Archives for 2012

Perhaps heaven will look a little like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Perhaps heaven will look a little like the Hagia Sophia.

This beautiful church was built by the Emperor Justinian in 537 AD and fell to the Turks in 1453.

Oh, desecration, I thought, reading its history. I am so Christian. My ancestors, from the small coastal town of Mangalore on the West Coast of India converted(or were converted) to Catholicism by the Portuguese in the 16th century. I grew up immersed in small town Catholicism—our friendships and social life revolved around church and parish–and then went to a boarding school, where we Catholics were brought up almost like nuns. I became a Mere Christian rather than a Catholic in my twenties. So I’m instinctively Christian.

So to think of beautiful Hagia Sophia, the most sacred space of Eastern Christians, becoming a mosque, the beautiful mosaics of Christ and angels, plastered over, feels a little tragic to me.

Picture of Fragment of Entreaty mosaic with Christ Pantocrator in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey

But when I visited it, it did not feel desecrated. It had strangeness added to its beauty. It’s still beautiful—just the strangest ex-church in Christendom.

* * *

How vividly the clash of civilizations and religions is embodied in this cathedral.

Roy and I took a two term fascinating course in The History of Christianity at Oxford University Continuing Education.

The lecturer felt that Islam was the great enemy of Christianity in the marketplace of ideas, that the clash of these titans would only intensify.

Yes, it must. In their own ways, both religions are absolutist. There is no God, but Allah, and Muhammed is his prophet, Islam says.

“Muhammed?”Christianity asks. “Jesus says, I am the way the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”

Both believe their way is the right way; both are vigorous proselytising religions—unlike, for instance. Hinduism, Buddhism, or Judaism, which are a whole lot more relaxed.

· * *

Well, if there is going to be an inexorable clash of religion and culture between Islam and Christianity, which will wax, and which will wane?

Well, I hope we won’t see too many replays of 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Turks, unaided by her Christian brothers–but who knows?

I do believe though that “victory” will be counter-intuitive. Whichever religion shows more gentleness, more mercy, more love, more goodness, will inexorably “win” in the long run.

Christianity has one of the most counter-intuitive symbols of victory ever. A lamb looking as if it has been slain, seated on the throne.

* * *

Turks are lovely. Friendly, very helpful, kind, smiley and good-humoured. Oh sure, we’ve been over-charged, but charmingly—as well as helped, kindly, freely. I like them. If one has to be cheated when a naïve tourist, out of your depth, let it be as charmingly as here. A free cup of coffee, “in the house,” courteous chat, and then three times the usual price!!

One way God suggests we gauge his heart is to look at our nobler emotions and multiply them by the distance between the heavens and the earth. God tells Jonah, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. ¹¹ And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

If I am so charmed by the good humour and friendliness, the energy and bustle of the citizens of Istanbul, how much more then their creator?

When I travel in non-Christian countries, I feel impatient with the theology which would consign entire nations to hell on the basis of their religion. Fortunately, I do not hear Jesus assigning hell or heaven on the basis of faith alone (have a look at the luminous Matthew 25, the parable of the sheep and goats, among many, many other things Jesus said.)

* * *

And so I wonder if Heaven will be a bit like Hagia Sophia, a lovely, mystical holy place, inexpressibly beautiful and tranquil,

It will have beautiful Jesus and beautiful angels

But also will be beautiful in the way Muslims have appreciated and expressed beauty. It may well be syncretic as the Hagia Sophia, and everyone will feel at home there.

The inner most circle in the central dome of Haghia Sophia

All Theocracies are Potentially Dangerous, whether summoned by the Muezzin’s Chant or Bells

By Anita Mathias

We are staying in the Sultanahmet Suites, Istanbul. The Gold Suites were next door to a mosque, but had 24 hour security. We chose them, well for the security, and someone to ask for help if the wifi died, anything in the apartment malfunctioned, we needed directions to shops, attractions, or the Bosphorus cruise I’d love to take.

