In Which I Count my Blessings | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Why I Am No Longer a Roman Catholic

Anita Mathias — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 21:39:51 +0000

I was brought up Roman Catholic, was taught that missing Sunday Mass was a mortal sin, except when you were sick. (And a mortal sin meant you would burn in hell, for eternity, unless you confessed it, and were absolved.) How could I have believed that? Children believe what they are taught. It’s taken me […]

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The Words Which Change Everything

Anita Mathias — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:12:40 +0000

Words which take the hard shell of the present When it feels devoid of nourishment, just hard, just hard Take it and crack it, And reveal the sweet meat within it: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Though my day is not panning out as it should, Though my work is not panning […]

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The Power of Praise, Even in the Animal Kingdom

Anita Mathias — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 21:29:27 +0000

I keep learning and forgetting and learning again the spiritual power of praise and gratitude—eucharisteo. It’s one of those spiritual practices that unleashes disproportionate power—like prayer, or the power of love. Why it even works in the animal kingdom. Several feisty horses live in the field behind my garden. Many villagers bring them apples […]

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1001 Gifts #8–A May Walk around my Garden, and the fields around my house

Anita Mathias — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:34:00 +0000

Jake, my collie, in the buttercup meadow. England is traditionally glorious in May—and actually was so today, the hottest day of the year to date And here are some images from a glorious walk this afternoon through my garden, and little orchard, and around the fields surrounding our house. I have substituted prayer walking for prayer in […]

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In Praise of Naps (1001 Gifts: #7)

Anita Mathias — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:23:00 +0000

In Praise of Naps I remember reading this cool story about Edison. He didn’t have a firm separation between day and night and kept a bed in his office. When he was tired, in the middle of the day, he had a 15 or 20 minute nap, and then woke up, full of bounce. If […]

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With the night falling we are saying thank you by W.S. Merwin

Anita Mathias — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 13:22:00 +0000

My daughter, Irene, as a four year old, thanking God for the Rhine Falls in Switzerland! Thanks by W. S. Merwin Listen with the night falling we are saying thank you we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings we are running out of the glass rooms with our mouths full of food […]

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Becoming a person full of joy, overflowing with thankfulness is a matter of practice!

Anita Mathias — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 20:31:00 +0000

Irene, delighted with and thankful for the sash of her new dress! About 15 years ago, I was on a women’s retreat at which we were asked to write down what we wanted our lives to look like in 5 years. Along with ambitious, pipe-dream goals which have not come to pass, I included […]

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Changing the Story: Seeing the Pain of Life Through a Filter of Thanksgiving

Anita Mathias — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:27:00 +0000

Image Credit I was suddenly reminded today of a painful episode of my life, and shed a few tearsAnd then I thought of something else, and felt overwhelmingly grateful. * * * When I was a young girl and then a young woman, I had an older mentor who invested a lot in me—telling […]

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Change your Words, Change your Emotions

Anita Mathias — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:33:00 +0000

Speed-reading “just this one.” Jake, the Collie, finds a spot to rest his weary head. I finally started a massive project —getting rid of all the books from my second-hand books business which I had for a couple of intensive years, and a couple of desultory years. Progress, as you can see, was slow. * * * […]

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How to Get into the Zone of Writing or Prayer

Anita Mathias — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:02:00 +0000

Mixed Flock of birds flying in a V Formation- Put together- ©Creative Commons I love writing and blogging: watching something shapely, and sometimes beautiful, emerge from a jumble of thoughts. But there are many times when I just don’t feel like writing. My brain and spirit and fingers feel wooden. It is what Steven […]

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