In which I celebrate friendship and relationships | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

On Juggling

Anita Mathias — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 15:00:55 +0000

Irene, my 15 year old, has decided to become a master juggler. (I blame Baroness Susan Greenfield who told her class that juggling makes you clever). And now the air is full of the swish-swish-swish of juggling balls. And as for me, words and ideas which might have been sublime (one can always dream!) slip […]

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On Re-Learning the Beautiful Art of Friendship

Anita Mathias — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 22:15:18 +0000

The rather wonderful Stephen Fry upset the internets by telling Irish television host Gay Byrne what Stephen Fry would say to God when they eventually met up. How dare you! How dare you create a world in which there is such suffering that is not our fault? It’s not right; it’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should […]

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Thoughts on my Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary

Anita Mathias — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 21:57:40 +0000

So Roy and I have been married for 25 years. It’s customary to dispense advice on such occasions, but I have little to give. The things that have worked for us have evolved slowly. And conversely, some advice from the marriage books—“Always go to the bed at the same time,” have wasted time. * * […]

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On Being Christian with a small c or a big C

Anita Mathias — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 06:58:46 +0000

Image Credit Our family was discussing a writer who has done paradigm-breaking innovative work. “Is she a Christian?” my daughter Irene asked. “Yes. She’s a Christian. With a small C, I’d guess.” “What’s that?” Irene asked. “Hmm… Someone who goes to church, more or less respects Jesus and the Bible, but who does not see […]

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The Gift of Limits. The Gift of Learning to Say No

Anita Mathias — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 21:23:21 +0000

Here’s a striking story from The Emotionally Healthy Church by Pete Scazzero. Rabbi Edwin Friedman tells the story of a man who had given much thought to what he wanted from life. After trying many things, succeeding at some and failing at others, he finally decided what he wanted. One day the opportunity came for […]

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“Fine, Let Them Judge Me”: The Peace of Boundaries

Anita Mathias — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 22:17:53 +0000

Several years ago now, I was in a Bible study which had some very assertive people who were often unwell. And so there were endless rotas: to take meals around, clean their houses, do their ironing, or give them lifts. Now, I was over-burdened myself, but I didn’t want the leader to judge me as […]

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In which Annie Relocates the Wirral to Birmingham, and I am Chastened

Anita Mathias — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 07:10:42 +0000

One gets spoiled in Oxford, gets used to fast-moving, intelligent conversation; to hearing of new books and new ideas, and having your own thinking challenged. And sometimes, after living here for years, you can think of Oxford as the world. Think of the body of Christ in Oxford as identical to the body of […]

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In which Difficult People are Angels Unawares

Anita Mathias — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 11:10:12 +0000

I read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson at a difficult time of my life, with a great deal of pleasure, awe, delight, gratitude (and envy at the perfection of her writing style). However, I did not remember this beautiful passage which Canadian writer Carolyn Weber points out. This is an important thing, which I have […]

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In which Jesus Commands us Not to Judge

Anita Mathias — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 10:06:54 +0000

Do not judge because I am the Judge, not you. Do not judge because your quick judgement cuts you off from my flow of goodness and mercy. Do not judge because I am the positive, creative one; your negativity cuts you from me. Do not judge because you are not that smart; you […]

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On Tiger-Mothers, and Good-Enough Christian Mothers

Anita Mathias — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:05:00 +0000

So I read through Amy Chua’s article, The Battle Hymn of the Tiger-Mother, and feel I have failed as a mum. (This, of course, is the uneasy reaction the sassy book was intended to evoke.) “Zoe and Irene,” I say dramatically. “I have failed as a tiger-mother.” Zoe snorts. “You never were a tiger-mother, Mum. Especially now. You […]

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