But the muezzin’s call at dawn!! Goodness, how loud. How unbearably loud! Beautiful? Well, not to my ears which find Gregorian chant beautiful, but all aesthetic appreciation, of course, is an acquired taste.

But at 5.15 in the morning, to be rudely awakened, with sentiments which must seem platitudinous if you are awakened with them every dawn, and hear them at mid-day, mid-afternoon, at sunset and two hours after sunset besides….

And here a translation of the call, in a call and response form, possibly derived from Judaism and Christianity.

1 Allah u Akbar, Allah u Akbar
— Allah is Great, Allah is Great
2-Ash-hadu al-la Ilaha ill Allah – Ash-hadu al-la Ilaha ill Allah
— I bear witness that there is no divinty but Allah
3 Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullaah
— I bear witness that Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger
4 Hayya la-s-saleah – Hayya la-s-saleah
— Hasten to the prayer, Hasten to the prayer
5 Hayya la-l-faleah – Hayya la-l-faleah
— Hasten to real success, Hasten to real success,
6 Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar
— Allah is Great, Allah is Great
7 La Ilaha ill Allah
— There is no divinity but Allah

The most annoying part is that the chant—which originally required the muezzin to climb his minaret and sing–is now recorded, and for all we know the muezzin is snug in bed, his earplugs on. So, even the poetry of the singing muezzin, awaking the dawn from his minaret is lost!!

* * *

I endured what felt like 20 minutes of this at dawn and felt it was so dictatorial, so demanding for non-Muslims, non-practising Muslims, and Muslims who would rather sleep to be awakened to listen to this.

In a secular society, this would not be permitted. For instance, earlier this month a Nottingham church was fined £360 for praising the Lord too loudly. That’s apparently noise pollution.

There was a vigorous debate in Oxford about the Muslim community’s petition to be permitted to issue these five times a day call to prayers from their mosque in Cowley Road.

Charlie Cleverly, the Rector of the charismatic St. Aldate’s, Oxford (and someone I viscerally disagree with on many things) opposed it because it is “nuisance noise affecting the inhabitants that have to hear it. I feel it is un-English.”

Come on, Charlie, I thought. (Remember what I said about visceral uneasiness and disagreement?) They are here because you were there. If England hadn’t colonised Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Malaysia, there would be no question of a mosque in the centre of Oxford. “English” is a racial term. Why should these Muslims behave like English people, for heaven’s sake!! Did the English behave like Indians in India or Nigerians in Nigeria?

Interestingly, I was corresponding with an Italian Twitter follower, Alberto Farina who works near the Vatican earlier this week. He wrote

I work in fact so close to Vatican that each day there’s a deafening moment when I remember how the Bells always toll for me!

I answered that I hear bells throughout the day in Oxford, and think it’s magical.

To which Alberto Farina said, “I do love bells except when I can’t hear anything but! 😉

Amen.

Cleverly was asked whether bells aren’t similar noise pollution. He replied

“There is a world of difference. Bells are just a signal and have been around for 1,500 years. They are a terribly English part of our culture.”

Besides, “I don’t think the meaning of the Arabic in the call to prayer is neutral.

Well, okay, having 5 onslaughts of the call to prayer so recently has laid to rest any nostalgia for the early morning call to prayer I used to hear when visiting my grandparents in Bombay which competed with the rooster’s crow, and announced a day’s adventures and surprises.

I think I can do without it. I will stick to bells (which, incidentally, I adore).

* * *

And I do not think I would like to live in a theocracy, a Muslim or a Christian one. I read Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale probably 25 years ago, but I don’t think her bleak, dystopian vision of a theocracy is entirely far-fetched. Once you’ve met a few power-hungry, stupid, religious bullies, you’ll agree!

