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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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MLK Jr. and M. D. Chenu Critique
Today’s Economics 01/18/2023 |
On the eve of the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, today’s headline stands out: “Richest 1% bag two-thirds of $42 trillion in new wealth.” |
That means the richest people in the world acquired 2/3 of all the world’s wealth since 2020. Oxfam’s “Survival of the Richest” report points out that the $42 trillion was almost twice as much money as the amount obtained by the bottom 99% of the world’s
population. What to do? | "Where billionaires tell millionaires what the middle class feels” (-JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon): the 2023 World Economic Forum meets in Davos. Yahoo Finance |
A 5% tax on the world’s multi-millionaires and billionaires
could raise $1.7 trillion a year, enough to lift 2 billion people out of poverty.* MLK Jr. warned us of the dangers of an unchecked capitalism this way: The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor—both black and white, both here and abroad. |
While governments have pledged millions to tackle modern slavery, they simultaneously criminalize refugees from brutal regimes, leaving them vulnerable to
exploitation. VICE News | And this is how M. D. Chenu alerted us to the perils of a distorted capitalist economics that he sees as a structural, not just a personal problem of greed. If “capitalism” is simply a system based on profit so that the whole economic system is regulated by profit, then Christianity would |
demand the elimination of profit altogether. . . . We must understand that it is not excesses or abuses of various kinds which render this whole system undesirable and immoral. It is the structure itself. Chenu gives this example: Suppose that an enterprise begins with a capital of a million (francs) and after ten years has increased to five
million: if these five million belong to the capital as such the fault is due not to the avarice of individuals but to the evil of the system. |
System, not just individuals, can create greed and economic destruction. What are the consequences for society as a whole? The fault of such a system is that the
benefits are not used for the service of the common good. | Degrowth advocates challenge the global economic principle that more is always better; instead, offering a model that prioritizes social and ecological wellbeing. CNBC International |
This service is the necessary justification of every
productive enterprise, because work always has a double role: it must first provide a personal benefit but it must ultimately be orientated toward community needs. A system based on profits alone requires people to stand up and “demand the
elimination of profit altogether.” The common good and community needs are key moral tests of any economic system, both King and Chenu remind us. |
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Queries for Contemplation Do you experience this conflict between fairness and justice and current versions of capitalism? Are the poor and middle class and Main Street being regularly violated by Wall Street? What would a more “moral” economic system look
like? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
As
Matthew Fox notes, when an aging Albert Einstein was asked if he had any regrets, he replied, “I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life.” The 365 writings in Christian Mystics represent a wide-ranging sampling of these readings for modern-day seekers of all faiths — or no faith. The visionaries quoted range from Julian of Norwich to Martin Luther King, Jr., from Thomas Merton to Dorothee Soelle and Thomas Berry. “Our world is in crisis, and we need road maps that can ground us I wisdom, inspire us to action, and help us gather our talents in service of compassion and justice. This revolutionary book does just that. Matthew Fox takes some of the most profound spiritual teachings of the West and translates them into practical daily mediations. Study and practice these teachings. Take what’s in this
book and teach it to the youth because the new generation cannot afford to suffer the spirit and ethical illiteracy of the past.” — Adam Bucko, spiritual activist and co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation for Homeless youth | |
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our
Time
While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also introduces Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. In this book, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, M.C. Richards, and many others.
“Matthew Fox
is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward | |
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. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Matthew Fox at the virtual Our Lady of the Prairie retreat, offering a discussion and Q&A on “Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God…Including the Unnameable
God.” Thursday, January 19, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he speaks on “The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times” in a virtual event hosted by the Weber Retreat and Conference Center Thursday, January 26, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Matthew Fox at the Center for Contemporary Mysticism discusses “Birthing a New World: Can Creation-Centered Spirituality Help Reclaim the Sacredness of the Earth?" | |
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