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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Winter, Advent and Honoring the Dark |
This time of advent and of winter and of solstice approaching affords us an invitation to enter into the darkness, the darkness of our souls and of the Divinity that is called the apophatic
Divinity. |
The apophatic Divinity is captured by Eckhart who speaks of Divinity as “superessential darkness that has no name and will never be given a name.” Surely it is from such an awareness that Eckhart talks about “I pray God to rid me of God.” That the | |
theme of the via negativa that he stresses so much, that of letting go and letting be, includes letting go at times of all concepts and ideas and projections—even, and especially, those
we put onto “God” or our understanding of God. Practical decisions and actions derive from such language and understanding of the divine. Is Advent and the coming of Solstice and preparation for Christmas—as well as the season of
light and Hanukkah—a reminder to honor the dark and not run from it? The darkness has much to teach us of what is important. It contains its own wisdom and lessons, one of which is silence and quiet and repose. Even
snow offers us silence and quiet and response in the time of winter (along with, obviously, the demands of shoveling and hastening its melting). Snow at its best is a kind of covering rendering things one again. |
| In my book, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth, I translate the four paths of creation spirituality into four “commandments” or positive actions and practices. The first goes like this: Thou Shalt Fall in Love at Least Three Times a Day (Via Positiva). But the second, is this: Thou Shalt Dare the Dark (Via Negativa). This is the
lesson of the time of Winter. Thomas Merton puts it like this, “love winter when the trees say nothing." |
Silence and nothingness are part of wintertime. And they speak to our souls, winter
speaks to our souls. Meister Eckhart says that “the ground of the soul is dark.” This implies that there is no moving from superficiality to depth—and every spiritual journey is about moving from the surface to the depths—without entering
the dark. The Divine is to be met in the depths of darkness as well as in the light. Daring the dark means entering nothingness and letting it be nothingness while it works its mystery on us. Daring the dark also means
allowing pain to be pain and learning from it. To be continued. |
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Adapted from Matthew Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth, pp. 19f.
Also see Matthew Fox, Original Blessing.
Banner Image: Contemplating darkness. Photo by Mustafa ezz on Pexels. |
Queries for Contemplation Do you love the winter when the trees say nothing? What does that mean to you? What does winter of soul and season teach you about darkness, about depth, about silence? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every
religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice. | |
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Matthew Fox lays
out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all
dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story | |
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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