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When we Walk in Love, There is Nothing to Make us Stumble

By Anita Mathias

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Late last year, I was struggling with hostility, anger, and judgmentalism towards a fellow Christian who was getting on my nerves, and walked at night listening to 1 John and James again and again on my iPod, until my grumpy heart was converted, and I could look at the person who was annoying me, and say, “Oh, please, help me see her as you see her, Jesus.”

This passage particularly spoke to me “Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them,”  (2 John 10-11).

Living in the darkness, walking around in the darkness, blinded by the darkness…

A charity worker working in the third world visited us last year. He was depressed, and consistently focussed on the dark side of people, nations, and international politics. Everything was stark and negative. His hatred of the US in particular, and of what the rich world was doing to the three-quarters world led him to have darkness within him.  And that is truly scary.

Jesus says of stingy, greedy, money-focussed people (the word he uses for unhealthy, poneros, implies stingy) “But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

“Oh Lord, let me focus on you.  Let me have light within me,” I found myself praying.

But for those who walk in kindness-there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

A Christian walk without stumbling–the impulsive angry email one later wishes one had worded more kindly; the harsh criticism which stuns everyone, and which is slightly off base; covert relational strife because someone has thwarted your pride, or your ambition!… Oh, wouldn’t want an assured Bolt towards Jesus rather than this stumbling.

When we do not walk in love, we walk in the darkness, groping, stumbling, bumping into things and people, going off course, in tangents, losing our way…

Because when we do not make an effort to see with the eyes of kindness, we cannot see clearly. We cannot see whole. We see the speck of sawdust in our brother’s eye, and how it annoys us.  It’s all we can focus on! But that annoying dust mote is not the whole person; it is just an aspect of the person which grates on our sensitive nerves.

And so we speak hastily and act hastily and wound hastily—because we are not walking in the light of kindness  with the high beams of love turned on, which help us see the good in people, as well as the darkness. Instead, we are stumble in the darkness, the darkness of our cross feelings.  Blinded in the darkness of our lovelessness, our judgements then are not to be trusted. Why should they be? They are small, shrivelled, loveless; we are focusing on the dust in the statue, instead of its entire goldeness. The evil we see is only a partial truth, a disortion.

* * *

What is walking in love, practically?

Perhaps kindness is the better word, more contemporary than agape love.

Trying to see people as God sees them? As children of God, made in his image, sometimes bratty , throwing their toys in a tantrum, but still children of God.

Have you ever been in a situation, perhaps a financial dispute within an extended family situation, or a business situation where you feel you are walking in a fog and darkness. You grope; you know people have a self-seeking agenda, and are lying, but it’s hard to shift truth from lies. Whoa. What stress! I have experienced this in a toxic situation in a previous church, groping in the darkness, not knowing to what extent anyone was telling the truth, knowing we were being lied to, worked and manipulated, but why certain questions were being asked, and what use the information would be put to—all this was fog and thick darkness. Have you ever been on scary situations like that, where you don’t know who you can trust, where everyone is out for themselves and private advantage, where everything you say can be twisted out of context and distorted?

* * *

How can you walk through the darkness without stumbling? Act in kindness and love. Balance the two important imperatives Jesus suggested, “Be wise as a serpent, but innocent as a dove.”

I am using this passage from James as an anchor when my feelings are volatile, and I don’t necessarily trust my own judgement. Am I walking in kindness? Then there is nothing in me to make me stumble.

But if I let hatred, animosity and irritation possess me, I can no longer entirely trust my own judgement in that situation. I cannot trust myself to see my way clearly, because the fog, the darkness of my own loveless heart and emotions is blinding me, and I am groping, stumbling over obstacles I cannot see, unaware of what is making me stumble, in danger of losing my way.      

Filed Under: John Tagged With: Agape Love, walking in the light

What Do You Really Want? (John 1:37)

By Anita Mathias

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What do you want? John 1:37

 

And no-nonsense, getting down to business,

the first thing you ask us,

in this most beautiful of books.

is a question.

What do you want?

 

I am today ashamed of the smallness

of my desire.

But I must be honest about it.

Here it is.

I place it in your hands.

Please grant it.

 

But if you transform it,

or deny it,

still, be thou blessed.

 

Just give me your joy.

Give me yourself.

 

Filed Under: Blog Through The Bible Project, In which I play in the fields of Scripture, John Tagged With: blog through the Bible project, John

The Disciples’ PR advice: No one who wants to be a public figure acts in secret

By Anita Mathias

I just read the blog of a minister who mentioned dating again after a divorce. “I didn’t know the Anglican Church permitted divorced ministers,” I say to Roy.

(Evidently, what I don’t know about the Anglican Church can fill a blog. I learn more every day, even in the arcana of my own church. I see a member of staff is a Missioner! What’s that? What’s a Parish Vicar? A Pastor of Theology?)

Roy snorts. “The Anglican Church was founded on divorce,” he says. (We are ex-Catholics, so forgive our reductionist history.)

He sees gleam in my eye which tells him that this conversation is going to be recorded. In my journal if he’s lucky; on Facebook or my blog, if he’s not.

He reads my thoughts; we’ve been married for 21 years after all.  “I’ll attribute it,” I offer generously.

“Oh don’t bother!” he says. “I do not want to be a public figure. I want to operate privately.”

Now where have I heard that before? I ask him.

It comes to us, the PR advice his cocky disciples offer Jesus.  “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” John 7.

