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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Peter Gabel: His Writings, Part III |
We are remembering the prophetic voice and loving person that Peter Gabel was. |
In his book, Another Way of Seeing: Essays on Transforming Law, Politics and Culture, Gabel argues that all human beings seek a desire for authentic mutual
recognition, but this desire is often squelched in a culture that preaches fear of the other. This fear in turn gets passed on from generation to generation and we become “withdrawn
selves,” | |
who perceive the other as a threat rather than as the source of our completion as social beings. A kind of shadow or enemy. It follows that certain politicians build on this fear of the other and take us even further down dark roads of hatred and division. The result is a socially separated world. This helps to explain the ‘silos’ that our media and politics so often finds itself in today. He calls for a new kind of “spiritual activism” that speaks to this universal interpersonal longing for community and believes that this can transform law, politics, public policy and culture when a new social movement is constructed on it. Though a lawyer by profession, he
urges us to “think with our hearts.” |
| Michael Lerner comments on Peter’s most recent book, The Desire for Mutual Recognition: Social Movements and the Dissolution of the False Self, which builds on Another Way of
Seeing. He writes how Gabel calls for those who seek liberation to “move past liberalism, Marxism, and deconstruction” and instead bring “a respiritualization of every aspect of our world [that] can move us beyond the alienation that characterizes so much of human interactions” and that penetrates institutions in which we feel stuck. |
I endorsed the book this way: Peter Gable is a God-wrestler and has been one for years and decades. In this important and needed book he brings his passion for justice and healing of our
world along with his well-honed analytical skills to bear on the pressing issue of our time: How to let go of the ‘false self’ and the ‘false we’ that poisons our political discourse and stifles our social imagination. Gabel offers a roadmap to Dr. King’s dream of a “beloved community.” This summer, Peter wrote me a note praising me for a daily meditation I wrote on the “spark of the soul.” He wrote: Excellent meditations on the spark of the soul, the Holy Spirit that manifests everywhere if we can pause to be aware of it!...Peter. He was a practitioner in what I call deep ecumenism, not afraid to learn from traditions other than his
own. |
| 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 Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time. And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion. Meister
Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, pp. 189-195. Banner Image: Peter Gabel and his partner Lisa Jaicks. Photo originally posted to Peter's
website. |
Queries for Contemplation Do you agree with Gabel’s calling for a society that moves beyond fear and division and individuals who move beyond the “false self” and the “false we” to find our common ground? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood For Our Time Thomas
Aquinas said, “To live well is to work well,” and in this bold call for the revitalization of daily work, Fox shares his vision of a world where our personal and professional lives are celebrated in harmony–a world where the self is not sacrificed for a job but is sanctified by authentic “soul work.” “Fox approaches the level of poetry in describing the
reciprocity that must be present between one’s inner and outer work…[A]n important road map to social change.” ~~ National Catholic Reporter | |
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Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice
of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity. “Well worth our
deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register | |
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 | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Matthew Fox for the monthly Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, discussing Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality. Thursday, November 17,
4:00pm-6:00pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox for the monthly Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, discussing Christian Mystics: 365 Readings and Meditations. Thursday, December 15,
4:00pm-6:00pm PT Register HERE. Creation Spirituality Conversations |
In a podcast episode with the Earth and Spirit Center, Matthew Fox reflects on how creation-centered spirituality, and the marriage of the divine feminine and sacred masculine, can help us respond with hope
to the troubles of our apocalyptic times. Listen HERE. | |
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