failure | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

At the End of Broken Dreams, an Open Door

Anita Mathias — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 11:05:20 +0000

About 20 years ago, in Williamsburg, Virginia, we used to sing this in church, “At the end of broken dreams, an open door.” I sung it because I liked the lyricism, but I had no interest in the open door at the end of broken dreams because then the dreams would have to be broken, […]

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When, For a Season, God Himself Blocks You

Anita Mathias — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 11:09:50 +0000

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to save many lives,” Joseph quietly tells his brothers. (Genesis 50:20) Oh they did; they sure did, first throwing him into a disused well, then uncaringly selling him on for thirty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, not caring what became of him. And what […]

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A Spiritual Late Bloomer, I Learn from Failure in my Messy Beautiful Life

Anita Mathias — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 19:00:01 +0000

When my daughter Zoe was born, twenty-one years ago, frazzled between nursing, and impractical plans of still writing, I made a mental prayer list to pray through as I pushed her stroller round our neighbourhood. And blush: All those items are still on my prayer list. 1 Losing Weight. I still have 12 pounds more to […]

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He Makes the Failures of Friday Beautiful in His Time

Anita Mathias — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 20:23:50 +0000

Ravaged by grief, she saw you standing right there, but did not recognize you. She was living in Friday, That traumatic Friday. But it’s Sunday now, And there you stand, In front of Mary. It’s a new day, The only day that really counts. Today. * * * Lord Jesus, I give […]

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Where Good Stories are to be Found

Anita Mathias — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 22:21:09 +0000

Image Credit My tender-hearted children hated sad stories. Neither would let me read Oscar Wilde’s exquisite short stories to them, or even Hans Christian Andersen’s because they were too sad. When I recommended a book or movie, they wanted to know if it was sad, and especially if it had a sad ending. But […]

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On Long Walks, Spirituality and Creativity. And Images of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

Anita Mathias — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 07:47:12 +0000

I discovered a new pleasure this year which has become vital to my spiritual life and my ability to hear and God; my emotional balance and shalom; my psychological well-being; my ability to deal with stress; my creativity, and my happiness. And no, it’s not prayer, though prayer, theoretically, offers all these benefits.But we are […]

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In which Failure can be a Greater Blessing than Success

Anita Mathias — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 08:28:17 +0000

Image Credit I would like to have been successful in everything I did the first time round. Sure, I would. And some things I have failed in, yeah, sure, I would rather have been successful in. However, what failure has taught me is to learn to lean. In that way, ironically, it has brought me […]

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10 Lessons from Heartbreak Time and Death and Resurrection in Writing my Memoir (Part I)

Anita Mathias — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:50:18 +0000

So, around 1987, when I was reading English at Somerville College, Oxford, Salman Rushdie read from Midnight’s Children at the Oxford University Majlis, the Indian society. And I stay up all night reading Midnight’s Children, transfixed. At least 95% of the novels, plays, poetry I had read until then had been written by British, American […]

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Blessed are the Failures

Anita Mathias — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:36:48 +0000

Blessed are the broken, Blessed are the failures, Who set out to do glorious things Everest, Antarctica… higher, faster, stronger, first Whose bright promise was praised And they believed their press. Who have schemed and striven and intrigued, Only to find themselves with empty hands After they wrestle though the night with the Mysterious One […]

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“How is it possible to be a Christian and an Alcoholic?” (From Brennan Manning’s “Ragamuffin Gospel)”

Anita Mathias — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:07:40 +0000

Image Credit “Often I have been asked, “Brennan, how is it possible that you became an alcoholic after you got saved?” “It is possible because I got battered and bruised by loneliness and failure, because I got discouraged, uncertain, guilt-ridden, and took my eyes off Jesus. Because the Christ-encounter did not transfigure me into […]

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