What are the dangers of mixing God and statesmanship? Simply that one can make very stupid political misjudgements while believing that you are prompted to do so by God. George Bush rose before dawn to pray, read his Bible and Oswald Chambers, yet the misguided wars to which he felt led cost the US billions of dollars, thousands of lives, sowed the seeds of hatred in the Muslim world, and who knows what dreadful harvest will be reaped from it? And Tony Blair’s early morning Bible reading, sadly, did not steer him out of Iraq.

Do I trust the conclusions politicians derive from their prayer and Bible reading? Do I want countries to be run, or foreign policy to depend, on what politicians think they hear in their sessions of prayer and Bible study?

No way! Hearing God accurately is an art. It takes a lifetime to master. Remember St. Francis hearing God say, “Rebuild my church,” and so rebuilding St. Damiano where he heard this with money purloined from his father? But, as usual, God was thinking much bigger than we dream.

I think I would rather be governed by people who use their spirits in conjunction with their heads, hearts and the advice of wise peers. Power often attracts the worst people, and I do not believe that power in the hands of very religious people, who believe they hear from God, would necessarily give us a better society than power in the hands of mildly Christian people (like Obama and Cameron) who are also highly intelligent, cool, level-headed and have good judgement.

I once worshipped in a charismatic church in which the Rector and his wife sometimes did foolish and abusive things—and blamed the Holy Spirit for them. “The Holy Spirit told us,” they’d say when embarking on a naked power play, or some patently advantageous, ambition-gratifying ploy.

Can you imagine a nation run like that? No, I guess I support the American Founding Father’s principle of the separation of Church and State.

I want to live in the Kingdom of God within me, and I would love to live in the Kingdom of God in Oxford, in England, in Europe.

And one way to bring this about is by establishing the Kingdom of God in the hearts and spirits of the inhabitants of these beloved places. And let it start with me!

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

By Anita Mathias

I am grateful to my husband, Roy, writing this post!

The inner most circle in the central dome of Haghia Sophia

We had a great time on our first day in Istanbul. The weather was perfect, and the people very friendly.

Haghia Sophia (also spelled Hagia Sophia, and known as Aya Sofya, in Turkish) was originally built by The Emperor Justinian in the 500s, and despite centuries and conquerors that have passed, the structure is still very much the same. Unfortunately, the mosaics are almost entirely destroyed or plastered over.

From the outside, it is rather drab

and a mixture of styles, Byzantine

and Islamic

Once inside you can appreciate the grandeur of what was the largest enclosed space in the world for 1000 years. (Surpassed by the present St. Peter’s, I assume)

Looking up, one sees the main dome

and an upper gallery, which is accessible, and holds the few remaining mosaics (see below), which are definitely worth the climb.

The “marble” is largely painted plaster, and the gold and blue patterns are also beautifully painted plaster. Here are a few:

The mosaics in the original were designed to be view by flickering candle/lamp light. The individual tiles were placed at different angles to they would twinkle in flickering light. The lamps are now electric, do create a magical atmosphere when viewed en masse

Looking up at one of the smaller chandeliers.

An unusual panel high up on the back wall.

The Arabic calligraphic inscriptions are on huge wooden discs attached to the walls. Here is one

The way up to the upper gallery is by way of a cobbled helical ramp rather — than the usual stairs. Why? It was easier to roll huge barrels of lamp up a ramp. Once there, this is the view from “The Empress’s Lodge”, where as the sign says, “she had the best view of the service”.

The carved railing

A glimpse of the Blue Mosque through an upper window. The are very few windows the the Hagia Sophia, as they weaken the structure.

A couple of capitols visible from the upper gallery:

And finally the mosaics which are tucked away in corner, and we almost missed. The following three images are the remains of single large mosaic

The Virgin (Left)

John the Baptist (Right)

Christ (Centre)

The are two other mosaics, which oddly enough feature our two daughters Zoe and Irene

(Emperor John Comnenus, The Virgin and Child, Emperor Irene)

Irene is in the shadow of a pillar, here is a better image of her

Emperor Constatine IX, Christ Panokrantor, and Empress Zoe.

