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In our journey to become more like Jesus, we learn to see people like Jesus did and does. Those struggling were and are not invisible to him. In Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs shows us her method of paying attention. Like Jesus, she isn’t repelled by people but sees them and moves toward them.

In this episode, Dr. Mimi Dixon, Renovaré Institute teacher and retired Presbyterian Pastor, and host Kristy Lahoda discuss the character Maisie Dobbs and how the hardships of her past and present enable her to be an insightful and spiritually intuitive private investigator and psychologist. She's able to meet people where they are and help them, often in subtle ways, leaving them refreshed. She does this by being with the other person, talking to them, listening and questioning, observing what they need, waiting for truth to make itself known, and then acting. We can learn from Maisie’s deliberate stillness in waiting for revealed truth as we patiently seek Jesus’s will and timing not only in our interactions with others but also in situations in our own lives.

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Guest

Dr. Mimi Dixon

After 40 years of ministry, Mimi recently retired as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Golden, Colorado. Since then, she has focused her energy supporting Renovaré, an organization that offers resources and community for a deeper, more transformative life with God. She earned both her MDiv and DMin degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary. Mimi is on the Renovaré Board of Directors and teaches for the Renovaré Institute.

Articles by Mimi on the Renovaré website
Read more about Dr. Mimi Dixon
Mimi Dixon

Host

Kristy Lahoda
Fiction Writer, Spiritual Formation Practitioner, and Fiction that Forms Us Creator and Host

Kristy is a Renovaré Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation graduate (2018-2021), has a Ph.D. in chemistry, and is a contract scientific technical editor. She lives in central Ohio with Rob, her husband of 18 years, and their three children, 14 year-old girl/boy twins and a 12 year-old boy.

Read more about Kristy Lahoda
Kristy Lahoda

Show Notes

At 20:19, Mimi mentions how Dr. Maurice Blanche, Maisie's mentor, teaches her to pay attention to her bodily reactions:

"It is the wisdom of the self speaking to you. Be aware of concern, of anticipation, of all the feelings that come from the self. They manifest in the body. What is their counsel?"

"Wait awhile in the stillness, and do not rush to conclusions, no matter how uncomfortable the unknowing.”

Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs (New York: Soho Press, Inc., 2003), Kindle Edition, 218, 32.

 

At 21:00, Mimi gives an example from the novel of how Maisie mirrored others:

"Maisie moved to stand next to Billy, and without his noticing, adopted the same stance. She was wearing trousers again, and a light cotton blouse, so it was easy for her to place her hands in her pockets, emulating Billy’s pose exactly. He’s embarrassed about something, thought Maisie. There’s something he doesn’t want to tell me. As Billy moved in discomfort, so did Maisie. She closed her eyes and felt Billy’s dilemma." (250)

 

At 21:30, Mimi talks about her interest in neurology and the synapses we have in our brain, heart, and gut. She quotes an excerpt from J. P. Moreland's book, Finding Quiet.

"… scientists have discovered that there is a measurable electromagnetic field surrounding every person. It is a combination of the electromagnetic fields generated by the brain, the heart, and other electric systems in the body. According to Childre and Rozman, 'The heart’s electromagnetic field has forty to sixty times more amplitude [roughly the size of the field’s oscillations—an indicator of the field’s strength] than that of the brain, while the heart’s magnetic field is approximately five thousand times stronger [has more intensity] than the field produced by the brain.' The heart’s field has been measured at least 10 feet from the heart muscle, and this is one reason a person’s emotional state can be picked up and internalized by another person within a range of ten feet or more. The field changes with different internal emotions, e.g., with differing stress levels, and as the field changes, it communicates different “messages” to the brain, triggering positive or negative thoughts."

J. P. Moreland, Finding Quiet: My Story of Overcoming Anxiety and the Practices that Brought Peace (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019), 144-145.

The quoted study citation mentioned within the excerpt is as follows: Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman, Transforming Stress: The HeartMath Solution for Relieving Worry, Fatigue, and Tension (Oakland, CA: New Harbinger, 2005), 75.

 

At 23:29, Kristy mentions a quote where Maurice teaches Maisie about the "judicious use" of touch:

"Though Maurice had cautioned Maisie in the use of touch, he had also stressed the power inherent in physical connection: 'When we reach to place a hand on a sore knee or an aching back, we are really reaching into our primordial healing resources. Judicious use of the energy of touch can transform, as the power of our aura soothes the place that is injured.'"

Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs (New York: Soho Press, Inc., 2003), Kindle Edition, 265.

 

At 25:04, Kristy mentions a quote where Maurice teaches Maisie about their responsibility of filling in someone's wound they help clean out.

"The story takes up space as a knot in a piece of wood. If the knot is removed, a hole remains. We must ask ourselves, how will this hole that we have opened be filled? The hole, Maisie, is our responsibility." (40-41)

 

At 25:33, Kristy gives part of a quote where Dr. Basil Khan, her contemplative teacher, tells her what she is supposed to do as she sits in silence:

"When she first sat with Khan, she asked what it was she was to do as she sat with legs crossed on the cushion in front of him. The old man lifted his face to the window, then turned his clear white eyes toward her and said simply, 'Pay attention.'" (108)

 

At 28:50, Mimi, when asked what she especially admires about Maisie, quotes the following to emphasize her answer:

"My job is rather more complex than you might have imagined, Mr. Davenham. I am responsible for the safety of all parties. And this is so even when I am dealing with society’s more criminal elements." (14)

More Episodes

Season 2

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Welcome to the Season 2 season finale of Fiction that Forms us!

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Jane Eyre, Part 1 – A conversation about Jane Eyre

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Season 1

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All Flame by Carolyn Arends

Thank you to Carolyn Arends for permission to use her song, "All Flame", from the album Recognition, for the podcast's intro and outro. Carolyn is a singer/songwriter, the Director of Education at Renovaré, and was one of my instructors in the Renovaré Institute. She has become a dear friend.

You can learn more about Carolyn at carolynarends.com.

If you'd like to purchase the song or the album, you can download it at her web store.

Recognition album cover

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