Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

On a Shortcut into Happiness

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When we sleep, I have read, the unconscious begins to process, resolve, and heal the buried emotions of the day. That little inadvertent thing which seemed so massively embarrassing, but which everyone else has forgotten. The awkwardness, the … [Continue reading]

Is “ending those Muslims,” as Falwell advises, the way of Jesus? Aren’t there other ways?

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So the President of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell Jr., patting the gun in his back pocket, has called on the 14,500 students of Liberty University, the world’s largest Christian University, to carry concealed guns, and “end those Muslims,” … [Continue reading]

In which the Kindly Light of Christ can Heal our Worst Memories

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Sometimes, in a dream, or sudden flashback, I remember something dark, frightening, shame-producing, upsetting or infuriating from my past. I guess you do too. It’s part of being human. One way to deal with uncomfortable emotions is through … [Continue reading]

In which I am Against (Most) Military Interventions, & Musing on Invisible Weapons of the Spirit

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My church, St. Andrew’s, Oxford, is experimenting with a café church format; a couple of worship songs, and then a brief sermon which we we discuss in small groups. Around Remembrance Day, November 11, we discussed war, and Christians in the … [Continue reading]

He Was My Champagne; Now He Is My Bread. My Changing Experience of the Holy Spirit

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My first conscious experience with the Holy Spirit was also my most dramatic. I strayed into a Charismatic meeting at my ancestral hometown, Mangalore, India, when I was 17. My father was patronising and mildly amused, and flatly refused to take … [Continue reading]

We Have Something to Learn, and Something to Teach at Every Stage of Life

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So what should an actress in Britain’s most popular television show look like? Like this? Or this? Or this? * * *  Being young and beautiful—one would consider that a sine qua non for an actress—but Dame Maggie, who has … [Continue reading]

On The One True Diet and The One True Faith

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I started gaining weight around puberty, at a time when, annoyingly, I stopping gaining height.  Every few years, I’d step on the scales, and go, “OMG! Must do something.” And so I tried Weight Watchers, but counting calories made me feel a bit … [Continue reading]