(Wikipedia offers: “In Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator refers to a specific depiction of Christ. Pantocrator or Pantokrator (from the Greek Παντοκράτωρ) is a translation of one of many Names of God in Judaism. When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek as the Septuagint, Pantokrator was used both for YHWH Tzevaot “Lord of Hosts” and for El Shaddai “God Almighty“.
The most common translation of Pantocrator is “Almighty” or “All-powerful”. In this understanding, Pantokratoris a compound word formed from the Greek words for “all” and the noun “strength” (κρατος). This is often understood in terms of potential power; i.e., ability to do anything, omnipotence.Another, more literal translation is “Ruler of All” or, less literally, “Sustainer of the World”. In this understanding, Pantokrator is a compound word formed from the Greek for “all” and the verb meaning “To accomplish something” or “to sustain something” (κρατεω). This translation speaks more to God’s actual power; i.e., God does everything (as opposed to God can do everything).

The Pantokrator, largely an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic theological conception is less common by that name in Western (Roman) Catholicism and largely unknown to most Protestants. In the West the equivalent image in art is known as Christ in Majesty, which developed a rather different iconography.)

As you leave, there is a magnifying mirror that reflects a mosaic above your head. The effect is much more dramatic than this photo:

The Persistence of Beauty: The Dearest Freshness Deep Down Things

By Anita Mathias

The most famous of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople

The Persistence of Beauty: The Dearest Freshness Deep Down Things.

Well, I am in Istanbul for a week. And I’m grateful to Roy for organizing a lovely apartment and the holiday, when he’s rather be home gardening. (Or so he says.)

And I have had a lovely day in airports and on the plane and taxi speed-reading the history of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul.

So rich, so rich in art and beauty, despite the waves and waves of mad, blind, ugly destruction

In the 8^th century, the iconoclasts who opposed the uses of images and icons, ransacked churches and monasteries across the Byzantine Empire, destroying many wonderful works of religious art.

And then, the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade of 1210, hungry for loot and power (backed by the Doge of Venice who hoped to increase his city’s trade by eliminating Constantinople) ransacked Constantinople–motivated by greed and resentment of the Byzantine’s wealth and culture. The artistic treasures and religious relics that had been amassed over the centuries were shipped west—or simply destroyed.

And yet, there is still so much to see. Though much is taken, much remains.

I felt tearful when I visited the stately ruins of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire, the roof destroyed so that the last monks would not return, and still they did, and were chased away. Some became domestic servants, some beggars. Meanwhile, the lead from the monasteries was used for cannon shot in Henry’s wars.

And though I yearn, YEARN for English Heritage or a good Samaritan to restore Rievaulx, Tintern Abbey or the lovely Border Abbeys now in ruins, they are still beautiful and peaceful even in desolation. Still spiritual, they still bestow deep, deep peace.


Gerald Manley Hopkins laments Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;	5
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And then, he cheers up and is comforted, And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;	10
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. Never has, never can.

Darkness is the absence of light. All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish a single candle. A single candle, however, can extinguish a garden’s worth of darkness.

Goodness is always a more powerful force than evil.

This is our father’s world. Always was, always is, always will be.

And so we go forth into it with joy, confidence and singing!!

Listening to your body and emotions as you discern wisdom–and God’s will

By Anita Mathias

Anne Lamott in Travelling Mercies recounts how, pregnant out of wedlock, she goes to her priest and asks if she should have yet another abortion. He says, “get quiet for a moment and then think about having an abortion; if you feel a deep and secret sense of relief, pay attention to that. But if you feel deeply grieved at the thought of it, (listen) to that.”

Ms. Lamott thought of abortion, was “stabbed with grief. And the grief did not pass,” she wrote. She had Sam, and regaled America with her expletive-ridden adventures in raising him.

Ooooh, I thought, flaky. This was the first time I had heard of this method of discernment. I then thought of God’s will as a static treasure to dig for and discern.

