Anita Mathias | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

The Last Human Freedom: To Choose One’s Own Attitude in Any Circumstances (From Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning)

Victor Frankl (credit)

I just stumbled upon a Facebook photograph of an older person I know, in her seventies. Her face was sad, so sad. It was chilling.

Viktor Frankl, the psychologist who was in a Nazi concentration camp, believed that our last human freedom is that we get to choose the attitude we will adopt in any circumstances. It is our most inalienable human right.

We are practising. Always practising. The attitude we choose now, the “face” we choose now, will be our attitude and face in our seventies, and eighties and nineties.

Okay, then, Anita, I say to myself, where’s that smile?

* * *

Excerpt from Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

“What about human liberty? Is there no spiritual freedom in regard to behaviour and reaction to any given surroundings?

Most importantly, do prisoners’ reactions to the singular world of the concentration camp prove that man cannot escape the influences of his surroundings? Does man have no choice of action in the face of such circumstances?

The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

And there were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity to become moulded into the form of the typical inmate.

Seen from this point of view, the mental reactions of the inmates of a concentration camp must seem more to us than the mere expression of certain physical and sociological conditions. Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insufficient food and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone.

Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him—mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp. It is this spiritual freedom—which cannot be taken away—that makes life meaningful and purposeful.”

In which there is Poetic Justice, for God is a Poet, but there is also Mercy

By Anita Mathias

Even while Esau was out hunting his father’s favourite wild game, Jacob and Rebecca slaughtered and cooked two choice young goats. Jacob served these to Isaac, pretending to be Esau, stealing Esau’s blessing.

A cruel deception.

And, uncannily, years later, in his own old age, Jacob’s sons sold his favourite son into slavery, dipping Joseph’s precious robe in the blood of a slaughtered goat, claiming he had been killed by a wild beast.

Tricked with a goat, just as he had tricked his own father with a goat.

* * *

The seeds we sow, we reap, measure for measure. They lie dormant in the earth, sometimes for years, then yield their harvest.

The good we have done yields blessing, and the evil we’ve done conjures shadowy forces against us.

And that’s scary if we have sown bad seeds, have said and done less than luminous things, things we are now ashamed of.

* * *

But we do not live in a mechanical universe. We live in a just universe, shot through by mercy like a golden cord.

The law of sowing and reaping is the deep magic from the dawn of time, in C. S. Lewis’s phrase. However there is a more powerful force still: the force of mercy, unleashed by the willing victim who bore in his body the punishment for all the bad seeds we have ever sown.

And so mercy triumphs over justice. The deep magic from before the dawn of time.

Jacob recovers Joseph; Esau was, in fact, blessed.

* * *

For myself, I want to sow good seed for the rest of my life.

But the bad seed I have sown? The things I am ashamed of? The things I did because of my small, bewildered, wounded heart?

I confess them.

I ask God’s forgiveness. I ask Christ’s blood to cover them.

And I step into the waterfall of mercy, the mercy that triumphs over justice because the One who loves the world is good.

I ask him to let all the bad seeds I’ve sown, which are still dormant, die.

And I ask him for grace to overplant much good seed to crowd out the bad seed.

And I ask him, the ultimate genetic engineer, to somehow, even now, change the DNA of the bad seed I’ve planted, and bring good from them.

And I place my life and future in His hands.

Holly Grantham kindly hosted this. Thanks Holly.

My One Word for 2014: Alignment

By Anita Mathias

This the first year that I have chosen One Word for the year.

“One word that sums up who you want to be or how you want to live.

One word that you can focus on every day, all year long.

Your one word will shape not only your year, but also you. It will become the compass that directs your decisions and guides your steps.”

I had thought of choosing “Nothing” last year, as in “The Son can do nothing by himself.” (John 5:19) or “By myself, I can do nothing,” (John 5:30)—but it seems a bit too “Click on me” and attention-seeking, like a trick One Word.

My hope was that I would do nothing—not choose a holiday destination, blog topic, activity, or conflict, without checking in with Him. But perhaps it is providential that I never did write that post, for I have failed. J

* * *

I played with a couple of words this year. Exponential, a word inspired by Idelette who describes it: Not one plus one plus one. 1 + 1 + 1 but the zing of multiplication.

