Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art
John the Baptist’s preaching caused a revival, of sorts. “The whole Judaean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.” (Mark 1:5) This explosion of popularity did not throw him off course. He did not try to hold on to his … [Continue reading]
John the Baptist, his heart and mind and spirit filled with the word of God, pregnant with his calling, does not do what we would today if we sense a calling. He does not go to the cities, to Jerusalem; he does not seek a platform; in fact, he … [Continue reading]
The Staffordshire Horde of Angl0-Saxon gold One of the hardest things to have wise, sane, healthy thoughts about is money--since money is not mere zeroes on a bank statement, but the fruit of our labour, and our luck; a force which affects … [Continue reading]
Georgia O'Keefe All of us have a negativity bias which makes us more apt to remember one mean comment about our writing, our children, our appearance, or our characters, than dozens of positive ones. It’s true, isn’t it? More disquietingly, I’ve … [Continue reading]
A tyrannical statement we’ve heard as children, and said as exasperated parents: If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Which means we might never learn or do new things, for who has margin for one additional thing? In fact, the … [Continue reading]
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." I have meditated on the Christmas and Easter story every Christmas, for—goodness--decades, and every year find new diamond-glints in it. It’s one of … [Continue reading]
At Lake Konigsee, Bavaria (More pictures at the end of this post) So I’m just back from a thoroughly refreshing summer holiday, hiking in the Bavarian Alps. On the boat trip to Konigsee, a very formal bugler played his horn, and the craggy mountains … [Continue reading]
Pentecost--the coming of the Spirit to a frightened and fearful huddle. It is one of my favourite Christian feasts, so hopeful… The Spirit comes not because we are worthy, often not even because we have asked him to, but because he is good, and kind, … [Continue reading]