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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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From Advent to Christmas Eve &
Birth of the Rebel Jesus 12/24/2022 |
Today is Christmas Eve. Today we begin to break the dark silence of Advent just as the post-solstice movement of the sun (which is actually the movement of the Earth) begins its march away from darkness toward more
sun. |
This is surely why our ancestors—from New Grange in Ireland to Stonehenge in England, from Egypt, Peru and so many other places and cultures honored the solstice day in the most splendid
fashion—by | Thousands of modern Druids and pagans gather at the 5,000-year-old world heritage site, Stonehenge, to celebrate the
winter solstice. The Independent. |
making monuments that were scientifically and astronomically as sophisticated as was the architecture itself that has lasted all these centuries. This is also why Christian ancestors chose this
season to announce the coming of the “sol justitiae” (“sun of justice”) incarnated in Jesus. Looking back on the birthday of Jesus, they composed stories that were astounding for their cosmology about his birth because they felt
it represented a breakthrough in the history of humankind, an occasion for the coming of Justice, Compassion and Peace. The “prince of peace” some called him. |
| Advent yields to Good News and the darkness of human folly gives way to light a promise of “Peace to all people of good will.” It happens in the darkness of night, a special night, a sacred night. Light penetrates the
darkness. The news is delivered by cosmic beings called angels and not to the powerful but to shepherds busy working their dangerous jobs in the cold winter night. And they went to see the child with the message they
received “and all who heard were |
astonished at what the shepherds said about this child.” (Lk 1. 17) The story is a powerful one and an attractive one and it has appealed to millions over the last 2000 years who have heard of it. It has been interpreted and re-interpreted in many cultures and to people of varied traditions. Artists too have told and retold the story. One such artist is musician Jackson Browne whose song “The Rebel Jesus” I highly recommend. For it thoroughly desentimentalizes Christmas and gets to the authentic spirit of the message of the historical Jesus, a spirit of justice and
compassion-making. |
The songwriter demonstrates some compassion of his own at the end of the song where, having criticized religion that does not do what Jesus taught, nevertheless offers a
prayer of “cheer” from his lips of “a heathen and a pagan” whose temple is not | “The Rebel Jesus” by Jackson Browne (original video with lyrics). Nescio K |
gold-filled churches but nature itself. But a heathen and a pagan “on the side of the rebel Jesus.” We move from expectancy and pregnancy to the birth of something new, from darkness and silence to light and joy. And promise of much work ahead. |
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If you can't reach Matthew's video on the website, try his Vimeo channel HERE. |
See Matthew Fox and Bishop Marc Andrus, Stations of the Cosmic Christ, pp. 64-69. And Fox, “On Desentimentalizing Spirituality,” in Fox, Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life, pp. 297-316. Banner Image: “Nativity, Birth of Jesus.” Third of six mosaics on the Life of the Virgin by Pietro Cavallini (1290/91), at Basilica Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome. Photo by Slices of Light on Flickr. |
Queries for Contemplation What does the eve of Christmas mean to you? How do you resist the sentimentalizing of Christmas? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Stations of the Cosmic Christ This is a book of meditations on the Cosmic Christ, accompanying the images of 16 wonderful clay tablets by Javier Ullrrich Lemus and M.C. Richards. Together, these images and meditations go far beyond the traditional Stations of the Cross to inspire a spirit awakening and understanding of the
cosmic Christ Consciousness, Buddha consciousness, and consciousness of the image of God in all beings, so needed in our times.
“A divinely inspired book that must be read by every human being devoted to spiritual and global survival. It is cosmically brilliant.” — Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit | |
Wrestling with the
Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life In one of his foundational works, Fox engages with some of history’s greatest mystics, philosophers, and prophets in profound and hard-hitting essays on such varied
topics as Eco-Spirituality, AIDS, homosexuality, spiritual feminism, environmental revolution, Native American spirituality, Christian mysticism, Art and Spirituality, Art as Meditation, Interfaith or Deep Ecumenism and more. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar 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. Creation Spirituality Conversations |
In a podcast episode with the Earth and Spirit Center, Matthew Fox reflects on how creation-centered spirituality, and the marriage of the divine feminine and sacred masculine, can help us respond with hope
to the troubles of our apocalyptic times. Listen HERE. | |
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