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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Meister Eckhart on Our Becoming
Mothers of God 12/28/2022 |
Advent, as we considered a few weeks ago, is not just about humanity waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus around 2000 years ago. It is also about Divinity waiting for the birth of the Christ in all of
us. |
In this context it behooves us to take Jesus and Mary off their pedestals and ask the question Meister Eckhart asked 700 years ago: How can I, How can we, better birth the Christ, the
prince of peace? When do we birth the rabbi who teaches that God is ”Emmanuel” or God-with-us is also the Compassionate One and that we are capable of “being compassionate like God who is compassionate”? (See Luke 6.36) In the Jewish tradition, compassion is “the secret name for God” and Jesus let that secret out of the bag in a | “Theotokos – God-Bearer” Icon in the apse of the Orthodox Cathedral of St Nicholas, Washington DC. Photo by Lawrence OP on Flickr. |
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way not only in Luke’s gospel but consider Matthew 25, “do it to the least and you do it to me,” along with so many other parables including the Prodigal Son and the good Samaritan, and many more. Christmas is not just about Jesus being born around
2000 years ago. To make it so is to tempt sentimentalism which, as sociologist Anne Douglas has demonstrated in her classic work called The Feminization of American Culture grounds itself in consumerism and thereby distorts our capacities for compassion and healing. |
Christmas displays at Mid Valley and Gardens Mall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2022. Video by Aunty Uncle. | In defining sentimentalism as “rancid political consciousness,” Douglas alerts us to how works of compassion and justice can get swamped in feeling for feeling’s sake. In such a world, injustice is ignored and shopping becomes |
one’s identity— "I shop/consume therefore I am.” If
Christmas season is about the Cosmic Christ being born in us and from us, we are invited to imitate Mary by becoming birthers of the Christ ourselves. As Meister Eckhart put it in the 14th century in his Christmas sermon: “What good is it to me if Mary gave birth to Christ 1400 years ago and I do not do the same?” |
What good indeed. When do we imitate Mary and give birth to Christ? Says Eckhart: The work that is ‘with,’ ‘outside,’ and ‘above’ the artist must become the work that is ‘in’ him or her, taking form within them—in other words, to the end that he or | Painting the body electric. Photo by Feliphe Schiarolli on Unsplash |
she may produce a work of art, in accordance with the verse, ‘The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee’ (Lk 1:35), that is, so that the ‘above’ may become ‘in.’ To be continued |
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Adapted from Matthew Fox, “Sermon 23: We are Children of God and Mothers of God,” in Fox, Passion For Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart, pp. 325-337, 409. And Fox, “On Desentimentalizing Spirituality,” in Fox, Wrestling with the Prophets, pp. 297-315. See also Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion. Banner Image: Urban Black Madonna, Kensington Market, Toronto. Photo by Eric Parker on Flickr. |
Queries for Contemplation When have you experienced yourself as a Mother of God? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister
Eckhart Matthew Fox’s comprehensive translation of Meister Eckhart’s sermons is a meeting of true prophets across centuries, resulting in a spirituality for the new millennium. The holiness of creation, the divine life in each
person and the divine power of our creativity, our call to do justice and practice compassion–these are among Eckhart’s themes, brilliantly interpreted and explained for today’s reader. “The most important book on mysticism in 500 years.” — Madonna Kolbenschlag, author of Kissing Sleeping Beauty Goodbye. | |
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. | |
A Spirituality Named
Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing
a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity. “Well worth our deepest
consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register | |
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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