(Aside: Recently however, there have been times when I have felt God say, “Up to you.” For instance, when we reached a point at which we no longer needed to expand our publishing business, to pay our bills, I prayed about whether to expand. And I felt God say, “It’s your choice.” I asked Roy, and he wanted to expand it slowly. And so we did. Just as well, as later it provided enough for Roy to resign as a professor of mathematics, and run the business—and that’s one of the best things which has happened to our family!!)

* * *

But, though I initially thought it was flaky, listening to my emotions is one of the tests I began to use when I try to discern God’s will or the right course of action. I ask myself how both alternatives feel, and listen to my feelings and my body.

Sometimes I mindlessly commit to something or decide I should do the normal expected thing, and ask myself how I feel. And I realise I feel no enthusiasm, my stomach clenches. I feel dead, listless at the thought of it. I realize I have made a mistake, and if I can get out of it, I will. Proverbs 6: My son, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, do this, my son, to free yourself, Go—to the point of exhaustion—and give your neighbor no rest! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

A blog reader, Dan from Toucanic recently in fact told me of an Ignatian principle he keeps pinned above his desk

“Regardless of what is sensible, and regardless of what you think you ought to do, which of the courses ahead makes you feel alive, makes your heart open wider, makes you feel hopeful and as if the future is opening up and not closing down? That is the route you should go.”

And Erika, a prolific and formidable blog commentator wrote

“The idea is that whenever you are at a crossroads and don’t know which way to go, you spend a week praying through each alternative. For the first week you pray seriously through following a course that presents itself to you and note how you react. Then you spend a week praying just as seriously about how your life would be and feel if you didn’t follow that course of action – and again see how you react.

You follow the course of “consolation”, not the one of “disconsolation” because that’s the one the Spirit has guided you into.

It helps to have an experienced prayer guide when doing this.

The idea is that God can speak through our intellect as well as through our emotions. Both are equally reliable and equally suspect. If you have thought around a problem and arrived at two equally intellectually credible ways forward, listening deeply to your emotions about them is precisely one way the Spirit can guide you.”

I will explore this more. I am fairly cerebral, and have used Scripture as a guide in decision making for years. However, in dealing with people, I now find that listening to my emotions and intuitions is important.

For instance, often our body and emotions and intuitions can tell us if someone is trustworthy, and truly likes us, or is attempting to deceive or “work” us, and we ignore these bodily signals and trust their words at our peril.

Pedometers, Prayer Walking and the Bible on the Hoof

By Anita Mathias

Image Credit

I love the idea of leverage: actions which yield (financial, psychological, physical, or creative) benefits out of all proportion to the time they take.

I started thinking in those terms when I founded my micro-publishing business. Given that I had limited time, how could I best use my time, talent, energy and money to make the most repeatable income? Now, my husband runs our family business—and I am beginning to apply these ideas to our daily life.

What small changes can I make in my daily life which will yield big benefits? Being tidy and decluttering is one. Paying off my mortgage and investing even small surpluses is another. Healthy eating. And exercise!!

“Exercise is good for you in almost every way,” as an article in today’s New York Times said. It returns the time expended many times over in deeper sleep, improved concentration and cognitive function, better mood, and probably increased creativity.

The only problem with exercise (for me!) is the doing of it! By temperament, I’d happily stay in bed with my laptop and books, and have a pj day everyday.

* * *

Ah, the only way to change one’s life is to initiate several small micro-changes in one’s daily habits.

So I did two things. I got an Omron pedometer, supposedly the best pedometer. 10,000 steps a day (5 miles over the course of the day) is meant to be enough for basic fitness.

I have been steadily increasing this—am at 8000 now–and will reach 10,000 before our holiday in Istanbul this weekend. Sadly, one cannot reach 10,000 steps in the course of a normal day’s activities. Most people reach a mere 3000. It takes one or two walks.

And how do I find the time for that?

