The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers
Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Grief, Climate Change, Extinction and Appreciation |
I am often moved by many of the Comments to the Daily Meditations, which I try to read every day. I do not respond to them all because I do not have the time, but I enjoy seeing the persons commenting, interacting with each other, and
providing their own commentaries and genuine wisdom in the process. |
I will break my practice of no-response today, however, to respond to a comment that arose yesterday. One writer responded not so much
about John of the Cross as about the situation going on in our world, the ever-bad news of climate change, that the commentator said he is grieving about. | Paul Saint-Amour, University of Pennsylvania Professor in the Humanities and Chair of English, speaks “On the Urgency of Ecological Grief.” Penn Arts & Sciences |
In today’s news one headline told us how China is experiencing the
highest temperatures ever recorded there. It went like this: “Heatwave in China is the most severe ever recorded in the world” and the subtitle went like this: “A long spell of extreme hot and dry weather is affecting energy, water supplies and food production across China.” The article goes on to explain how low rainfall and record-breaking heat “across much of China” is having widespread impacts on people, industry and farming. River reservoir levels are falling, factories are shutting down due to electricity shortages and huge areas of crops have been damaged. World wide repercussions could cause further disruption to supply chains and exacerbate the global food
crisis. |
German public news service reports on the continental drought drying the rivers of Europe and Britain. DW News | Other news includes pictures from Europe showing us the drying up of major rivers such as the Rhine and the Danube. And of course here in America the Colorado River, upon which millions of Americans depend for water for washing, drinking and agriculture, is in dangerous shape. |
The bad news goes on and on. It is no time for denial. It is time for calling those who are trafficking in Denial to account. And that includes all politicians and all media and all so-called religious preachers. To his credit, Pope Francis wrote a major encyclical on the Environment that deserves study by all who love the Earth (it was denounced by those for whom money is their god however). It is time to deny denial and stand up to be counted about things we can do. |
There is much we can do, from driving less and smarter, to acknowledging the progress (modest but real) that congress has made—sad to say based on only one party’s support—with the new IRA bill that amounts to the greatest investment in a healthy earth that this country has yet to make. | |
Yes, it is time to grieve. But it is also time to recover Thanks and Gratitude for our amazing cosmos, earth and existence. The Via Negativa and Via Positiva travel together. We need the mystics. Appreciation matters. To be continued. |
| To view today's video, please click the image. You will be taken to today's post on the Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox website, where you can see the meditation in a larger version and also view and post your Comments. In the sharing that follows, a kind of community is developing around the DM.
If you can't reach Matthew's video on the website, try his Vimeo channel HERE. |
Queries for Contemplation
Are you busying denying denial? How are you assisting others to do the same? See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, chapters 1-3; Also Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality, pp. 90-131, 212-218. Banner
Image: Extinction Rebellion march, April 2019. Photo by Martin Hearn on Flickr. |
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally
changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them. “A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the new Physics | |
Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation
Spirituality To encapsulate the life and work of Matthew Fox would be a daunting task for any save his colleague Dr. Charles Burack, who had the full cooperation of his subject. Fox has devoted 50 years to developing and teaching the tradition of Creation Spirituality and in doing so has reinvented forms of education and worship. His more than 40 books, translated into 78 languages, are inclusive of today’s science and world spiritual traditions and have awakened millions to the much neglected earth-based mystical tradition of the West. Essential
Writings begins by exploring the influences on Fox’s life and spirituality, then presents selections from all Fox’s major works in 10 sections. “The critical insights, the creative connections, the centrality of Matthew Fox’s writings and teaching are second to none for the radical renewal of Christianity.” ~~ Richard Rohr,
OFM. | |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE
Join Matthew Fox as he offers a new, 12-week advanced course on the Shift Network:
7 Mystics on Recovering the Sacred and
Forging a New Story for Humanity: Timeless Wisdom to Deepen, Heal & Inspire Your Life Journey. NOTE: There is a prerequisite: In order to take this 12-week advanced course, one must have taken any prior shift course with Matthew Fox (not just the 7-week 7
Mystics course). Tuesdays, August 16-November 1, 5:00pm-6:30pm PT (GMT/UTC-7). Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox in a 6-week virtual course on “Mystics, Mysticism and Ourselves as Mystic-Prophets,” hosted by Creation Spirituality Communities. Wednesdays, 8/24, 8/31, 9/7, 9/14,
9/21, and 9/28, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox for the monthly Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, discussing The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, Thursday, September 15, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT. Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality in Conversation |
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Host Sandie Sedbeer welcomes Matthew Fox in a discussion of Creation Spirituality: Fresh Perspectives and Approaches to the Most Vital Issues of Our Time on WHAT IS GOING OM. Navigate to the podcast page by clicking the image on the left. |
Announcing Matthew Fox's Newest Book!
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Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality
Selected with an introduction by Charles Burack
“This collection of Fox’s most life-giving insights blesses the connection between caring for our Mother-the-Earth and lifting up marginalized voices, between waking up from the dream of separation and stepping up to mend the net of creation.”
—Mirabai Starr, author, God of Love and Wild Mercy
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