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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Caring for the Earth and Other Preferential Options for the Young |
Caring for Mother Earth in a perilous time of climate change is surely caring for the young. Not to care for Mother Earth—and to ignore or vote against aggressive climate change action–is adultism in
action. |
It is a vote against the young because it is a vote against the future health of the planet which the young and their children-to-be will inherit. It is a vote on behalf of matricide also, a continuing hatred and ultimate control of the feminine. | |
The recent COP22 was a decidedly mixed and not altogether positive happening. While voting that richer countries support the poorer ones—the former far more
responsible for climate change than the latter—is a plus, the follow-through remains to be seen. It will require some belt-tightening on the part of the richer countries, simpler living therefore. It will also require cutting back on fossil fuels including coal, oil and gas. The Order of the Sacred Earth is a vision on behalf of future generations and therefore a preferential option for the young. For it, too, encourages a move beyond slow-moving institutional religion in favor of action and spiritual practice and commitment that is explicit and not hesitant about building up the health of Mother Earth and therefore future generations of humans and of other species as well. |
Dancing at the Cosmic Mass-- "Reinventing Worship for the 21st Century" from the former website cosmicmass.com | The Cosmic Mass is also an affirmation of the young for it is a
commitment to inviting the post-modern art forms of dj, vj and rap, along with dance (an ancient and pre-modern form of prayer using all our chakras) into liturgy and ritual again. |
It is also an opportunity for the young to play leadership roles in ritual and ceremony because their leadership is honored as dj’s, vj’s and rap artists. Yet all generations gather and celebrate together in Cosmic Masses. |
When I look back on my work I recognize many efforts to inculcate a preferential option for the young–including, of course, redesigning education so that it makes room for values, including wisdom. In contrast to mere knowledge, wisdom is part of what the feminine brings to education. Creativity and art are central therefore to honoring the young. Art as meditation is central to pedagogy that enhances values. Just what Einstein calls for: teaching both the rational and intuitive brains, operating in tandem in order to bring values alive. (And values, he instructs us, derive from the intuitive, not the rational,
brain). Just as Hildegard of Bingen taught us, “there is wisdom in all creative works.” | Painting by Hildegard von Bingen entitled "Lucifer's Fall, Humanity's Glory," an amazingly contemporary expression of
creativity. From Illuminations of Hildegard von Bingen with text by Hildegard von Bingen and commentary by Matthew Fox. |
| 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 Coming of the Cosmic Christ, pp. 22f., 180-186. Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Postdenominational Priest, pp. 13, 169, 320f., 327-383.
Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, pp. 202, 279ff., 325f. Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson and Jen Listug, Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action.
Fox, The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human. Banner image: Nurturing our Earth. Photo by Nikola Jovanovic on
Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation How are you practicing a “preferential option for the young?” |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
Christianity flies on two wings—the historical Jesus and the Cosmic Christ. The Cosmic Christ represents the mystical side of Christianity, a mystical
dimension that Fox argues is found above all in our profound relationships with Mother Earth. Indeed, when Mother Earth and her creatures are endangered as they are in today’s ecological crisis, the Christ is crucified all over again. This mysticism leads to prophetic action. In what may be considered the most comprehensive outline of the Christian paradigm shift of our Age, Matthew Fox eloquently foreshadows the manner in which the spirit of Christ resurrects in terms of the return to an
earth-based mysticism, the expression of creativity, mystical sexuality, the respect due the young, the rebirth of effective forms of worship—all of these mirroring the ongoing blessings of Mother Earth and the recovery of eros, the feminine aspect of the Divine. Uniting mysticism and spiritual development with ethical and prophetic witness, the creation spirituality articulated by Matthew Fox presents an inspiring vision of an alternative Christology. The Cosmic Christ is the incarnation of God
in the universe and especially in Mother Earth. Fox's union of mysticism, science, and art opens up individual and communal possibilities for a spirituality that is inwardly personal and contemplative, yet outwardly driven by justice and compassion. If you want to reconnect to a progressive Christianity, this book ties together ethics, myth, and theology like no other. "Fox captures...as few theologians have ever done before, the feminine aspects of God so suppressed in traditional Christianity." — Bishop John Spong “The Coming of the Cosmic Christ is a classic.” --Thomas Berry, author of The Great Work and The Dream of the Earth. | |
The Sins