Facebook and Twitter and blogging have apparently inaugurated a culture in which everyone is a celebrity, and shares their thoughts and movements with the world in 240 or 140 characters.

But the phenomenon of the public figure, of a life lived in the public arena, and advice on how to get there is apparently not new at all.

Filed Under: Blog Through The Bible Project, John Tagged With: How to be a public figure

On Eating Jesus

By Anita Mathias

I am the bread of life. Unless you eat my flesh, you have no life in you. John 6:35

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven.”

“This bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.”
“Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”

Astounding claims.

 In Mere Christianity Lewis famously says, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”Jesus claims to be that which sustains life, that which keeps us alive.  He might be saying that the occasional sense of deadness which is part of 21st century life, revealing itself in the epidemic of depression, is because we do not eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood.

The bread we need to stay alive is not in friendships, or social life, or motherhood, or marriage, or money, or gardening or success or work or other life-enhancers–it is in a continual communion with him, in literally eating him, drinking him.

I would love to know Jesus so intimately. How? Through devouring him Scripture, inviting him into my heart in prayer, and, most of all, and hardest, doing what I hear him tell me to do.

 

Filed Under: Blog Through The Bible Project, John Tagged With: eating Jesus, I am the bread of life

  Things can happen very quickly once we take Jesus into our boats    

By Anita Mathias


“The disciples got into a boat, and set out across the lake for Capernaum. By now, it was dark, and a strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed three miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” They they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore.”

 

Often that is the case. There is a very simple solution to a seemingly insoluble problem, and when we ask Jesus, over many days or weeks sometimes, it presents itself.

 

Taking Jesus into our boat, as the Psalmist describes, was the turning point for people in their troubles.  Terrible things happened, then they cried out to the Lord in their distress, and things changed.

The missing secret ingredient in problem-solving is prayer.

I am running a small business, and as Bill Johnson mentions in his book “Dreaming with God” it’s amazing how precise and brilliant the instructions God gives you can be when you cry aloud to him in your distress.

And in other areas of life. Friendships, let’s say. It’s often most effective to keep one’s eyes open for open doors and God’s plans rather than to rush ahead, squandering one’s limited energy. See the patterns, see who wants to be friends with you; see who you want to be friends with; see what dots God is connecting. That will be far more effective than simply rushing ahead.

Sometimes, we go through a difficult time because God is working on our character. At other times,  however, we are forfeiting grace and wisdom because we have not prayed. When we ask Christ, he shows us the solution.

 O what peace we often forfeit,

 O what needless pain we bear,

 All because we do not carry  

   Everything to God in prayer.

 

Filed Under: Blog Through The Bible Project, John Tagged With: And immediately, blog through the Bible project, the boat reached the shore, The Gospel of John

In which light is stronger than darkness

By Anita Mathias

.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:15

Light is brighter than darkness,
Goodness stronger than evil.
All the darkness in this world cannot extinguish a candle
but a candle brightens the most majestic hall.

All the darkness of the wild woods cannot quench a candle,
but that candle can set the vast woods ablaze.

Image credit

Filed Under: Blog Through The Bible Project, John Tagged With: Good/evil, light and darkness

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will come in and go out, and find pasture. John 10:9

By Anita Mathias

I AM THE GATE.

I love that image. Jesus as a wide open door, through whom we step into abundant life.

We are never in prison, never entirely the victim of our circumstances. We can always open the door of Jesus, follow the leading of Jesus, into the life we crave.

And when human doors close, there is that lovely door which stands open, through which we can step into His wonderlands.

A door open for everyone.

A God who loves to say, “Yes!”

Filed Under: Blog Through The Bible Project, John Tagged With: Jesus the Door

“I will give you my joy, and no one will take it from you”

By Anita Mathias

Jesus’s lovely promise in John.

It is totally spectacular. On a grey, gloomy day as it is today in Oxford, England, we can remember that Jesus gives us his joy, and that nothing and no one–no circumstances can take it from us.

By learning to forgive too, we can avail ourselves of some of this joy. People who disappoint us can no longer rob us our our joy as we learn to forgive them!

Filed Under: Blog Through The Bible Project, John Tagged With: forgiveness, joy

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My Books

Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

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Francesco, Artist of Florence: The Man Who Gave Too Much

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The Story of Dirk Willems

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Premier Digital Awards 2015 - Finalist - Blogger of the year
Runner Up Christian Media Awards 2014 - Tweeter of the year

Recent Posts

  •  On Not Wasting a Desert Experience
  • A Mind of Life and Peace in the Middle of a Global Pandemic
  • On Yoga and Following Jesus
  • Silver and Gold Linings in the Storm Clouds of Coronavirus
  • Trust: A Message of Christmas
  • Life- Changing Journaling: A Gratitude Journal, and Habit-Tracker, with Food and Exercise Logs, Time Sheets, a Bullet Journal, Goal Sheets and a Planner
  • On Loving That Which Love You Back
  • “An Autobiography in Five Chapters” and Avoiding Habitual Holes  
  • Shining Faith in Action: Dirk Willems on the Ice
  • The Story of Dirk Willems: The Man who Died to Save His Enemy

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What I’m Reading

Apropos of Nothing
Woody Allen

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Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright
Michael Richardson

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Wanderlust
Rebecca Solnit

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Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer\'s Life
Kathleen Norris

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Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96
Seamus Heaney

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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.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#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. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
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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