Oh, Lord, I thought: I want that, I need that, in my writing and in my life.

I could write so much more than I do. I could lose so much more weight. I could use my time so much better. I need your wind in my sails.

* * *

The other word I wanted and desired was “acceleration.”

Then I thought of that Ignatian question, “How do these words make me feel?”

Short answer: Tired.

Nope, they were not for me. The updraft of the Holy Spirit was not in them.

They were fine as prayer requests, as free gifts from God, but not as goals.

* * *

So I choose another word which is the real, true desire of my heart: Alignment.

I visualise God as a waterfall tumbling with good ideas. The ideas we need to blog better, to run a home or business better, to get healthier or parent better are found in Him (a bit like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter, but one for good ideas). I want to bring my mind, spirit and imagination in alignment with him.

I see Jesus as a very kind person who knew how to love. I want to bring my heart in alignment with his.

I can be full of nervous energy, bursting with ideas, plans, dreams, schemes and ambitions. I want to bring these into alignment with the dream He has for me–for He has a dream for me, just as I have a dream for each of my daughters.

He is wisdom. I picture his wisdom as a straight golden ray of light, like you sometimes see on sunny days in Oxford. I want to step into that ray of golden light, in alignment with him.

All of us do, achieve, produce a fraction of what we are capable of, and a fraction of what we want to because we fritter away our energy on ideas, activities and plans which are out of alignment with who we really are; with the dreams and ambitions we have for ourselves; and the destiny our Heavenly Father has in mind for us.

I want to submit what I write, where I travel, what I buy, what projects I take on to my Father’s wisdom. I want them to be in alignment with his ideas.

I want to slow down, to live deliberately, in Thoreau’s phrase. Ah, that would be another nice resolution: “I will live my life slowly!”

* * *

One last reason I want to be in alignment with God: He is truly a waterfall of ideas. When I am still and quiet and listen, ideas and creativity flow, more ideas for blog posts than I have time to write.

When I am tired, I feel a bit insecure, too middle-aged, not disciplined enough, not energetic enough, not well-read enough.

When God’s people tell him about their inadequacies, he does not bother to reassure them. (Some of these things may well be true!!)

He has another solution.

* * *

This was Jeremiah’s response to his prophetic call:

“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

⁷But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’

⁹Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jer 1 6-9)

Alignment: When God puts words in your mouth.

Or as the Lord reassured Moses,

“The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:11

For that, one must be in alignment.

* * *

When we are in alignment, God helps us speak and teaches us what to say, and a blog post or essay or talk which could take hours or days can be done rapidly, and is exponentially better too.

Exponentially better, exponentially faster, exponentially more—the only way I know to bring off any of the above so that the very thought does not weary me is:

Alignment.

So Lord, take 2014. Make it an amazing year in my life, the best so far. And let me live it in alignment with you.

When One Simple Change can Shift Things in Your Life

By Anita Mathias

Me with the lovely ladies from my church, St. Andrew’s, Oxford. We’ve just done the 5K Race for Life. I have lost 47 pounds since then!!

Michael Hyatt urges his readers to take up running. He says, “Just by beginning, you will feel your life begin to shift.” “Things shifting”–I heard that phrase a lot in Charismatic circles, things shifting in heavenly realms, due to our prayers or God’s sovereign will, a shift later evident on earth.

But, of course, things can also begin to shift due to our own actions, which can unleash a cascade of positive changes.

And rather to my own surprise, I’ve discovered in mid-life that getting more physically active is one of the best way to shift things in our lives, whether writers’ block, or the sluggishness which leads to messiness, weight gain, ill-health, and general malaise.

And so, once again, I am taking up running. I have tried running before, actually love how great it makes me feel, but give it up because I get into it too fast, and then exhaust myself. Not this time!! I am using this Christian Couch to 5K podcast, which I intend to follow by the letter.

* * *

And how do I expect to see my life begin to shift?

Thinking back on the only physical challenges I successfully completed: the 5K Race for Life in Oxford, and a 7K in Hyde Park, London,

I expect:

I will sleep solidly, and wake earlier and well-rested.

