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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Praising the Earth, Father Sky and the Cosmos |
To me, one of the greatest gifts from science in our time is its bestowing us with the news of the universe and its 13.8 billion year journey. It is so important to highlight our journey as a species arriving so late on the scene
but so amazingly equipped to love the universe, to undergo awe in its presence, to learn about it, and to share what we learn. |
Of course these same powers of our species can also be put to evil use--to think only of ourselves,
to rape and exploit the Earth and other species. (Recent studies suggest that thousands of species of fish will go extinct in this century as humans continue to warm the planet and to fish excessively.) | “Webb: Revealing the First Galaxies.” James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) |
Still, the universe is astonishing. Our Earth is astonishing. And our existence is astonishing. As Rabbi Heschel put it: |
| The world is too incredible, too meaningful for us. The existence of the world is the most unlikely, the
most unbelievable fact. Even our ability for surprise is beyond expectation…. Who could believe it? Who could conceive it? …The existence of the universe is contrary to all reasonable expectations. |
The Webb Telescope is part of that learning and sharing, as is so much of recent science’s discoveries of the sacred journey our Earth has taken. All of it can—and must—feed our powers of praise. |
A video meditation on The Great Work by Thomas Berry. From
the records of Bruce Weaver. | The implications of the teaching from Thomas Berry that “ecology is functional cosmology” are staggering. Thomas Berry, like his mentors Thomas Aquinas and Teilhard de Chardin, is a cosmic mystic and prophet who urges us not to get stuck in our grief but to enter a “Great Work” of saving the Earth from ourselves. |
Julian, too, was a champion of praise and nature. “God is the goodness in nature,” she declared. And she knew about awe and the Via Positiva and the energy it bestows on us all when she wrote: “Charged with the quality of reverence and loving awe, we turn ourselves with all our might toward the actions to which we are guided.” One such action is to save Mother Earth. From ourselves. |
| 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 “charged by the quality of reverence and loving awe to turn to action to which you are guided?” Are we? How is it going? Adapted from Matthew Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, p. 20 And Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond, p. 102 Banner image: Photo by Aldebaran S on Unsplash |
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl
Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others. “Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister
Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward | |
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic-And Beyond Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian
way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book. “What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of
Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.” –Caroline Myss Now also available as an audiobook HERE. | |
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 |
| 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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