Well, I reluctantly substituted my precious 45-60 minutes of soaking prayer for prayer walking. See David Cooke’s excellent post on the practice. And Lee Merrill’s guest post on my blog on her prayer walks.

The experience of praying on the hoof is different. It calls for quite an adjustment. Prayer walking, around the perimeters of our 1.5 acre property, and then on the fields and farms around us, is more distracting, especially in my own orchard and huge vegetable garden, as I see things which need to be done. My thoughts wander far more than when in my room, face down, in an attitude of surrender.

And, it’s April now. It’s spring.

Oh, to be in England now that April ’s there
And whoever wakes in England sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough	5
In England—now!

Robert Browning wrote. Indeed! As I walk through our woods, and field after field, up on the ridge, surveying Garsington, and the hills around Oxford, and the birds sing, and the trees break forth into songs of blossom, I feel ecstatic. Full of joy breaking forth.

I pray, or maybe the beauty of the day prays through me in glorious praise. It’s not me and the Lord having a little business meeting, or a tutorial, or editorial session or a mentoring session as when I pray about my other concerns. It’s me speechless, just praising God (in tongues!) for the beauty and the loveliness and the joy in the air. (I live in the country, in a particularly lovely part of lovely Oxfordshire, IMO.)

Ah, Glorious distraction. It is perhaps no coincidence that the only instructions (I can think of) that Jesus gave us as to where we should pray was this,
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Mt. 6:6.

But because I have been trying to shift weight, and have only shifted 6.5 pounds in the last 3 months, I need to continue to make daily changes. And so making a sedentary activity I do daily an ambulatory one will be a good change. As well as helping me towards that elusive 10,000 steps on the pedometer.

I guess I will have to rely on some of the old “formulae” for prayer—such as the Lord’s Prayer– to keep my thoughts focussed. Andrew Wingfield-Digby, Vicar of St. Andew’s, Oxford, which we’ve attended for a year (and former chaplain of England’s cricket team and currently head chaplain of the international team of chaplains at the 2012 London Olympics) goes on two prayer walks a day, and his formula is TRIP, thanksgiving, repentance, intercession, praise, which I think I will use. The old one ACTS has language too outdated for me to connect with—adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, supplication.

* * *

I have also been jogging (well, to be accurate, trying to jog) 3 days a week for the last few months, while listening to the Bible in a Year on my iPhone. So I am almost up to date with that.

I think the Bible needs a good editor!! Putting unedited Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy so early on makes it hard to persevere and get to the better stuff.

Perhaps listening while jogging is the best way to go. You enjoy the hints of the coming Christ; you enjoy the symbolism which Christ will enact, like the blood of the lamb on the gate posts to avert the angel of death; the scapegoat who goes into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people; and the Day of Atonement–but you have the consolation of the endorphins and your body’s “grateful pain,” happiness in its discomfort, to comfort you as jog along through the endless rules and regulations of Leviticus.

Am on Deuteronomy 30 now, so happy to report that I have womanfully jogged through Numbers and Leviticus and most of Deuteronomy!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Blog. The Amazing Benefits and Considerable Disadvantages of Daily Blogging

By Anita Mathias

I began blog seriously two years ago today. So Happy Second Birthday, Dreaming Beneath the Spires.

What I like about blogging

1 1) Social Benefits:

Blogging has exploded my social universe. I have met dozens of genial, congenial fellow bloggers or readers through my blog. This has been a surprise.

My world has dramatically expanded. Roy and I were reflecting that well over half the people we have met up with over the year have been people I know through my blog. These have been pleasurable and interesting encounters, and some people I met through my blog have become my real friends, and some real friends who read my blog know me better, warts and all.

Research suggests that blogging helps your social life. Bryan Allain claims that if you continue blogging, your best friends two years from now will be people you haven’t yet met. That’s true for some of my current very good friends.

2) Psychological Benefits:

A psychological benefit of blogging is that it keeps you current with your inner life. The commitment to daily blogging means that you process your thoughts, feelings and emotions—and share the results in public!!—which means you better process them thoroughly!

