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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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We are meditating on that interior experience we call praise, and its opposite which is essentially taking for granted or not noticing. There is so much to praise and there is so much we take for granted. |
Let us consider Earth, Air, Fire and Water and how these elements are worthy of attention and
praise. How, in Mary Oliver’s words, they are worthy of astonishment. How astonishing is air? James Joyce spoke of the air in Dublin this way: | The elements of earth, air, fire, and water merge spectacularly as lava from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano meets the sea. Photo by Mandy Beerley on Unsplash |
The air without is impregnated with rainbow moisture, life essence celestial, glistening on Dublin stone there under starshiny
coelum. God’s air the Allfather’s air, scintillant circumambient cessile air. Breathe it deep into thee. This is quite a poem to air. The last line is surely urging us not to take it for granted and not
to participate lightly. Rather, to “breathe it deep into thee.” Of course, we cannot take for granted that air today is healthy to breathe in deeply. Pollution is an attack on our Allfather’s air. Air of
course is what we breathe, it is our breath—and what most spiritual traditions around the world understand as spirit. |
| One of the stories of humanity’s creation in the book of Genesis is that the Allfather breathed his/her breath into the first human and thus we came to be. Breath and Wind are often
identified with Spirit, no doubt |
because they are invisible but their effects surely are not. The first breath of a baby? The last breath of one who dies? These are not minor
events. Thus, many meditations practices instruct us to breathe air/spirit in and breathe air/spirit out. Not to take breath for granted–indeed, to recognize it as sacred. What is science telling us about air today? A lot. In Sam Kean’s book called Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us, we learn that today’s science is convinced that our atmosphere is so complex that “it rivals the human brain in both its intricacy and its fragility.”* |
With every breath we literally breathe in the history of the world. It is very likely that with every breath we are inhaling particles from everyone else’s breath who ever lived—thus the title of the book: We are inhaling molecules of Caesar’s last breath. | |
Talk about interconnection! We are already inside one another, inhaling one another’s breath and that of our ancestors. Community is already here holding us together. Interbeing is interbreathing. Let us praise our common breath. To be continued |
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Sam Keane, Ceasar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us. (NY: Little, Brown & Co., 2017), p. 230. See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, p. 71 and pp. 45-62. Banner Image: Morning Mist, Keswick, England. Photo by Rebecca Prest on Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation Do you praise the air? Or do we take it for granted? Are we working to keep the air pure and healthy? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
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 | |
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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