Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

What I am into (Feb 2013 edition) and Progress on New Year’s Goals

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Retreats. I spent 4 days in Wales at Fflad-y-Brenin in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is a very creative place, known for the dreams, visions and ideas people receive while staying there (according to the founder, Roy Godwin). Though I had set the time aside to seek God, ideas kept coming, and I wrote several blog posts, which I will be posting slowly. So it turned out to be a writing retreat, rather than a seeking God retreat. Sigh!

God is everywhere all the time of course, but sometimes, one needs to make a hard stop; turn off other distractions and seek him in a concentrated, concerted way to hear him. I oddly hear God far better and receive more direction for my life on holidays and retreats than when at home. Is it the lack of possessions and clutter, or just the break from familiar routines? I don’t know.

And Wales—well, it was cold, wet and beautiful!!4-DSCN6174

Ffald-y-Brenin, the Farmhouse, the Hermitage, the Beehive Chapel, and the main residential building (left to right)

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Walking. Taking a WalkFit Course with Joanna Hall in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Though, well, I should have learnt to walk as a toddler, I am conscious that I walk very slowly compared to “normal” people. Joanna’s technique is adding speed—oh, and endorphins and pleasure to my walks. Long strides, leave on the toes, arrive on the heel, stand tall, head straight, draw up your thighs and pelvis, suck in your abs. Complex, but you incorporate these things slowly. My posture is improving, and I am walking faster and more. Joanna has us walk up a hill counting steps. And then again, and again, shaving 5% off our steps each time.

And I am finally walking the recommended 10,000 steps a day. And it is a lot.

Exploring. Loved being a tourist in London after my course. We spent a magical, fascinating afternoon poking around Westminster Abbey, amid those mass of monuments, especially enjoying Poet’s Corner. I adored the mosaics at St Paul’s!

A few of the memorials in Poets Corner

A few of the memorials in Poets Corner

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Brass floor inlay, Westminster Abbey (St. George)

Brass floor inlay, Westminster Abbey (St. George)

The Cloister, Westminster Abbey

The Cloister, Westminster Abbey

South Towers of Westminster Abbey from the cloister

South Towers of Westminster Abbey from the cloister

Houses of Parliament from the Cloister, Westminster Abbey .

Houses of Parliament from the Cloister, Westminster Abbey .

Now some images from St. Paul’s

 St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral
Ceiling Mosiac in St. Paul's Cathedral

Ceiling Mosiac in St. Paul’s Cathedral

Decoration, St. Paul's Cathedral

Decoration, St. Paul’s Cathedral

Decoration on a column, St. Paul's Cathedral

Decoration on a column, St. Paul’s Cathedral

Chapel dedicated to American Fallen Servicemen from World War II

Chapel dedicated to American Fallen Servicemen from World War II

William Holman Hunt's grave. One of the many in the crypt of St. Paul's. The largest is Lord Nelson's.

William Holman Hunt’s grave. One of the many in the crypt of St. Paul’s. The largest is Lord Nelson’s.

Theatre—Enjoyed Mr. Darwin’s Tree, a one-act play, a memoir of Darwin.  And The Winter’s Tale at Stratford-on-Avon

Reading—Enjoyed Hamlet’s Dresser, a memoir of salvation from sadness through immersion in Shakespeare. Enjoying Saul Bellow’s rumbunctious Adventures of Augie March. 

Progress on New Year’s Goals  

Week of Goal Km Actually done Km
Jan-07 29.6
Jan-14 33.6 Ice 13.6
Jan-21 14.96 snow 16.4
Jan-28 19.69 23.36
Feb-28  25.69  28.37
Mar-10 31

 

Weight (lb) Cum. Loss
Jan 1st 233
Jan 13th 231.8 -1.2
Jan 20th 229.2 -3.8
Jan 27th  229.6  -3.4
Feb-03 229.4 -3.6
Feb-29  227.8  -5.2
Mar-10  226.8 goal

 Domestic Order 

Feb 4,BEFORE

Feb 4,BEFORE

Feb 28, AFTER

Feb 28, AFTER

A project for next week–lots of shelf space for excess books around the house!

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Linking up with What I’m Into at HopefulLeigh.

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Comments

  1. Congrats on your progress…I am, as you can see slowly getting back into the swing of reading and keeping up with my blogs more. I’m glad that you find God at the bottom of your inkwell as opposed to the bottom of your laundry basket. Not every encounter of God is going to come from a place of complete non-doing. That time around, maybe to encounter God best was as the ink flowed from the pen and the words escaped your brain into cyberspace. God touches us in the way HE wants to, not always the way we’re expecting. I read the whole “God coming in a whisper” passage differently. He came in a whisper because he was expected in a shout. If the prophet was listening for a whisper, I believe God would come in a shout. We do to know the hour or the means by which he contacts us, so we must be alert to his contact however that may occur and it is likely to be unsuspecting. Which is why I don’t seek God as much as make a place in my heart for him to be welcome and I expect the unexpected. So, no sigh needed after saying it turned into a writing retreat…because the bottom of your inkwell is where God was waiting for you that time and you found him there.

    BTW, I use the whole “God at the bottom of the laundry basket” thing all the time with my women friends…it holds a fantastic message for women and ministries of the church. It always elicits a giggle and a triumphant “yes, that’s so true!!!” You have created a meme!

    • Thanks, LA. Yes, I guess God is always surprising. I hope I am beginning to learn to be open to him in whichever way he chooses to reveal himself–in words, or silence, or even, I guess, laundry!!

  2. Your retreat in Wales looks and sounds heavenly! I could use some more bookshelf space. Have fun filling that up!

    Thanks for linking up with What I’m Into!