The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers
Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Week of 12/12-12/17: Advent, Repose, the Divine Feminine, Wildness and Creativity |
Each Sunday we offer a brief summary of the meditations from the previous week as a kind of “index” inviting you to return to a previous meditation which may call to you. |
December 12, 2022. Merton on Repose, Silence and
Advent, continued.
Merton said that churches should provide places of silence and solitude. He said, "Let there always be quiet, dark places in which people can take refuge. Places where they can kneel in silence." Merton also spoke of the precious silence of nighttime. He said, I live in the woods out of necessity. I get out of bed in the middle of the night because it is imperative that I hear the silence of the night alone,
and, with my face on the floor, say psalms, alone, in the silence of the night. | |
December 13, 2022. Merton on Advent, Night, and Repose
as Feminine.
Merton talks about Hagia Sofia or Holy Wisdom. He says, Hagia Sofia is the dark, nameless Ousia [being] of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, the incomprehensible, ‘primordial’ darkness which is infinite light….Hence Sophia is the feminine, dark yielding, tender part of the power, justice, creative dynamism of the
Father.
Merton also talks about the tenderness of the night. The shadows fall. The stars appear. The birds begin to sleep. Night embraces the silent half of the earth. A vagrant and destitute wanderer with dusty feet, finds his way down a new road. A homeless God, lost in the night,
without papers, without identification, without even a number, a frail expendable exile lies down in desolation under the sweet stars of the world and entrusts Himself to sleep. |
“Homeless Christ” Icon by Kelly
Latimore, Commissioned by Alex Spenik. Used with permission. December 14, 2022. Advent and the Coming of the Godhead.
In this meditation we explore the difference between God and the Godhead. Meister Eckhart says that God is masculine in both German and Latin, whereas Godhead is feminine. Meanwhile Matthew tells us that God is
about action while the Godhead is about mystery. We are born from the Godhead and to her we return when we die. In between, we live in the world of God and return to the Godhead periodically when we enter into mystery and silence. |
December 15, 2022. Our Lady of Guadalupe: Remembering Our Cosmic Mother.
This
week we celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and we are gifted with a poem by Rafael Jesus Gonzales about Tonantzin. (Tonantzin is the sacred Aztec goddess who was once worshipped on the very hill from which Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego in 1531.) The last stanza of the poem is: Blessed are you/ cradle of life, grave of death/ fount of delight, rock of pain/ Grant us, Mother, justice/ Grant us, Mother,
peace. |
Tonantzin, the Aztec goddess called “divine mother” who is associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe. Painted by James Roderick. Used with permission of artist. |
December 16, 2022. Creativity and the Time of Advent, Hannukah and Christmas.
In this meditation we explore how the feminine is intricately connected to birth and therefore creation/creativity and Advent. As Carl Jung said, “Creativity comes
from the land of the mothers.” Then we ask ourselves the question, “What are we giving birth to this season and in the coming year?” And finally we recognize that good things are happening in our world. There is hope.Amidst all the chaos and violence, creativity can make a difference. |
December 17, 2022. With Pregnancy Comes the Wild: Clarissa Estes, Thomas Berry.
We delve into the power of Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ book Women Who Run with the Wolves. Estes tells us that often pregnancy and nursing are doorways into wildness, but not in its modern pejorative sense, meaning out of control, but in its original sense, which means to live a natural life—one in which the criatura, creature, has innate integrity and healthy boundaries. Thomas Berry, meanwhile, tells us that “Wildness we might consider as the root of the
authentic spontaneity of any being.” He tells us that wildness is “the wellspring of creativity." |
A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey In A Way to God, Fox explores Merton’s pioneering work in interfaith, his essential teachings on mixing contemplation and action, and how the vision of Meister Eckhart profoundly influenced Merton in what Fox calls his Creation Spirituality journey.
“This wise and marvelous book will profoundly inspire all those who love Merton and want to know him more deeply.” — Andrew Harvey, author of
The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism Goodbye. | |
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 | |
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh,
Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, 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 | |
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 | |
Creativity: Where
the Divine and Human Meet Because creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species but also to our capacity for evil, we need to teach creativity and to teach
ways of steering this God-like power in directions that promote love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Pushing well beyond the bounds of conventional Christian doctrine, Fox’s focus on creativity attempts nothing less than to shape a new ethic. “Matt Fox is a pilgrim who seeks a path into the church of tomorrow.
Countless numbers will be happy to follow his lead.” –Bishop John Shelby Spong, author, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Living in Sin | |
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings &
Meditations 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 Hildegard of Bingen and Meister Eckhart to Thomas Merton; from Father Bede Griffiths to Dorothee Soelle and Thomas Berry.
“Our world is in crisis, and we need road maps that can ground us in 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 meditations.” — Adam Bucko, co-author of Occupy Spirituality. | |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Upcoming Events See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Robert Holden
and Matthew Fox for A WINTER OF IMAGINATION – a mystical journey in three 75-minute webinars that reveal the spiritual invitation and deeper meaning of Advent, the Solstice, and Christmas time. 12/19 ("A Solstice Meditation"), and 12/22 ("Soul of Christmas"), 12 pm PT/3 pm ET/8 pm UK. Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox as the Center for Contemporary Mysticism hosts him in a Conversation on
“Creation Spirituality: Birthing a New World.” Sunday, January 8, 2023, 11 am PT (UTC/GMT-7). Register HERE. |
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