My brain will be flooded with endorphins, serotonin and dopamine, powerful neurotransmitters which affect mood. I will feel more euphoric.
This alertness and sense of well-being (and the good sleep) will lead to writing more, and better.
The time and energy expended training will naturally lead to eating healthily, both for the energy to exercise, and through a natural desire not to sabotage myself.
My metabolism will change through gaining more metabolically active muscle, thus burning more calories even when at rest; so, God willing, I should continue to lose weight.
Spiritually, I really sense God on long walks.
When I walk 3-4 miles a day, I use the rest of my time
I will have more confidence for the other challenges of my life.

Enormous changes through the simple act of committing to the discipline of running. So much of our health, mental health and the outcome of our lives lies in our own hands; it makes me feel sad that I did not commit to vigorous exercise earlier.

Of course, as Charles Duhigg says in his fascinating The Power of Habit, exercise is just one of the “keystone habits” which change your life. Exercising discipline in any of these areas gradually helps you be disciplined in the others: paying off debt; early rising; healthful eating (and as Flylady says) running an orderly, organized house.

I’ve heard it said, “If you got the benefits of exercise in a pill, you’d do anything to get it.” Instead, it’s available free at the end of a three mile walk—particularly if it’s walked daily!

The “I Don’t Do” List Makes Possible the “I Do” List. You Must Revise Your Life

By Anita Mathias

Have you ever thought of creating “I Don’t Do” lists instead of being “crazy-busy?” Check out Shauna Niequist’s or Mary DeMuth’s or Ann Lamott’s.

These lists have humility at their heart. You realize that if your goals differ from every other mum’s in church or at the school gate you cannot do what every other mum at church or at the school gate does. And this fact will come with some sadness and a sense of failure, and you accept that.

You recognize that you are never, never going to do what God has called you to do if you try to do everything that everyone else does. You realize that you can, at most, do one thing well, and so you focus.

* * *

Here is my extreme list, formulated through trial and error, through doing the opposite, and wearing myself out.

What I Don’t Do

1) I don’t cook. At all. I have never learned to. Fortunately for me, I am an erratic cook. And a messy one. Fortunately, for me, too, my husband Roy is an excellent cook.

2) I don’t clean. At all. We do have a splendid cleaner, and have weekly four hour cleans.

3) I don’t enter stores!! Roy buys food. I buy clothes, books, and everything else I need online. And I only shop online for a definite need, not even looking at catalogues or websites or sales. No frivolous shopping any more.

4) I don’t volunteer at my children’s schools. At all. I did some when Zoe was little for the joy it gave her, but I did not enjoy the experience, and would rather relate to my kids one-on-one.

5) I don’t do gyms any more, but walk and do yoga instead.

6) I don’t take meals round for people, except for close friends or in cases of genuine need. I did do that for several women who were ill or had babies, but the sight of the husband lolling with the remote control while we rushed there with their dinner was too galling.

Men are not genetically incapable of boiling spaghetti, grating cheese and chopping a salad, and women should not impose on the good will of other women by asking for meals to be brought around in an age of grocery stores with healthy cooked meals and delivery services. Rant over.

6B) I resent the trivia which churches decide is women’s work. I resist calls on women to serve coffee at church breakfasts; hot cross buns at Easter, and mulled wine at Christmas. Men can heft a decanter of coffee or mulled wine as well as I. Flowers, altar linen, laying out the elements—nah!! Women’s poetry reading and carol services during the work day. Nah!

7) I don’t “do” Christmas. I treat it as a time for rest.

What I Do Do

1) I do pray every day.

Without it, I lose my way, get depressed, forget priorities, get angry about silly things (notice my rant about meals), waste my time, waste my life.

2) I pretty much read or listen to my Bible every day. Many small tweaks in my daily life spring from my daily Bible reading.

Without Bible reading, I would soon lose my enthusiasm and passion for Christ, and for living as a Christian. That’s a fact.

3) I write every day.

4) I read every day.

5) I exercise pretty much every day, as much for mental health as well as for physical health.

