random | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

C.S. Lewis on Christian Hedonism. A bluebird in every tree. Quest for Joy-2

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

As I blogged yesterday, I have decided to record one thing which makes me happy every day, with an image, when possible.

The Eastern bluebirds I used to see in my garden in Williamsburg, Virginia, surely among the most beautiful things on earth, their iridescent blue like mystical hints of a world beyond ours.

“The bluebird is well named, for he wears a coat of the purest, richest, and most gorgeous blue on back, wings, and tail; no North American bird better deserves the name, for no other flashes before our admiring eyes so much brilliant blue. It has been said that he carries on his back the blue of heaven and the rich brown of the freshly turned earth on his breast; but who has ever seen the bluest sky as blue as the bluebird’s back?” (Arthur Cleveland Bent, The Birds of North America.)

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The Magic of Amazon Prime

By Anita Mathias

So I have a white mocha latte or some such new-fangled concoction with a writer friend at Blackwell’s yesterday as we talk about British fantasy writers, and then realize that it has cut into the tenner I stuffed into my jeans to buy myself a book.

So I make a note of the book I was rapidly reading, a calming book of essays called Simple Pleasures: Little Things that Make Life Worth Living–things like walking the dog, collecting eggs, cancelled lunches, growing your own food,bread and cheese. And when I get home at five–order it off Amazon, at £3 off the Blackwell’s price, and free shipping

And just as I wake up this morning, my doorbell rings, and there it is. Special delivery. Packed and at my doorstep overnight. Amazon Prime offers all the special deliveries you want for a year for £49.

I wish I had got it earlier. What a solution to the last minute quandary with school supplies and birthday presents and realizing you don’t have maps or guidebooks to somewhere you’re flying to tomorrow.

I am not nostalgic for the past. I think the progress, technology and efficiency are amazing things.

(No, no advertising here, just ecstasy.)

The Quest for Joy–1 Glory be to God for Winged Things

By Anita Mathias

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it is the same desire in both.

This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.

Blaise Pascal –Pensees.

“I am not alone in this desire for happiness, nor are there only a few who share it with me: without exception we all long for happiness…
They may all search for it in different ways, but all try their hardest to reach the same goal, that is, joy”
Augustine of Hippo (Confessions, X, 21).

I am going to start a new series on this blog, and each day that I can record one random thing that fills me with joy and happiness, and make want to praise God.

And here’s today’s:

Glory be to God for Winged things!

For hummingbirds

flying jewels who cross the Mojave Desert on their annual migration, and fly 450 miles over the Gulf of Mexico without a break.

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“Give me the Book,” John Wesley. Thought for the Day.

By Anita Mathias

The Word of God is sweeter than honey

I want to know one thing, the way to heaven — how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way: for this very end he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God! I have it. Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone: only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his Book; for this end, to find the way to heaven.
John Wesley

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The Christ, Divine Wisdom, Matthew 16, Proverbs 3, Day 46, Feb 16, Blog Through the Bible Project

By Anita Mathias

Raphael, Christ and Peter

Matthew 16

The Demand for a Sign

¹ The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
Oh Lord, give us your wisdom in the time of testing.
ESV Notes, they came to test him. They were seeking a sign or miracle which they could use against him.

² He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ ³ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. ⁴ A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

His death and resurrection will be the sign.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵ When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. ⁶ “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷ They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸ Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹ Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹¹ How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹²Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Jesus is speaking metaphorically, The yeast of the Pharisees can infiltrate and ruin what is good. But the disciples are preoccupied with their physical needs.
An amazing passage. A very short time after the feeding of four thousand from a few loaves, they have totally forgotten it, and are again concerned about the lack of bread.
Faith can waver, can fail. We continually forget the mighty works of God. That is why the word of God is likened to food, which we need to eat again and again so that it provides stable and reliable nourishment.
We can see mighty miracles and be full of fear and unbelief at the next crisis. Lord, strengthen our faith.

How many questions does Jesus ask in a row? Five. He is cross. These are important passages for a full understanding of Jesus. He can get cross and impatient. He does not tolerate spiritual foolishness of slowness of heart gladly.

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Peter is intuitive, right-brained, impulsive. As such, he comes to the truth more swiftly than the others.

NIV notes, The word Messiah, Anointed One was originally used of anyone who was anointed with holy oil such as the priests and kings of Israel. The word contained the idea of being chosen by God, consecrated to his service, and enjoyed with his power to accomplish the assigned tasks.

Towards the end of the OT period, the word Messiah assumed a special meaning. It denoted the ideal ideal king anointed and empowered by God to rescue his people from their enemies and establish his righteous kingdom. The ideas that clustered around the title Messiah tended to be political and national in nature. So, Jesus seldom used the term.
ESV Jesus is is the fulfillment of the OT promise of a divine son as anointed King.

