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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Animal as Spiritual Teachers in Christianity |
Yesterday we considered some teachings from the Jewish tradition about how animals are teachers of spirituality. We need wisdom and spiritual teachings today as individuals and as communities. So we
continue to search such wisdom from our spiritual traditions and today we consider some Christian teachings. |
First of all, Jesus, was very much a person of the earth and a keen observer
of animals—birds and animals, sheep and goats, an ox that needs help on the day of Sabbath, along with wolves, doves, sparrows, snakes and fish (and fishermen) and so much more show up in his teachings.
Indeed, Jesus most likely spent his adolescence with his mentor John the Baptist in the wilderness where, in his day,
lions dwelled! Jesus learned to co-exist with lions--a pretty good preparation for what was to follow later in his public life.
| Felix Douglas Maynard aka Dougie, the rescued animal companion of DM Team Member, Rev. Jerry
Maynard |
Hildegard of Bingen tells us that “it is God whom humankind knows in every living thing.” Every being is another Christ, an expression of the Cosmic Christ therefore. Meister Eckhart says that “every creature is a word of God and a book about God.” He says if he spent enough time with a caterpillar, he would never have to prepare a sermon because one caterpillar is so full of God. He praises horses loose in a meadow this way: If you were to let a horse run about in a green meadow, the horse would want to pour forth its whole strength in leaping about the meadow. So too it is a joy to God to have purse out the divine nature and being completely into us
who are divine images. |
| And he declares that if he were alone and feeling afraid in a desert, he would want to have an animal with him such as a dog. Let those who bring about great wonders in big, black books take
an animal—perhaps a dog—to help them. The life within the animal will give them strength. For equality gives strength in all things. |
Why is this so? Because so noble, so full of pleasure and so powerful is life itself....The life within the animal will give one strength. For equality gives strength in all things. Indeed “God loves all creatures equally and fills them with his being. And we should lovingly meet all creatures in the same way.” Animals are among the
many original blessings in our lives and with whom we share this blessed planet, itself amazingly original as we are scouring the universe looking for a parallel planet. |
| 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. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Meditations with Meister Eckhart, p. 29. See Fox, Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint For Our Times, pp. 11-24. Banner Image: “Seabirds in flight” Photo by Eder Pozo Pérez on Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation What stories do you have to tell about animals as original blessings and/or as your spiritual director? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Meditations with Meister Eckhart: A Centering Book
A centering book by Matthew Fox. This book of simple but rich meditations exemplifies the deep yet playful creation-centered spirituality of Meister Eckhart, Meister Eckhart was a 13th-century Dominican preacher who was a mystic, prophet, feminist, activist, defender of the poor, and advocate of creation-centered spirituality, who was condemned shortly after he died.
“These quiet presentations of spirituality are remarkable
for their immediacy and clarity.” --Publishers Weekly. | |
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for
Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.
"This book gives strong, sterling, and unvarnished evidence that everything - everything - we ourselves become will affect what women after us may also become....This is a truly marvelous, useful, profound, and creative book.” ~~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE
Matthew Fox, Caroline Myss, and Andrew Harvey offer a 3-part series of solo online lectures on “The Power of Truth, Wisdom, Choice Part 2” through
the Sophia Institute in Charleston, SC. Wednesdays, September 21, 28, October 5, 3:00pm-4:30pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox for the monthly online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, discussing Original Blessing. Thursday, October 20, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT. Register
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. Creation Spirituality in Conversation |
| Join
scholars Matthew Fox and Thomas G. Hermans-Webster for Progressive Christianity's monthly “Things that Matter” discussion on eco-spirituality: “The Intersection of Faith and Climate Justice.” |
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