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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Cataclysms and the Good Fruit They Bear |
In the face of climate change and profound challenges to the survival of Mother Earth as we know her, and to the survival of democracy as we have known it, there is an observation from French playwright Antonin Artaud that seems fitting for our
times. He says: “It is good that from time to time cataclysms occur that compel us to return to nature, i.e., to rediscover life.” |
We are not in short supply regarding cataclysms today. There are
plenty to go around, but the two that most stand out to me are 1) climate change or global warming and 2) the rise of authoritarianism and fascism eager to displace democracy. Both are surely on the ballot in American elections next month. | |
Behind the rise of both are systemic lies and denial (a way of lying preferred by many
politicians). And megaphones, such as social and public media, committed to promulgating lies and the chaos that accompanies lies. |
How is it that global warming and fascism “compel us to return to nature or rediscover life”? I think it is because they compel us to go deeper into our own hearts and souls and that of our societies to ask deeper questions: What is lost if a demagogue takes over American politics and government and media? |
| What is lost when the seas rise and great cities around the world become inundated, and elsewhere fire storms rage due to droughts, and/or floods and hurricanes rampage through our neighborhoods? Are we being “compelled to return to nature and rediscover life?” Might that make creation mystic-prophets of us
all? Often the mystics talk about God as “Life.” Aquinas says “God is the cause of all life” and “Divine life is per se alive, …supereminently alive… and ineffable.” Howard Thurman tells us the “most wonderful fact of all” is that “life is alive!” Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and Julian of Norwich all celebrate God as Life. |
In my first book, written forty-five years ago, I defined prayer as a “radical response to life.” I still abide by that understanding of prayer. It has worked meaningful results in my own life and in many others
that I have witnessed. |
The “radical” or root or deep response to life is a Yes (this is called mysticism); or a No
(this is called prophecy— or standing up to injustice). We are all mystics and prophets called to respond to Life deeply and along the way of deep living. That is creation spirituality. |
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Adapted from Matthew Fox, Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God...Including the Unnameable God; Fox, Prayer: A Radical Response to Life, (originally On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style), pp. 49-76, 153-156; Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-denominational Priest, p. 302.
Banner image: Wind tossed trees. Photo by JD Designs on Unsplash. |
Queries for Contemplation What do you derive from Antonin Artaud’s observation commented on here? Do you see it relevant to today’s struggles? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Naming the Unnameable: 89
Wonderful and Useful Names for God …Including the Unnameable God
Too often, notions of God have been used as a means to control and to promote a narrow worldview. In Naming the Unnameable, renowned theologian and author Matthew Fox ignites our imaginations by offering a colorful range of Divine Names gathered from scientists and poets and mystics past and present, inviting us to always begin where true spirituality
begins: from experience.
"This book is timely, important and admirably brief; it is also open ended—there are always more names to come, and none can exhaust God’s nature.” -Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, author of Science Set Free and The Presence of the Past | |
Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
How do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? Fox defines prayer as a radical response to life that includes our “Yes” to life (mysticism) and our “No” to forces that combat life (prophecy). How do we define adult prayer? And how—if at all—do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? One of Matthew
Fox’s earliest books, originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, Prayer introduces a mystical/prophetic spirituality and a mature conception of how to pray. Called a “classic” when it first appeared, it lays out the difference between the creation spirituality tradition and the fall/redemption tradition that has so dominated Western theology since Augustine. A practical and theoretical book, it lays the
groundwork for Fox’s later works.
"One of the finest books I have read on contemporary spirituality." - Rabbi Sholom A. Singer | |
Confessions: The
Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition) Matthew Fox's stirring autobiography, Confessions, reveals his personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with
the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring added perspective in light of the author's continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in the Catholic church. Confessions tells the inside story of what it was like "standing in front of the train" when the Vatican was on the attack. It also
reflects on the meaning of the encouragingly healthy papacy of Pope Francis, but holds little hope for the institutional church. Rather, this book points to the main interest and accomplishments of the author's work to bring spirituality and prophetic warriorhood alive again in society and religion. Fox draws inspiration from great mystics of the past, such as Hildegard of Bingen (a champion of the Divine Feminine) and Meister Eckhart (a profoundly mystical and ecumenical champion of those
without a voice), and the return of the archetype of the Cosmic Christ alongside the teachings of the historical Jesus and the bringing forth of the wisdom traditions from all the world's spiritual traditions to stand up for eco-justice, gender justice, economic justice and social justice. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar 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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