The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers |
MLK’s Martyrdom & Presidential Criminality: A Day of Irony 04/05/2023 |
I am writing this meditation on the day of the martyrdom of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., April 4, fifty-five years ago. He who led a movement in search of truth and justice and needing to overthrow a century of lies and lynchings and denial of voting rights and ownership rights that prevailed in America long after the civil war supposedly ended slavery. |
A time when anger and resentment, fear and projection prevailed over our “better angels” that on paper at least promised that “all men [and women] are created equal.” Much can be said and has been said about King’s life and work and death but one thing we can say for | The road to freedom runs through Justice and Peace: MLK’s “Birth of a New Nation” speech, April 7, 1957, at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery,
Alabama. Brett Bymaster |
certain is that his work and that of his aspiring community in search of truth and justice was good work and godly work. This is why humans of many tribes and traditions call God “Truth” and call God “Justice.” And
King died for both. Truth and Justice. He died playing out the example and the teachings of his spiritual guide, Jesus, who said that “greater love than this no one has, than to lay down their life for their friends.” Truth and Justice were among King’s “friends” as were his striving for a “beloved community” which would be marked by the pursuit of truth and justice and the celebration of community, the “common good” in action. He extended an invitation and challenge to all peoples and all communities to put truth and justice forward as the work common to all humanity. And he, like his mentor Jesus, paid the ultimate price for
it. |
Alex Wagner reports on Eastern Florida State College cancelling a U.S. government class after a student felt “discomfort” over a discussion of civil rights. MSNBC | Today, 55 years later, the struggle is as pressing as ever. Though two civil rights laws were passed due to his and his movement’s perseverance and bravery, they are currently in jeopardy due to the return of racism and bitterness, resentment and projections
on |
a large scale in America’s body politic and fanned by money-hungry and power-hungry media forces more bent on spreading lies and hatred than truth and justice. One hero of that movement is being indicted today, King’s martyrdom day, for taking extreme measures to cover-up truth in order to be elected president eight years ago. The first ever president to be so charged for criminal malfeasance and head of a political party that is busy again dismantling
the rights of minorities to vote and be full citizens. Irony indeed. |
See Matthew Fox, Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God…Including the Unnameable God, pp. 58f., 50. See also Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society. Banner Image:
“Black Lives Matter” street painting on New York’s Fifth Avenue at Trump Tower. Photo by Eden, Janine and Jim on Flickr. |
Queries for Contemplation
How do you honor the “good
work” that King devoted his life to? How do you interpret the irony of King’s death day being also the day of arraignment for a previous president on charges that led to an election victory?
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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 | |
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that
fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them. “A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
Join Matthew Fox online as he offers a Worship Service Inspirational Message - “Otto Rank, and Pere Chenu: Two 'Real, Raw and Radiant' Guides calling us to Deep Freedom” for
Brentwood Inspired Living Center, Sunday, April 16, 10:00 am PT. Learn more HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “Creativity – Where the Divine and the Human Meet” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, April 20, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Karen Tate interviews Matthew on his latest book Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality to discuss religious vs. spiritual, the nature of evil and angels, compassion vs pity, and wisdom vs knowledge. On Voices of the Sacred Feminine with Karen Tate. Listen HERE. | |
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