6) And I nap every day I need to. Essential if I am to drag myself from my bed somewhat early.

7) We eat a family dinner together almost every day, and family lunches at weekends.

7B I spend time with friends twice a week

(P.S. I’d love to say 8) I wake up at 5 a.m. every day, but sadly, that wouldn’t be true L

Gosh, how much I had to cut to get this into place, and how much more unnecessary “fat” there is to cut. Facebook and Twitter, anyone?

Anne Lamott again: Every single day I try to figure out something I no longer agree to do. You get to change your mind—your parents may have accidentally forgotten to mention this to you. I cross one thing off the list of projects I mean to get done that day.

How about you? What’s on your “I Don’t list”, and on your “I Do list?”

Why I want to go to Tonle Batie, Cambodia with Tearfund

By Anita Mathias

I am applying to travel with Tearfund to Cambodia, to the village of Tonle Batie, near Pnomh Penh.

Cambodia endured extreme economic and social devastation during the years of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, which has left a legacy of widows and orphans; of people who find it difficult to trust each other enough to work together; and a generation without the education to swiftly escape poverty.

I have watched interviews with Yiv Toch, a hardworking mum, and with Gneam, 65, who had lost her husband to malnutrition under the Khymer Rouge, and, then, her second husband (given her in one of Pol Pot’s forced marriages). Both have no margin against hunger or sickness, save borrowing at 120%.

However, the local church, largely composed of recent converts, (and their energetic volunteer Pastor Ke Pich, a Tearfund worker Navy, and a Youth worker Thany) is catalysing the community, infusing it with new hope, enthusiasm, and energy to pull itself out of crushing poverty.

The little miracles Jesus describes in his Gospel stories are a reality here. Yiv Toch who was given 8 chicks describes, joyfully, how she now has 50, which she can sell for extra income. The two community pigs are pregnant. Landless families who dream of a bit of land can grow vegetables in the church’s communal garden.

The pump donated by a well-meaning church, was dug so deep that the water poisoned crops and then it broke; there was no money to repair it. The community brainstormed and decided to cooperate to dig a pond to store rainwater so that—in this village without running water–they can grow vegetables, even out of the rainy season.

Gneam inspecting the eggplants.

I love these real-life stories of using creativity, ingenuity and hardwork to escape poverty. It would be a privilege to tell them!

* * *

The roots of my Christian faith are entwined with the poor. When I first committed to follow Christ, aged 17, Christ’s command “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me,” leaped out at me from the Gospels, and I decided to work with Mother Teresa.

I worked with Mother Teresa for 14 months, and truly enjoyed hanging out with the poor, with the “scheduled tribes” in Orissa, whom India’s development hasn’t benefited, and at Kalighat, Mother Teresa’s Home for The Dying Destitute.

However, after I came to England, studying English at Somerville College, Oxford, I have worked as a writer, and in publishing. But each time, I listen to Heidi Baker mention God’s directive to her to sit at the feet of the poor, I uneasily feel as if I am missing out on a vital aspect of the Christian life. The Gospel is good news to the poor, and perhaps the Gospel alive in our lives must, in some way, bring good news to the poor.

* * *

I would particularly enjoy observing and telling the story of the village of Tonle Batie, Cambodia, since I am an entrepreneur. I have founded two businesses with minimal capital, and the second, a small publishing company, now solely supports our family. So I am impressed by the village’s income generation schemes, which will gradually create self-sufficiency through creativity and ingenuity.

* * *

Another reason I am eager to visit Cambodia, one of the poorest countries in the world, is that the primary theme of my blog, Dreaming Beneath the Spires, is the intersection of faith and theology with everyday life. Hanging out with the poor—close to stark reality—you encounter the great theological questions (and perhaps answers): Whether God is indeed just if we contend with him; why God permits suffering, and whether there is anything redemptive about it; whether the Gospel and the power of prayer work anywhere in the world; whether God’s love and care is an ever-present reality for people in Tonle Batie, Cambodia as for those in Oxford, England, where I live.

