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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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A Preferential Option for the Young? |
In my autobiography I called for “a preferential option for the young” to be a value alongside that of a “preferential option for the poor.” Not only because the young are often poor, but also because adultism is a very clear
reality in our times and spiritual poverty can prove to be more dangerous than material poverty |
To me, the latest news of the multiple murders of young people by young people brings up this issue all over
again. And in a deep way. We grieve the loss of life. But we also need to ask: Why? Why are young people (95% boys) killing young people and others indiscriminately? One issue is the lack of
meaningful rites at puberty (no, confirmation as it is now practiced does not cut the | Voiceover of Ted Cruz speech to the 2022 NRA convention, days after the Uvalde school shooting, with a montage of family photos with assault rifles and
other guns. Tweet by @CWebbOnline (you may need to turn on the audio). |
mustard. Ask people, as I have over the years, if confirmation was a meaningful ritual for them.) As Malidoma Some tells us, in a society
lacking in rites of passage, the young are confused and angry, the adults are bewildered, and the elders are missing. We should bring both rites of passage for young people and rites of passage for elders alive and effective and
meaningful. Too many elders are out of touch with their responsibilities and dignity as elders to interact with the youth and exchange wisdom and stories and values that can assist our species to survive. What does the healthy
masculine look like? What does it mean to be a (healthy) man? What does the healthy feminine look like? What does it mean to be a healthy woman? |
Postcard from Cosmic Mass themed on the Green Man. | Do we really want to leave it to the media and consumer capitalism that drives
the media to give us its version of consumer citizenship as the epitome of healthy adulthood? That is one reason I turn to the mystics to teach me such important lessons. Lessons of our capacity for compassion and love of Gaia
and forgiveness and eros (passion for living, love of life) and wisdom and relationship and interdependence from the feminine side. |
And from the masculine side, lover of inner strength or virtue (from the Latin for “man”) and
archeytpes of father sky, the green man, the blue man, the spiritual warrior, the hunter gatherer, generous fatherhood. Healthy men and healthy women incorporate the sacred masculine and the divine feminine in themselves whether male or female, gay or
straight or trans. Teaching these values and realities would surely constitute a preferential option for the young. And might undo some of the bewilderment of the adults and the silencing of the
elders. |
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Adapted from Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond. And Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine. Banner Image: Young men stand admiring the sunset. Photo
by Helena Lopes on Unsplasha |
Queries for Contemplation Which of these teachings do you feel most offer a preferential option for the young? Are they being taught in schools and homes and churches and temples and synagogues? How can that happen more effectively? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Julian of
Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic-And Beyond Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a
deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book. “What an utterly
magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.” –Caroline Myss Now also available as an audiobook HERE | |
The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors
to Awaken the Sacred Masculine To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental relationship with nature, to
the Spiritual Warrior….These timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to connect to their deepest selves and to reinvent the world. “A gutsy, courageous book, one that confronts the terrible isolation in which men live with archetypal images that once nurtured, guided, and connected our ancestors and that still course within the
depths of each of us.” –Dr James Hollis, author of What Matters Most | |
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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