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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Gandhi, Character Building, Truth-Telling, continued |
Yesterday we meditated on Gandhi’s warning about character building and truth telling and its importance for the very survival of human society. |
This seems especially pertinent when we learn that a certain ex-president, who is threatening to run for president again and riding shotgun for his political party, gave a talk this past weekend in Ohio, where he linked up forces in an explicit way with QAnon, a conspiracy group shouting
near | CNN‘s Sara Sidner
describes indications of potential links between the former White House occupant and QAnon propaganda |
crazy slogans of hatred onto others who do not follow their extreme path. At moments like this, it might be fitting to hear from some other voices who also consider truth seeking and truth speaking important. George Orwell warns us that “during times of universal deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary.” |
Quotes for our time: George Orwell on truth-telling. Trutherex | The social media is a technological achievement so new that we are just beginning to recognize its evil impact for spreading untruths so rapidly and
effectively that it can devastate a person’s mind. |
Such technology seems to carry out Gandhi’s warning about how “science without humanity”–let us say, “technology without awareness of humanity’s weaknesses and laws to guard against it”—can wreak havoc in a society. Especially is this true when the goal of wreaking havoc and chaos and disruption is the spoken purpose of a certain political “philosophy” spoken explicitly by Steve Bannon and cheered on by those who follow him. bell hooks tells us that “the heart of justice is truth telling.” She is surely on the same page as Thomas Aquinas when she reiterates the teaching we shared yesterday from Aquinas, how truth and justice journey together and both are the “proper objects” of the human heart. We are hungry for both, as hooks is telling us. |
Pontius Pilate, a political “leader” in his day and representative of the oppressive Roman Empire, is famous for asking Jesus at his trial, “Truth, what is that?” And Jesus is famous for refusing to answer, implying it seems to me, that some people are so awash in their own version of reality that it is not
worth getting into an argument with them. | Law professor Sabrina Hassanali holds a sign at the Truth Walk in Decatur, IL, 6/11/2022, part of national Days of Action coordinated by the Zinn
Education Project, Black Lives Matter at School and the African American Policy Forum. Photo by Dean Hesse, TeachingForChange, on Flickr. |
Maybe a contemporary version lies in the phrase, “alternative facts,” language also spoken by a person in a high place in imperial politics. It would seem that truth and falsity frequently clash in the context of empires and empire building. |
| 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. |
See Matthew Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times, pp. 101-108. And Matthew Fox, The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human, pp. 138-145. Banner Image: Extinction Rebellion boat on the river Thames near Westminster, London, 07.10.2019 Photo by Stefan Müller on Wikimedia Commons. |
Queries for Contemplation Do you agree with bell hooks that “the heart of justice is truth telling?” What does that teach us? Does it mean that injustice needs to be named and accounted for? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit | |
The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing
the Human The A.W.E. Project reminds us that awe is the appropriate response to the unfathomable wonder that is creation… A.W.E. is also the acronym for Fox’s proposed style of
learning – an approach to balance the three R’s. This approach to learning, eldering, and mentoring is intelligent enough to honor the teachings of the Ancestors, to nurture Wisdom in addition to imparting knowledge, and to Educate through Fox’s 10 C’s. The 10 C’s are the core of the A.W.E. philosophy and process of education, and include: compassion, contemplation, and creativity. The A.W.E. Project does for the vast subject of “learning” what Fox’s Reinvention of Work did for
vocation and Original Blessing did for theology. Included in the book is a dvd of the 10 C’s put to 10 video raps created and performed by Professor Pitt. “An awe-based vision of educational renewal.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE
Matthew Fox, Caroline Myss, and Andrew Harvey offer a 3-part series of solo online lectures on “The Power of Truth, Wisdom, Choice Part 2” through
the Sophia Institute in Charleston, SC. Wednesdays, September 21, 28, October 5, 3:00pm-4:30pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox for the monthly online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, discussing Original Blessing. Thursday, October 20, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT. Register
HERE. |
Creation Spirituality in Conversation |
| Join
scholars Matthew Fox and Thomas G. Hermans-Webster for Progressive Christianity's monthly “Things that Matter” discussion on eco-spirituality: “The Intersection of Faith and Climate Justice.” |
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