* * *

I love travelling: visiting new countries; understanding, soaking in, and photographing new cultures; and writing about them on my blog, sensitively and affectionately. Writing about travel is a secondary strand in my blog, and interests my readers. I would love to tell the story of how Tearfund’s partner International Cooperation for Cambodia, and the local church are helping people heal after the traumatic years of the Khmer Rouge; and to learn to trust one another, and work together for the future with hope.

* * *

I have been blogging for three and a half years, and have begun developing a “platform”– about 15,000 page views a month; about 1700 Facebook fans and friends; and about 34,000 followers on Twitter where I am active (and have been a finalist for the Christian New Media “Tweeter of the Year Award.”)

I would be delighted to leverage my story-telling gifts and social media friendships to help raise money for Tonle Batie by telling its story. I regularly exchange guest posts with other established bloggers, and would love to to guest-post about my experiences in Cambodia.

Tearfund would like each blogger to inspire 20 people to contribute £3 a month so that 23 new families could go through the Church and Community Mobilisation process, being able to send their children to school, learn new farming techniques, and put food on the table. I feel certain my amazing warm-hearted audience of committed Christians readers as well as my personal and church friends and family would enjoy supporting this interesting unfolding story. I look forward to doing so myself.

* * *

Personally speaking, the practice of gratitude has been transforming my spiritual life and is an important strand in my blog. I was struck by people’s shining eyes as they described chickens multiplying, vegetables growing, not having to worry about having enough food, or having to withdraw their children from school. Oh I would love to learn and relearn gratitude for the goodness of God, which I can take for granted!

The Gospel is good news to the poor, and is the world’s greatest force for poverty reduction, I believe. Where it roots, people pray, which gives them new hope and precipitates divine assistance. People work with new enthusiasm, for the Gospel catalyses creativity. People act honestly, which breeds the trust on which co-operative entrepreneurship depends.

And since the Gospel is indeed the power of God, it will work anywhere in the world. It will be exciting to observe the Gospel at work, and Aslan on the move, in the community of Tonle Batie, Cambodia–and to tell the story of this new chapter in The Greatest Story Ever Told!

Why I Believe in the Resurrection

By Anita Mathias

As I was drifting off to sleep last night, I murmured, “I believe in the resurrection.”

Roy, woken up, said, amused, “I am glad to hear it!”

* * *

I was thinking of this passage I had recently read in Diarmaid MacCulloch’s magisterial, A History of Christianity.

Christianity is, at root, a personality cult. Its central message is the story of a person, Jesus, whom Christians believe is the Christ (from a Greek word, meaning Anointed One): the God who was, is and ever shall be, yet who is at the same time a human being, set in historic time.

Christians believe that they can still meet this human being in a fashion comparable to the experience of the disciples who walked with him in Galilee, and saw him die on the cross. They are convinced that this meeting transforms lives—as has been evident in the experiences of other Christians across the centuries.

For me, that’s the ultimate proof of the resurrection—that Jesus is as real to me as anyone I know. Realer, perhaps, because I feel I know him better than most people I know.

* * *

The pastor of my old church, Williamsburg Community Chapel, Virginia, Bill Warrick, said he asked a Young Life mentee, “If you could speak to Jesus, and be answered, would you believe?” The young man replied (this was the American South), “Oh yes, Sir, that would be the ultimate extra-terrestrial experience!”

Indeed, prayer, asking Jesus how to do things–whether it’s home-managing suff, or business stuff, or writing, or blogging, or even Twitter!!—and receiving surprising and brilliant answers…yes, that’s the ultimate extra-terrestrial experience.

* * *

American Bible teacher Beth Moore was asked, “How do you know that Christ is real?” She replied, “If he wasn’t, then I must be crazy, because I talk to him all the time, and he answers.”

It’s one proof, to me, that Christ is real and alive. I feel I can ask him questions, and get an answer.

I can ask him how to do things, or what to do, and clarity comes, and, often, insight and a Gordian-knot-cutting to the heart of the problem, that comes from beyond myself, from beyond my radar, my intelligence, or the way I normally think.

Of course, if researchers track creative people who meditate, they might come across similar answers surfacing from the unconscious. Whole mathematical careers, for instance, Ramanujan’s, have been built on these heuristic insights. (Interestingly, Ramanujan claimed he received his mathematical insights in prayer and meditation).