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
Blessed, Greek Makarios. Jesus is not conferring blessing so much as acknowledging Peter’s condition of being privileged to benefit from God’s personal revelation.

¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
NIV note–Perhaps Peter used these keys on the day of Pentecost, when he announced that the door of the kingdom was unlocked to Jews and proselytes, and later when he acknowledged that it was also opened to Gentiles.
Peter is given the authority to admit entrance into the kingdom through preaching the Gospel.

whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
NIV note–Authority not to determine but to announce guilt or innocence.

²⁰ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Because of the false concepts of the Jews who looked for an exclusively national and political Messiah, Jesus didn’t want to precipitate a revolution against Rome.

When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Proverbs 3

Klimt, When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Proverbs 3

¹⁹ By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations,

by understanding he set the heavens in place;

²⁰ by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,

and the clouds let drop the dew.

God’s wisdom, understanding and knowledge undergirded the creation of the world.

ESV note–The essential point is that God has built the principles of wisdom into the structure of the world itself; wisdom is the ordering principle by which everything functions and does not devolve into chaos. Thus, when one lives without integrity, one violates the very rules whereby everything is held together.One cannot do this and thrive.

²¹ My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
   preserve sound judgment and discretion;
²² they will be life for you,
   an ornament to grace your neck.
²³ Then you will go on your way in safety,
   and your foot will not stumble.

²⁴ When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
One of the covenant blessings!
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

The wisdom, understanding, sound judgment and discretion which God gives to those who ask for them will be life to us, preserving us in safety, giving us sweet sleep.

²⁵ Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
²⁶ for the LORD will be at your side
and will keep your foot from being snared.

God will preserve the wise and understanding, the one with sound judgment and discretion from sudden disaster and ruin, from the traps of man, from sudden disaster and ruin.

²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
   when it is in your power to act.
²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor,
   “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—
   when you already have it with you.
Pay your debts promptly whenever you can.
²⁹ Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
   who lives trustfully near you.
³⁰ Do not accuse anyone for no reason—
   when they have done you no harm.

³¹ Do not envy the violent
or choose any of their ways.

³² For the LORD detests the perverse
   but takes the upright into his confidence.
The upright often have an intuitive foreknowledge of what God is going to do.
³³ The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
   but he blesses the home of the righteous.
³⁴ He mocks proud mockers
   but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
Psalm 1– The one who is blessed, who prospers in whatever he does, is the one who does not sit in the company of mockers. Mocking–putting people down by saying the opposite of what one means is a form of speech particularly displeasing to God.
³⁵ The wise inherit honor,
   but fools get only shame.
The appeal ends with the reminder that those who walk in wisdom will inherit honour, because the Lord blesses those who walk in humility.

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When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Proverbs 3

By Anita Mathias

Klimt, When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Proverbs 3

¹⁹ By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations,

by understanding he set the heavens in place;

²⁰ by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,

and the clouds let drop the dew.

God’s wisdom, understanding and knowledge undergirded the creation of the world.

²¹ My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
   preserve sound judgment and discretion;
²² they will be life for you,
   an ornament to grace your neck.
²³ Then you will go on your way in safety,
   and your foot will not stumble.

²⁴ When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
One of the covenant blessings!
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

The wisdom, understanding, sound judgment and discretion which God gives to those who ask for them will be life to us, preserving us in safety, giving us sweet sleep.

²⁵ Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
²⁶ for the LORD will be at your side
and will keep your foot from being snared.

God will preserve the wise and understanding, the one with sound judgment and discretion from sudden disaster and ruin, from the traps of man, from sudden disaster and ruin.

²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
   when it is in your power to act.
²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor,
   “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—
   when you already have it with you.
Pay your debts promptly whenever you can.
²⁹ Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
   who lives trustfully near you.
³⁰ Do not accuse anyone for no reason—
   when they have done you no harm.

³¹ Do not envy the violent
or choose any of their ways.

³² For the LORD detests the perverse
   but takes the upright into his confidence.
The upright often have an intuitive foreknowledge of what God is going to do.
³³ The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
   but he blesses the home of the righteous.
³⁴ He mocks proud mockers
   but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
Psalm 1– The one who is blessed, who prospers in whatever he does, is the one who does not sit in the company of mockers. Mocking–putting people down by saying the opposite of what one means is a form of speech particularly displeasing to God.
³⁵ The wise inherit honor,
   but fools get only shame.
The appeal ends with the reminder that those who walk in wisdom will inherit honour, because the Lord blesses those who walk in humility.