The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic
Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily
Meditations with Matthew Fox
|
Saving Rainforests: Chico Mendes,
Sister Dorothy & Other Heroes 02/08/2023 |
We are meditating on how today’s science is assisting us to move beyond dualism such as spirit vs. matter. And how our current understanding of matter as light and light being incarnated in matter is such a welcome
breakthrough in human consciousness.
|
In yesterday’s DM we learned of the role light plays in the very structure of trees, “producing a continuous light show from its very cells” as one scientist tells
us. Those who defend trees and forests and rainforests are honoring the sacredness of trees as | |
“The Shocking Murder Of A 73-Year-Old Nun: Dorothy Stang” Aria Inthavong explores the forces behind Sister Dorothy’s death and their role in countless other murders, kidnappings, and illegal logging that continue to plague Brazil to this day. | The author reminds us that 2000 environmental activists and land defenders have been murdered worldwide in the 21st century—many of whom were Brazilians defending the Amazon
region. The book attempts “to capture, in a |
single narrative, the factors that have made the largest rainforest on Earth the world’s most dangerous place for environmental and land activists,” according to the
author. The military government of Brazil regularly kidnapped Indians and transported them to reservations, opening the way for wealthy landowners to take over the land and clear the forests through slash-and-burn operations, hire indentured
laborers and enforce control over their territory with an “army of gunmen.” |
When workers complained about their slave-like working conditions they were subjected to, they were often killed by hit men.
Fields of dead bodies have been uncovered.
In November, 2002, a leader of the poor | Between 2012 and 2021, 1,733 environmental activists were murdered; 200 in 2021 alone, and 78% of those in the Amazon. Down To Earth explores the causes they defended. |
workers named Dezinho was murdered outside his home but his widow, Maria Joel Dias Da Sota, took up his vision and continued her husband’s courageous battle to save the Amazon. This was the context in which Sister
Dorothy worked and organized and confronted the greed of the landowners and their gunmen along with certain corrupt police and politicians. This is where she met her death. |
| 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 today's post on the website directly, click HERE.
If you can't reach Matthew's video on the website, try his Vimeo channel HERE. |
See Matthew Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Postdenominational Priest (2015 edition), pp. 341-343, 433, 448. And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth. And Fox, Skylar Wilson and Jennifer Listug, Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action. Banner Image: Paulo Guajajara, one of 120 “Guardians of the
Forest” fighting illegal logging and protecting the uncontacted Awá Guajá tribe, was murdered in the Araribóia Indigenous Reserve, Brazil, 11/1/2019. Photo by Karla Mendes/Mongabay. |
Queries for Contemplation How do the courage and commitment of Chico Mendes, Dezinho, Maria Da Sota and Sister Dorothy inspire you to love and save the Earth? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
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 church, society and the environment. “The unfolding story of this irrepressible spiritual
revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the heart — must reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.” —Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self | |
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. | |
Order of
the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Listug In the midst of global fire, earthquake and flod – as species are going extinct
every day and national and global economies totter – the planet doesn’t need another church or religion. What it needs is a new Order, grounded in the Wisdom traditions of both East and West, including science and indigenous. An Order of the Sacred Earth united in one sacred vow: “I promise to be the best lover and defender of the Earth that I can be.” Co-authored by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer
Listug, with a forward by David Korten, this collection of essays by 21 spiritual visionaries marks the founding of the diverse and inclusive Order of the Sacred Earth, a community now evolving around the world. “The Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also
offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way.” ~~ Joanna Macy, environmental activist and author of Active Hope. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Matthew Fox and special guest Caroline Myss for a 6-part course, “The Fire Inside: How John of the Cross’s Creation Spirituality and Mystical Activism Inspires Our Own”
hosted by the Caroline Myss Educational Institute. Tuesdays & Thursdays, February 7-23, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. Please join Matthew Fox, Tom Stang, and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur for a Commemoration and Rededication to the Legacy of Sister Dorothy Stang, in person or livestreamed
from the SNDdeN Cunningham Chapel, Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont CA. Saturday, February 11 2:00-4:00 pm PT. For More Information & Livestream Link, email: Bvaughn@ndnu.edu 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?" | |
Please share this post! Just click the buttons below.
OR share your insights on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #RevDrMatthewFox and tag Matt with @RevDrMatthewFox
|
|
|
|