The unexamined life caused much unhappiness, I believe. You know…when you are not sure why you are doing what you are doing; when you are not living the life you want, but are too busy to slow down and revise it; the vague sense of dissatisfaction when your life is not aligning with your dreams, hopes, ideals and ambitions.

Blogging helps you slow down and examine your life. A study shows that bloggers report feeling less anxious, depressed and stressed after two months.

And the affirmation kindly readers offer you, and the psycho-social benefits of interaction with them, in cyberspace or real life, is not to be underestimated.

3) Spiritual Benefits:

My blog is primarily a spiritual one, concerned with the intersection of faith and daily life.

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” novelist E.M. Forster famously wrote. Spiritual blogging has helped me work through my thoughts, ideas and feelings and see things more clearly. I have not infrequently written a post that ended up saying the exact opposite of what I initially set out to say. Or, I have nuanced, moderated or broadened my ideas mid-post.

We don’t devote enough time to probing and examining our spiritual ideas, puzzlings and wonderments. Writing a spiritual blog daily helps us to hound these down.

4) Physical Benefits

I wouldn’t have thought something as sedentary as blogging would have any physical benefits, but apparently it does.

Scientific American: “But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, and boosts immune cell activity. Blogging triggers dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art.”

5 Character: Writing online every day, even if just a brief diary entry of your thoughts, feelings and experiences is a discipline. And you mature and change, as so many inchoate half thoughts become fully formed and firmly expressed.

Disadvantages of Daily Blogging

1) The biggest one is the time it takes. It does, however, take significantly less time than it did at first. I write so much faster than I did. I get so much more right the first time.

And I anticipate being even quicker in another year. However, I do budget an hour a day to write 2 post (revise today’s and draft tomorrow’s), and 20 minutes to read and comment on other blogs. If I haven’t got the day’s post finished and the next day’s drafted in an hour, I take another hour.

So to be get anywhere with blogging–my blog is ranked 21 among the UK’s Religion and Faith blogs—takes time: an hour or two a day, if we are to be honest.

2) It’s sedentary, indoor, intense work. As such it may not be ideal for a writer whose “real” work is sedentary and indoors.

3) I have not found it compatible with writing books, which is where my heart reallyis. Am still struggling to find a way to balance the blogging and “real writing.” I have been able to do some real writing over the last month, so I have hope.

4) Very personal first-person blogging, as I do, is, not devoid of risk. You may well reveal things about yourself which you later wish you hadn’t, and you definitely risk giving the wrong impression of yourself (as any autobiographical writer who writes in short daily installments does). Then you reveal things about yourself which you are unaware you have revealed, and you glaringly reveal things about yourself which you yourself are still oblivious of.

5) Outspoken posts, or those in which one rashly refers to recognisable individuals, can make you enemies. Ouch! You might even have to change your churchJ.

Challenges

1 My blogs are so much better when I write them the day before, and get to sleep over them. I sometimes get to do this, and would like to do it as a regular practice. Which takes organisation.

2) Finding a way to combine writing books with blogging.

Questions and request for feedback

1) My blog has been a focused Christian one. However, I am thinking of branching out to other things which interest me. See this, In Praise of Naps.

Would you like to read posts on subjects other than faith or would you prefer a focused Christian blog?

2) Which kinds of posts are your favourite?

3) Would be grateful for any other feedback you’d like to offer—on blog design, content, or anything under the sunJ

Thank you for reading my blog, dear readers!

* * *
And here are some stats, to look back to next year, for I guess, I am committed to daily blogging:-)

Followers on Google, 115, On Facebook, 101

Blogger Stats

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Prayer-Walking, A Guest Post by Lee Merrill

By Anita Mathias

Walking with Jesus

“…pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV)

Have you ever met someone who wakes up before the roosters to exercise? Yeah, well I’m not one of them. I hate exercise and spent most of my life, thus far, trying to avoid it. Now that I’m in my 40’s, my body refuses to drop much weight unless I pair a healthy eating plan with regular exercise. Walking is one of the few exercises I can do, considering my clumsiness and lack of coordination, so I’m trying to develop the habit of taking evening walks at least three days per week.

