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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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More Spiritual Lessons from Animals |
We continue our meditations on spiritual teachings from animals. |
Openness and sensitivity. There can be little doubt that animals have developed and not allowed to atrophy powers of identification and sensitivity that we humans have almost totally forgotten. Many a dog, for example, on entering a room will know if someone is depressed or sad and will act to do something about it. | “What animals are thinking and feeling, and why it should matter” Carl Safina on TEDxMidAtlantic |
Because the senses of animals are often so much more acute than ours, they remind us of how limited our sense awareness often is and therefore of the need to continually expand our intuition and sensitivity and compassion. Beauty. Who cannot be caught up by the form of a seagull in flight, by the straight back of a proud dog, by the graceful strides of a tiger, by the perfect musculature of a fine stallion? |
“Song of the Wood Thrush.” Unforgettably lovely music of the springtime MidAtlantic forest. Lang Elliott | Beauty is not an appendage to human and spiritual living but of its very essence. Animals are here in part to grant glimpses of the grace of beauty. The beauty of the singing of birds is a kind of music in itself. It has been proposed that “aesthetics |
may actually be a factor in evolution” of birds, for example, since “the females tend to choose the best singers and thereby help perpetuate the genes for musical talent.” Sensuousness. Animals teach us that one can be sensual and spiritual at the same time. They know that abstractions by themselves, such as money for example, are not what living and ecstasy are about. I remember one time dropping a dollar bill on the floor in front of my dog. He didn’t bat one of his white eyelashes and had it been a thousand dollar bill he would not have reacted
either. Had I dropped the wallet, however, there would have been a great game of tug of war. Why? Because the wallet, containing some cowhide, still retains a semblance of sensuousness. God and nature made the cow–thus there is some fun and
ecstasy to it. It is an end and not only a means. Money, however, whatever the denomination, is only a means and is therefore not what living and ecstasy are about. Julian of Norwich: “God is in our sensuality.” To be continued |
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Adapted from Matthew Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion, p. 167. See also Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond, pp. 71-87. Banner Image: “Zebra Love.” Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation Have you undergone meaningful spiritual lessons from animals regarding sensitivity, beauty, and/or sensuousness? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with
Social Justice In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the
future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity. “Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register | |
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. | |
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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