Martin Luther | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Analysing my Experience of Prayer over the Last 19 Years

Anita Mathias — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 22:44:54 +0000

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, and you are so out […]

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Making a Difference Through Prayer and Writing: In Praise of Julian of Norwich

Anita Mathias — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 12:11:58 +0000

I read the papers and stress rises. So much injustice! 21 million people enslaved (14 million of them in India), land-grabbing, starvation, destruction of ecosystems, precious species going extinct, the restavek system in Haiti, slavery in Qatar, and the plight of the Palestinians. My heart sinks. I am just one girl of limited energy. I […]

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When We are Caterpillars in a Ring of Fire, and Need Rescue from Above

Anita Mathias — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 22:01:22 +0000

Image Credit I read a striking essay this week. Two women counsellors listened to my story. I was prayed for very gently. I was encouraged to forgive all the people I felt had done me real or imaginary hurts throughout my life. It took a long time. Eventually, I came to the last thing, and […]

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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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A Richer Palette for Your Prayer Life: Martin Luther’s Advice ( A Guest Post by Gary Hansen, author of “Kneeling with Giants”

Anita Mathias — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 20:56:20 +0000

I am honoured to host this post from Gary Neal Hansen, author of the marvellous book, Kneeling with Giants, in which he offers practical ways to apprentice ourselves to history’s great pray-ers, Benedict, Luther, Calvin, Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila, among others. Martin Luther, the catalyst of the Protestant Reformation, needed a shave. […]

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A caterpillar in a ring of fire: Martin Luther on Grace

Anita Mathias — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:41:00 +0000

Brunnhilde in the Ring of Fire, Arthur Rackham The wonderful seventeenth century theologian, Philip Melanchton and Martin Luther and Philip Melanchton debate grace. Melanchton says grace is like one parent helping a wobbly toddler across the room to the other parent who crouches down with an apple. Luther says No, it’s more than that!! We are caterpillars […]

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Martin Luther didn’t say that, did he? Yes, he did!

Anita Mathias — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:15:00 +0000

“You have as much laughter as you have faith.” “The dog is the most faithful of animals and would be much esteemed were it not so common. Our Lord God has made His greatest gifts the commonest.” “Be thou comforted, little dog, Thou too in Resurrection shall have a little golden tail” “If you want […]

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