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Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily
Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Let Us Praise the Air, part II |
Wonders—and questions–about Air abound. |
We are learning to praise Air and not take it for granted. Science tells us that “we live inside a precariously thin shell of air, far less thick proportionally than
the skin on an apple.” | |
Another person describes the layer of air over the earth as proportionate to the thickness of a balloon filled with
air. Both are cautioning us not to take air for granted. In Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding The Secrets of the Air Around Us, Sam Kean alerts us to how the atmosphere shapes human beings but we human beings shape the atmosphere also. And
not always for the good. Indeed, "in the past several decades the relationship between human beings and air has changed." The air that people breathed 500 years ago ...is not the same air we breathe today; industrial development has changed its chemical composition. Our mental concept of air has changed even more dramatically: only recently have scientists started to appreciate just how complex our atmosphere is, rivaling the human
brain in both its intricacy and its fragility. Mars lost all its air. |
“Mars: Atmosphere and Cassini Crater” Image by Andrea Luck, from Hope Mission, Orbit 19, UAESA/MBRSC. Wikimedia Commons. | All Mars has for an atmosphere nowadays is a whiff of carbon dioxide, with an air pressure two hundred times less than that on earth. Air is special—indeed, our atmosphere is one of the most complicated physical systems in existence. |
Let us praise Air. What is the
opposite of praising Air? Polluting it; poisoning it; killing it. Ignoring it. Taking it for granted. It is this testing for the varied ingredients in our air that is driving the Webb Telescope’s search for
life on other planets. What an exciting search that is! For me, one of the most exciting questions of our day is this: Is there intelligent life in other corners of the universe? Or is our evolution so special
and unique that we are alone here? |
While it appears that the question is an either/or one, another possibility exists: That there once was intelligent life, but it failed to heed the limits of its
atmosphere and thus destroyed the Air on their home planet and has gone extinct. | “What If Earth Suddenly Lost Its Atmosphere?” Brief documentary by What If. |
So it seems there are three possible answers
to this pressing question:
1. We are alone. 2. We are not alone, there are other intelligent beings out there. 3. We are alone because other beings messed up, as we are doing currently. It seems like all three options teach us the same lesson: Prize our Air. Be so in love with life and therefore healthy air that we make smart choices. Let selfhood go enough that we
factor in the health and wonder of Air when we make our decisions. And offer our thanks. |
| 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 Sam Kean, Caesar’s Last Breath:
Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us (NY: Little, Brown and Co., 2017), pp. 208, 229f., 307, 257f. See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh:
Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, pp. 71, 45-62. Banner Image: Mountain winds carry prayers out to the universe: Prayer flags above Thimphu, Bhutan. Photo by Passang Tobgay on Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation Are you thankful for Air? Have you moved beyond taking it for granted? What would it mean to you if 1) we found intelligent life on other planets? Or 2) We did not find intelligent life on other planets? How would that inspire us to behave more responsibly on earth? |
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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