of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh (Revised Edition): Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Fox makes the point that religion has so often oversold the concept of “sin” that it has left us without language or power to combat evil. He compares 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. In Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh, 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. Using today’s science to rediscover the sacred marriage of spirit and flesh, Fox sets forth a visionary but practical mysticism that lays out a blueprint for social transformation. In
this book, Matthew Fox dissects the roots of our culture's spiritual malaise and offers "medicine" for our society's deep spiritual "wounds." He shows how, contrary to mainstream church teachings, flesh is the grounding of spirit, and how spirit and flesh are entwined with each other in a felicitous and spiritually nourishing bond. He outlines a Theology of Spirit, an approach to the fusing of spirit and flesh which has been underdeveloped in Western thought. His cosmology stresses the need for
diversity, the revelatory power of Nature, and the imperative of cooperation. Fox draws together the wisdom of East and West on the subject of human destructiveness by taking Thomas Aquinas's definition of sin as "misdirected love" and ushering us through parallels between the Eastern teachings of the seven chakras and the Western teachings of the seven capital sins. “A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breathtaking analysis.” –Diarmuid O Murchu, author of Reclaiming Spirituality | |
Order of the Sacred Earth: An
Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
"The Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way." ~~Joanna Macy "The creation of The Order of the Sacred Earth is a magnificent step forward for humanity. What we need now are sacred activists willing to come together and live conscious sacred lives to preserve the earth and humanity. I am honored to celebrate and join this great adventure." ~~Andrew Harvey “I PROMISE TO BE THE BEST LOVER AND DEFENDER OF MOTHER EARTH THAT I CAN BE.”
Might this sacred pledge required of those who join the Order of the Sacred Earth save humanity and our Earth Mother? It is surely worth a try.... f we are to hold any hope of a positive outcome to the disaster we have wrought, it surely begins with an expression of our human love for and commitment to the Sacred Earth we now so badly abuse. Our failure to contribute to Earth’s healing might well bring an end to Earth’s distinctive contribution to Creation’s journey. The ill-conceived solutions of
geoengineers compound our past arrogance and may only hasten Earth’s transformation into a dead rock. Ultimately, other planets may bring forth carbon-based life that evolves to create conditions essential to more complex and able organisms— perhaps even human-like species. Perhaps one among them will acquire greater wisdom and avoid our failure
of arrogance. Yet, if any possibility remains that we humans might get it right, let us not go quietly. We are an intelligent, self-reflective species with powerfulcommunication networks. This gives us the capacity to learn, to change, to perhaps become a healer to the Earth we have so abused. It begins with our pledge to be healing lovers and
protective warriors. The founders of the Order of the Sacred Earth ask only that we pledge to love and defend. Beyond that, it is up to we who take the pledge. There are implications for every aspect of our daily thought and action as we advance a transformation of the failed institutions that currently make it so difficult to live in
responsible relationship with one another and Earth’s community of life. So, what do we do beyond the pledge? Only together can we hope to find the answer. (Excerpted from the Forward by David
Korten) Learn more about this groundbreaking book and New Monastic order for all people of all creeds - or no creed - at http://www.orderofthesacredearth.org. | |
The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the
Human
After 29 successful years of offering an alternative educational model to adults, Matthew Fox here lays out his basic educational philosophy and presents a revolution in education in the process. “A.W.E.” stands for Ancestral Wisdom Education. “A.W.E.” stands for Ancestral Wisdom Education. Education for wisdom—not just for knowledge; education for earth’s survival—not just for the marketplace; education as awakening awe,
excitement, joy and creativity in learning—not for putting kids to sleep or diagnosing them with a disease because they are not at home sitting in a desk 7 hours a day. The A.W.E. Project reminds us that awe is the appropriate response to the unfathomable wonder that is creation – from the magnificence of galaxies, to the complex and brilliant process of cell-differentiation, we are all products of 14 billion years of evolution. Imagine how much richer learning will be for all ages
when we intentionally cultivate a sense of appreciation and wonder. A.W.E. is also the acronym for Fox’s proposed style of learning – an approach to balance the three R’s by honoring the teachings of the Ancestors (including the more than two legged ones), and by teaching values through what Fox calls “the 10 C’s”—Cosmology (and ecology), contemplation, creativity, chaos, critical thinking, community, ceremony or ritual, compassion, courage and character development. The A.W.E. Project does for
the vast subject of “learning” what Fox’s Reinvention of Work did for vocation and Original Blessing did for theology. With passion and conviction, Fox turns conventional “education” upside down, shakes out what is no longer working, and offers visions of what can be. It forms the basis for his successful YELLAWE project that he has developed with inner city youth, a vision of reinventing education from the inner city out. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar 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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