What is more amazing, perhaps, is when prayer changes things outside yourself—other people’s hearts; external events; the acceleration of a career; how co-incidences accumulate when one prays, Berlin walls topple, glasnost occurs, in our lives and in the world.

* * *

Ultimately, I believe in the resurrection because to me Christ is so real that I can often “see” him with the eyes of faith. Because, on request, he can turn my moods around, and fill my heart with joy.

Because he answers my prayers, in the micro-level of my mind, heart and spirit, and on the macro-level by orchestrating events which I am powerless to.

* * *

John’s proof of the reality of Jesus was that he had seen him: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it. (1 John 1).

I believe in the resurrection because I have experienced Jesus, and He has changed the deep structure of my mind, heart and spirit on a molecular level, as he changed water to wine; fed 5000 with 5 loaves; made water as solid as earth and walked on it; and resurrected the dead body of Lazarus—and then his own.

When People Mess up the Story of your Life, but God Edits it Beautifully

By Anita Mathias

: The Flight into Egypt and the Triumph of the Innocents (William Holman Hunt)

As I read Matthew 2, I realise how much misery and hassle and stress Joseph and Mary and Jesus had to endure for no sin or mistake of their own—but purely because of their destiny, purely because of other people’s jealousy.

Herod was “disturbed” when the Magi asked, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east.”

He felt no excitement about the one chosen to be King by a higher power, the one whose birth had such cosmic significance that a new star appeared in the heavens.

Instead, he views Jesus as a threat to be eliminated, caring only for the security of his own position. He did not hesitate to murder to safeguard it (as people may not hesitate to slander or backstab anyone they perceive as a threat).

* * *

And so Joseph, Mary and Jesus go to Egypt, though they have done nothing wrong–leaving behind their friends and family, their familiar language, religion, food and customers–purely to escape Herod’s murderous, neurotic wrath.

Have you ever had a change forced on you because someone was jealous of your gifts? Threatened by you? Sadly, I have!

* * *

And the death of Herod does not mean instant safety either. They return to Israel when they hear the blessed words in a dream, “Those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

But Judea is still not safe. Herod’s son was in charge.

And so, to protect their toddler, they relocate to an obscure town in Galilee, Nazareth, and bring him up there.

Exactly as foretold by the Prophet Isaiah.

All these detours, this apparent wasted effort, this obscurity, this ruination of a rooted career for Joseph, the upheaval for Mary and the toddler Jesus–all this was exactly in God’s plan.

Why?

We do not know.

We many never know.

* * *

Once we have reached “a certain age,” we look back at our lives, and say, “Oh, this worked out okay, because it led to this.” “Thank goodness that happened; it closed that door, and opened this.” “That worked out for good, because…”

But other things? Why did Milton– who was desperate to do just one thing: read and write–go blind? Why is my former pastor Dick Woodward a quadriplegic? Why did my mother lose her first-born son?

Why does God permit us to be blocked and thwarted through other people’s envy, fears and insecurities? Perhaps these blocks channel the force of the stream of our energy and talent into just the direction we were meant to go. Perhaps the stream goes underground and comes out stronger.

Or perhaps, and this is the truest answer, we just don’t know.

* * *

We are just characters in the drama of our lives. We don’t get to control where we were born, our parents, their wealth, social class, or our early education. We don’t get to control our IQ, our looks, our physique, our talents, or our disabilities.

We are but characters in a play someone one is writing and directing, and it is our job to play our part as beautifully as possible, and when it is left to us, to improvise. And since much of the story of our lives, many chapters, are left blank for us to fill in as we please–to improvise as beautifully as possible.

But someone else has written the play, someone else is directing it, and when the plot seems utterly senseless—we relax in the fact that we have had a sneak peek at the last act. According to the Book of Revelation, it will all end in celebration, in exultation, in a feast and rejoicing.

And so, when we do not understand the plot twists, we trust the brilliance of the author, the auteur, directing the story of our lives.

And despite all Herod’s machination, he just gets a chapter or so in Jesus’s story.

Jesus: He dominates history!

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