To make my evening walks tolerable, I take along a sweet companion: Jesus. Some folks call it prayer walking or praise walking, but I just call it going on “our walks.”

Let me take you on one of our walks to help you understand what I mean.

With the street lights illuminating sidewalks, my walking shoes create a steady rhythm for a praise song. I spend the first several minutes telling the Lord how awed I am by His character and creativity. Nature sings along with my song. Breeze blows through branches filling my nose with the scent of orange blossoms and honeysuckle. Bougainvillea drapes fuchsia over block fences. Jacaranda trees litter sidewalks with tiny, violet blooms.

After a while, the Lord and I begin to process my day. I confess the sharp words I snapped at my son when he missed the bus again. I hear His prompting to apologize to my son when I get home.

With my son’s face in my mind, I pour out my momma worries and wonderings. I ask the Lord to show me how to love my three sons better. I beg Him to capture their hearts and to show them the way. I thank Him for entrusting my husband and me with such priceless gifts.

My mind shifts to my sweetie sanding his latest woodworking project in the garage. I pray God’s loving protection over his life and our marriage. I pray for his heart to be encouraged after a long, trying day at work. I ask the Lord to give me a deeper, more sacrificial love for my man.

I see young teenagers playing basketball at the park, and my mind wanders to my job as a school teacher. I pray for guidance in how to help Pedro learn to read at age 12. I pray for patience with Bobby who knows how to push my buttons. I plead healing for one co-worker’s broken marriage and another’s husband, who is battling cancer. I ask for opportunities to share Christ in bold and subtle ways.

A woman coasts by on a bicycle. Her blonde hair wisps in front of her eyes as she smiles a hello. She reminds me of my nephew’s soon-to-be bride. I thank God for giving my nephew a godly woman with whom he can share his life. I pray for their upcoming wedding to be beautiful and for their marriage to be even more so.

As I turn the corner on to a busier street, I see a mother with two young kids sitting on a bus stop bench. Her weariness weighs heavy on my heart. I ask God to whisper a love song in her ear to help her feel less alone.

Cars of all kinds zip by blowing their hot hurry in my direction. I pray for my city to be still and know He is God. I hear a siren in the distance and pray protection and provision for all involved in the crisis. I pass a church and ask God to use that body of believers to show His love to our community and beyond. Then I pray for my church, for my pastor, for my children’s Bible teachers, and for my own heart. I thank God for my church family and the privilege of worshiping and serving alongside them.

My legs start to ache from all that walking. My eyes strain for signs of the end of the trail. I thank God for a strong body and a safe neighborhood. I thank God for being with me, always. I thank Him for my neighbors as I pass their homes, one-by-one. I ask Him to meet them in the middle of their deepest needs. I ask Him to show me how to be a better neighbour and friend.

My husband is still sanding away in the garage. He grins at me as I clomp my tired feet through his saw dust. “How was your walk?” he asks.

“Great!” I declare, surprising myself. For someone who hates exercise, I had a great time!

A Southern magnolia transplanted in the Arizona desert, Lee Merrill (LeeBird) likes to call herself a full-time encourager. Whether she’s teaching junior high kids with special needs at her day job or penning prayer gifts on her blog at night, Lee is all about motivating herself and others to fly!

Her biggest fans are her husband, Cliff, and their three sons, Garrett, Logan, and Jacob. They share a cluttered but happy home with two Shihtzus and a bearded dragon named Charlie.

Get to know Lee by subscribing to her blog at http://prayergifts.net, friending her on FaceBook at http://facebook.com/leebirdmerrill, or following her on Twitter at @LeeBirdFree.

Let’s fly!

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