Send us Fan Mail

Christ is the most influential figure in the history of the world, though his life ended in shame, humiliation and failure. But he so completely turned things round in his great reversal that the cross on which he died when everything seemed hopeless is now the most common and revered symbol in history.

He emerged from and was anchored in Judaism. And as the sins of the people were laid on the scapegoat who was sent into the wilderness to perish, Christ died as the lamb of God voluntarily bearing the guilt of the wrongdoing of the whole world, paying the price for our forgiveness with his life-blood--in accordance with the iron law of the physical and moral universe, of sowing and reaping, cause and effect.

And so, God who appeared as flames of fire to Moses, can dwell within us, purifying us, whose hearts have darkness and shards of ice.

And now, that Christ was crucified, died, but rose again, His Spirit, no longer contained within his earthly body, is poured out like living water onto all humans, at our request. The Spirit pours the love of God into us; he reminds us of the words of Jesus and slowly writes Christ’s sweet law on our hearts. This transfusion of grace helps us do hard things we previously couldn’t do. Our dance with the Spirit gradually breaks the power of sin over us. It transforms us.

Now we, the forgiven, protected by the blood of Jesus poured out over us, and filled with His Spirit, who sings within us, Abba, Father, are adopted by God as his children in his joyful new covenant. We are cells grafted into the vine of our new family--Father, Son, Spirit—who now live in us as we live in them. As we choose by our thoughts and actions to continue living in the vine of Jesus, their energy pulsing through us makes us fruitful. And now, all our prayers which flow in the river of God’s good purposes are kindly heard. Waves of love and power flood from the cross! Thank you!

My memoir: Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India UK USA

Blog: anitamathias.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anitamathiaswriter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anita.mathias/
Twitter : anitamathias1
My book of essays: Wandering Between Two Worlds (US) and UK

Send us Fan Mail

Jesus, in his Parable of the Talents, vividly illustrates how

human life and God’s kingdom work. Our life is a story we

co-write with God, who hands us plot outlines: geography,

gender, genetics, socio-economic position, creativity, health,

personality, temperament, as well as our unique, innate gifts.

God, considering our abilities, assigns us niches in his

ecosystem, prominent vocations, or quieter ones. But

God is kind to all, lavishing on us life itself, nature, sunshine,

sleep, the joy of movement, and human kindness. As well

as individual gifts! We each have 600 to 700 talents–

Rick Warren cites research! –most of which we never use.

Our vocations are a test, and our happiness and biography

pivot on how we use our gifts. Those who rarely squander

time but invest in their talents lead ever-bigger lives. Their

gifting and influence expands exponentially. They spot and

mine hidden opportunities, and experience success,

financially, too; an always-interesting life, and the exhilaration

of achieving their goals with good work which blesses many.

Some, though, do not nurture their talents, feeling resentful

and defeated as they side-eye those with five times their assets

of family, education, charisma, connections, capital, time,

intelligence, good looks or good sense. Fearing their work may

come to nothing, they attempt little, leading grudging, lazy

lives. Their talents, unused, wither, creating a vacuum for the

hard-working to shine. This slothfulness leads to loneliness,

sadness, and judgement, while the gifts of the diligent multiply.

To savour the excitement of living, we need eyes bright

with bounce-out-of-bed purpose—and the gift of purpose

has been given to us: to focus our lives on excellent work

with our gifts, great or small. This delivers us from

wasting our precious lives on triviality. It rescues us from

a black hole of addictions to success, money, fame,

or phones. It is the pathway to happiness and abundance.

And, on any day, during any decade of our lives, we can

start revising them, and rewrite a beautiful new story.

And though we may be well, well behind those who have

steadfastly used their abilities, if we now assess what we

can do with our current strength and energy, which changes

as we do, and then nourish our neglected gifts, starting

with those which most make our hearts sing, those talents

will blossom, filling the rest of our lives with aliveness,

new interests, and new opportunities to be a blessing to

the world which God so loves. And, in God’s kindness,

our five loaves may yet feed five thousand

My memoir: Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India UK USA

Blog: anitamathias.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anitamathiaswriter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anita.mathias/
Twitter : anitamathias1
My book of essays: Wandering Between Two Worlds (US) and UK

Send us Fan Mail

The Kingdom of God (which is, partly, a mysterious, shimmering internal palace in which we experience righteousness, peace and joy) is, in lightning flashes, here already—we can leap into it—though not yet fully here. We sense the rainbowed presence of Christ in the joy which pulses through creation. Christ strolls into our rooms with his wisdom and guidance & things change. Prayers are answered, we are healed, our hearts are strangely warmed. Sometimes.

And yet, we also experience sin, deep within & all around us. Our own sin, which steals our peace and distorts the trajectory of our lives. And the sin of the world--its greed, dishonesty and environmental destruction.

But in this broken world, in which we have a spiritual adversary, we still experience the glory of creation; “coincidences” which accelerate once we start praying, and shalom which envelops us like sudden sunshine. Portals into this Kingdom include repentance, gratitude, meditative breathing, and absolute surrender.

Christ's Kingdom is “here already, yet not yet here.” Christ,

who rose from the dead, is now forever, vibrantly alive; he

stalks the earth. We sense him in the joy of all creation.

In lightning flashes , we glimpse his shimmering Kingdom

--great palaces of peace deep within us. On invitation, Christ

walks into our rooms with his clarity and wisdom, and things

change. We sometimes experience wave upon wave of the

love of God deep within and all around us. Our prayers are

answered. Sometimes. We are healed. Sometimes. We feel our hearts

strangely warmed with loving-kindness and warm-fuzzies. Sometimes.

But we also experience sin, deep within and all around us.

We are bruised by other people’s greed, stinginess, bossiness,

And then…there’s the sin of the world—the cruelty, pride,

unbridled greed and environmental destruction!

And yet, the Kingdom, God’s presence, is always available

--its peace, its guidance, its wisdom and its joy. We can

leap sideways into it, sometimes. Or it may take a hard

wrestling with our own traumas, grudges, habits, and neurology.

Repentance is one portal into the Kingdom. As is our slow

meditative breathing. As is gratitude. And absolute surrender.

Our eyes still perceive the glory of the coming of the Lord--

in surprising joy and shalom, well-being, which envelops us like

sudden sunshine; in glacially slow but unmistakeable personal

change; in the acceleration of coincidences and answers once we

start praying; in the glory of creation. And so, we,

with quivering voices, sing our broken hallelujahs as we observe

Christ’s kingdom inexorably, infinitesimally appear on earth, too.

My memoir: Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India UK USA

Blog: anitamathias.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anitamathiaswriter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anita.mathias/
Twitter : anitamathias1
My book of essays: Wandering Between Two Worlds (US) and UK