Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art
My daughter Irene succeeding at walking. I was mentored in my thirties by a friend who genuinely knew God, but was nevertheless conservative and sexist, and made me feel guilty about my call to write which he saw as “dabbling.” He felt I should … [Continue reading]
“Do not despise prophecy,” the Apostle Paul says, somewhat surprisingly. Why would we despise it? Because we tend to suspect what we do not understand? Or because prophecy can attract fools, charlatans, the unstable, and conmen seeking to gain … [Continue reading]
Elephants, majestic, loveable, gentle beasts, are tamed by cruel means I hate reading about in Thailand, principally, in Nepal, in India and in Malaysia. A common trick, less cruel than the others though, is this. The elephant is initially chained … [Continue reading]
Image Credit Mark Batterson, in The Circle-Maker, a fascinating book on a prayer, praises “defining decisions,” that set the course of your life, sort of like choosing whether you drive to Slovenia (which our family did last summer), or to Scotland … [Continue reading]
The Doni Tondo, a rare canvas painting by Michealangelo. Scroll down for more images. I spent the first Sunday of January 2106 at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It was free, and advice online, as well as unsolicited advice on Facebook warned me … [Continue reading]
I am looking at a year's worth of photographs in this liminal week between Christmas and New Year. Here are some images from the Channel Port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, a medieval French walled town, with narrow cobbled streets. We walked along the … [Continue reading]
Image credit This is the lazy liminal period between Christmas and New Year, time for a psychologically healthy Ignatian Examen of the previous year—the highs and the lows; what we did well occupationally, spiritually, physically and relationally, … [Continue reading]
So I come to my time of prayer, and I am dry and distracted. My thoughts are whirling; I cannot hear God speak, and I have nothing to say. My spirit feels numb. Prayer? It’s as if you are having coffee with a friend you haven’t seen for a while, … [Continue reading]