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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Speaking of Praise, Rilke Again |
The poet Rainer Maria Rilke underwent a very painful childhood. He was locked in the attic by his mother for long periods of time and was sent to a military school even though he was a sensitive
child. |
Yet he learned something of praise and pleasure from this journey with suffering. The Via Negativa did not triumph one might say. Says he about his vocation as a poet: | Visual interpretation of “I Am Much Too Alone in This World, Yet Not Alone” by Rainer Maria Rilke. Video by illneas. |
Oh, tell us poet, what do you do?
I praise.
But the deadly and the violent days,
how do you undergo them, take them in?
I praise.
But the namelessness—how do you raise
that, invoke the unnameable? I praise. |
With a grand piano on a floating platform in front of a glacier on the Arctic Ocean, Ludovico Einaudi performs an original piece “Elegy for the Arctic,” to call for its protection. Ludovico Einaudi via Greenpeace, 2016. | What right have you, through every phase,
in every mask, to remain true?
I
praise.
–and that both stillness and the wild affray
know you, like star and storm?
Because I praise.* |
For the very same reasons, Meister Eckhart can say that “Everything praises God. Darkness, privations, defects, evil too praise God and bless God.” |
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Queries for Contemplation
What do Rilke and Eckhart in this meditation teach you about praise and grief and how they travel together? *Translation by Denise Levertov in Denis Levertov, Light Up the Cave (NY: 1981), pp. 98f.
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Original Blessing, pp. 144, 345.
And Matthew Fox, Meditations with Meister Eckart, p. 56.
Banner Image: “Star Reflection.” Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash |
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation
Spirituality In this book Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by
Christian theology). Here Fox lays out the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way. “Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever
these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story | |
Meditations with Meister Eckhart: A Centering
Book A centering book by Matthew Fox. This book of simple but rich meditations exemplifies the deep yet playful creation-centered spirituality of Meister Eckhart, Meister Eckhart was a 13th-century Dominican preacher who
was a mystic, prophet, feminist, activist, defender of the poor, and advocate of creation-centered spirituality, who was condemned shortly after he died. “These quiet presentations of spirituality are remarkable for their immediacy and clarity.” –Publishers Weekly. | |
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. |
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