illness comes calling.

But they do not even begin to answer the great questions of Why?

Why was I born? What does God want me to do with my life? How do I find joy and peace? Or the power to conquer bad habits, sin and addictions? How do I find that constant high that Jesus describes–“That my joy may be in you, and your joy be full,” (John 15:11).

To find these answers, we need to burrow into God, and into the Word of God.

* * *

 But just as man does not live by bread alone, very few of us are called to live by the Word of God alone.

I can happily read my Bible, pray or read Christian books for a couple of hours or so.

Then I want life. I want to move, to run with an audiobook. I want to garden. To get my house tidy. To have coffee with a friend.

I want to write. I want to read.

God gives us both the richest of foods of Scripture (Psalm 63:5), and the bread of the arts, and for both I am grateful

* * *

Christ is the sturdy, magnificent, all-encompassing world vine, whose sweet life gives life to all things.

And when his life flows through us, and we begin seeing through  his eyes, life—and the arts– becomes even sweeter: books and poetry and gazing at paintings and going to the ballet and lazy films in bed with the Sunday morning coffee.  All things were created through him, and in him all things hold together, Col 1: 16-17.

 

 

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Comments

  1. Jennie Bishop says

    October 11, 2012 at 1:20 am

    Now you know some folks’ first reaction is going to be, “What? You skipped church to watch Woody Allen?” They don’t understand. But I do! (:

    I was considering your analogy of the bread being art and the honey being scripture. I guess I’ve always thought of them the other way round, but I liked considering your way. Instead of scripture being the staple, being the delight. Very refreshing. Although if I had to choose one over the other I do think I’d choose scripture to survive and then make my own art. As always, I love reading your blogs, Anita.

    • Anita Mathias says

      October 11, 2012 at 8:33 am

      On the first Sunday of the month, our church as an “all-age” service, which the kids conduct, and the sermon is aimed at them. We went when our kids were little, but no longer.

      But I skipped the evening service too. Had lead a Bible study on Friday,and to a two hour talk on how to lead a Bible study on Saturday, and so thought I had assembled together enough for the week. “For freedom Christ has set us free!!”

      Yes, I too would choose scripture to survive. Funny, there are so many metaphors of scripture–the richest of foods, bread, honey. I guess I got carried away with Camus’s metaphor of beauty as bread!!

      I guess Scripture is the main course, and chief nourisher, and the arts are an appetizer and dessert.

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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.
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#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. * * *
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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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