The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers |
Week of 5/08 - 5/13, 2023:
Healing Depression & Earth
with Joy & Cosmology 05/14/2023 |
May 8, 2023. Depression Remedies from Nature, Mystics, and Cosmology
This meditation is a response to the psychologist who attacked Matthew for daring to suggest that depression and acedia were spiritual issues. Matthew reports that many therapists came to the University
of Creation Spirituality precisely because their training excluded the spiritual dimension. In addition, people found value in grief rituals Matthew has led, with one man declaring he was going to fire his psychologist of 21 years because the ritual healed him on the spot. Meanwhile, Barbara Ehrenreich wrote that the 17th century birthed an “epidemic of depression” and suicides because there was no longer a viable cosmology and
ritual. |
May 9, 2023. A Story of Healing Depression and Acedia sans Pills
The psychologist who disagreed with Matthew linking depression with spiritual issues believed medication was the answer. Matthew responded that sometimes that is so and sometimes it is not. If people find themselves living in a spirituality bereft and oppressive society, it may be the context itself that is rendering people depressed. One therapist who attended ICCS at Holy Names College had been abused by her father as a child and had been in
therapy for years. She was amazed at the deeper level of healing that resulted from reading the mystics, and especially Meister Eckhart. She has been using him in her practice ever since. Carl Jung also found great value in Meister Eckhart. |
May 10, 2023. A Second Story on Healing Acedia and Depression sans Pills
Matthew was teaching a class on “Psychology and Spirituality” and asked the students to draw a picture of
their soul. All of the drawings were interesting and full of life except for one, which was very dark. Eventually Matthew learned more of the student’s story. She was a nun and an artist and at one point a fire broke out in the convent and destroyed all her paintings. Her superiors then assigned her a job of handing out mail in their institution and when she became depressed she was sent to a psychologist who put her on meds. At ICCS she was introduced to Art as Meditation, the mystics and
cosmology, and left her meds. She returned home a completely different person and her community helped her find work creating cards, etc. |
May 11, 2023. Joy and
Work, Healing and Justice-Making
Eckhart often talks about Joy and Justice. And Matthew speaks of “the importance of our work for healing and balance-making and truth-telling and reminds us of how joy flows through all good work.” One example of justice and truth-telling filling the news these days is the courage of an older woman in calling out a man who assaulted her and then defamed her for telling her truth. A jury, after
deliberating only three hours, unanimously found her story coherent and true and fined the famous defendant five million dollars. This is justice at work in a patriarchal society. At last. Matthew tells us: Joy is to be found in both our inner work and outer work and we are invited to bring our inner work to the outer work while deriving joy from both. It is all a fruit of the Spirit. And, whatever other burdens we carry, the Spirit is present in our
work. |
May 12, 2023.
When Joy Affects History and Cosmology Initiates Joy
We explore how joy and holiness can be an antitode to evil, as per Rabbi Heschel. Historian Pere Chenu, for instance, said that the joy of St Francis had more influence than King John’s oath of fealty to the pope, not only upon the prosperity of the church but also upon men’s progress in the knowledge of Christ. What a powerful statement about the impact of joy! Speaking of
joy, the stars and the wonder of the cosmos can also inspire us and fill us with wonder and delight. Cosmology can contribute to the healing of our world and of our souls. |
Trailer of Spiritual Audacity: The Abraham Joshua Heschel Story, reflecting on his prophetic life and legacy of speaking out against evil. Journey Films |
May 13, 2023. Mother's Day 2023
This day is not only Mother’s Day, but the fourth anniversary of the beginning of our Daily Meditations! This is cause for joy! The meditations were consciously begun on Mother’s Day because of our love and concern for the great Mother, Mother Earth. How can we support our dear planet during these perilous times? One way is through a focus on
cosmogenesis, which views the universe as a verb, as an on-going reality. Continues Matthew: It holds such promise as a “spiritual initiative” that can awaken humankind. May we all, women and men alike, practice daily the archetype of motherhood, such as Julian of Norwich names it: compassion, protection, sensitivity, and giving life and love. |
Dear Friends, We are marking a very special occasion this weekend – not only Mother’s Day, but also the four-year anniversary of the Daily Meditations.
We invite you to look back over the Meditations you have received, and if they have spoken to your heart and soul, or supported your spiritual journey, we invite you to
contribute your support.
As you know, the Meditations have always been, and will continue to be free, and some of our team gladly volunteer their time. However, we pay the helpers who put in the hours of daily art curation, coordination, and technology that bring the Meditations to you.
So if you could afford to gift us modestly or more than modestly with a tax-deductible contribution, that would be very much welcomed.
Donate Securely HERE
Or simply mail your check to:
Matthew Fox Legacy Project
PO BOX 424533 San Francisco, CA 94142
If
you cannot, we understand that also. Please spread the news of our daily meditations and visit our bookstore.
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, grandmothers, & to Gaia herself!
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Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
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. | |
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 | |
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox renders Thomas Aquinas
accessible by interviewing him and thus descholasticizing him. He also translated many of his works such as Biblical commentaries never before in English (or Italian or German of French). He gives Aquinas a forum so that he can be heard in our own time. He presents Thomas Aquinas entirely in his own words, but in a form designed to allow late 20th-century minds and hearts to hear him in a fresh way.
“The teaching of Aquinas comes through will a fullness and an insight that has never been present in English before and [with] a vital message for the world today.” ~ Fr. Bede Griffiths (Afterword). | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “The Physics of Angels – Exploring the Realm Where Science and Spirit Meet” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, May 18, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “The A.W.E. Project – Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, June 15, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Phil Goldberg of
Spirit Matters: Conversations on Contemporary Spirituality interviews Matthew Fox on "Opening to Original Blessing." To listen to their conversation, click HERE
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