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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Grief in Colorado Springs:
The Latest Mass Shooting in America |
We have been meditating on the gift that our Earth and Air and human existence is, a 13.8 billion year gift. Now, closer to home, we hear of human capacity not for praise but for murder. Not for celebration and
thanks but for spreading fear and hate, trauma and horror. |
Humans are capable of such joy and festivity-making, but also of such ugliness and evil-making. On Saturday night, a 22-year-old gunman killed at least five people dancing at a LGBTQ+ club in Colorado Springs and | Corey Rose and Jordan Chavez of Denver NBC affiliate 9NEWS report on the aftermath of the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs. |
injured another 25
people. He was subdued on the spot by two very brave individuals at the club and within three minutes police arrived en masse. Clearly, more tragedy was averted, but of course the damage was done for the five people and
their loved ones and the 25 injured and all who were there whose lives were changed forever. As one person working at the club put it, “I never thought this would happen to me and my bar. I don’t know what to do with myself. I can’t stop hearing the shots.” The trauma will last for the people present a very long time and certainly forever for those who lost a loved one. As so often is the case with mass shootings,
the killer was a young man. |
The shooter of the gay nightclub in Colorado is being investigated for past crimes and expressions of hatred. ABC News. | African spiritual teacher and ritual leader Malidoma Soma warned us that a society that lacks rites of passage for young men is practically inviting anger and violence which is, of course, an expression of untended anger. |
When such a society is urged on by politicians and media that spew hate toward the “other” who is unlike oneself such as LGBTQ persons and trans-persons or people of color if one is Caucasian, and where guns are available on a regular basis, that society is asking for tragedies like this to happen. After all, it was in Colorado that just recently a congresswoman was re-elected (though barely) who has accused LGBTQ supporters of “grooming” children and called family-friendly drag shows a “depravity.” As a congresswoman, Lauren Boebert sat
down with a right wing extremist who exclaimed that gay people should be killed. |
Nor is she alone. Her party has raised transgender hatred to a rabid political cause in the past year. Fifty
transgender people were shot or killed by violent means in 2021—the highest total ever since tracking such hate crimes began in 2013. At least 32 have been murdered already this year. | American Voices host Alicia Menendez hosts Professor Brian Levin who explains the disturbing rise in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes and the need to stand in allyship with gay, lesbian,
bi, trans and queer folk in the face of violence. MSNBC. |
Boebert did say in response to this massacre that “this lawless violence needs to end and end quickly” but she and we cannot forget that words have consequences. Political messages carry
consequences. Media that thinks only of its bottom line and thereby fuels hate and fear has consequences. Greed and capitalism without safeguards carries consequences. |
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Queries for Contemplation How are you dealing with the grief of this latest mass shooting news of hatred toward gay and lesbian and transgender peoples? |
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 in conversation with Robert Holden in a special Thanksgiving webinar: Thanksgiving with the Mystics: 5
Practices for Gratitude and Abundance as a Spiritual Path. Available online ONLY from Tuesday, November 22, 10:00 AM PT, through Sunday, November 27. Purchase tickets HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he leads a new course hosted by The Shift Network: Answer the Call for an Uncommon Life Through the Mystical Teachings of St. Hildegard. New 16-module video training with two live Q&A events starts Monday,
November 28, 12:00 PM 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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