The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers |
M. C. Richards, Centering, and Fusion
of the Opposites 07/14/2023 |
We have been meditating on Holiness and what it means in the 21st century. Père Chenu, a great historian and theologian, who named the creation spirituality tradition
for me when I studied with him 65 years ago, points out that when societies evolve their ideas of holiness also evolve.
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We have suggested that today’s understanding of holiness might include these four
elements: Joy, Courage, Generosity and Justice. Holiness is not something exclusively interior, it is | |
not divorced from what we give back to society. At the same time we were discussing such matters, the Supreme Court issued its rulings for the year, many of which seemed distant from generosity or justice or bringing joy to others. They seemed almost punitive toward the poor, the young, people of color and sexual minorities. And toward the Earth and the environment which touches the young especially because it is about the future of parenting and of quality of life on this planet for generations to come. |
CBS News legal
contributor Jessica Levinson and chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett discuss the making of the current intransigent Supreme Court. | We called on the deep justice-oriented spirituality of Thomas Aquinas to inspire resistance to acts of injustice that a Supreme Court is capable of when it owes more to billionaire buddies with cases before the court than to listening to those who suffer under their
decision-making. |
Or, in the sad case of Justice Barrett, to five paid
speeches she made before an anti-gay hate group. Today I want to introduce you to a spiritual writer who was on my faculty for many years, M. C. Richards. M. C. was a potter, poet, painter, philosopher and critic of
education. Her book Centering: In Pottery, Poetry, and the Person is a classic on art as meditation. I first met her on reading that book when she responded heartily to the rather lengthy review I wrote about it. |
Happy to say, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of that book while she was teaching with us in the Bay area and her good friends Merce Cunningham and John Cage, who were teachers with her at the experimental Black Mountain College (along with Buckminster Fuller) | | “M.C. Richards: The Fire Within” is an adventure into discovering the source of our creativity told through the life of Mary Caroline Richards
(1916-1999). |
participated in that celebrative event. I think she was a champion in Joy and Courage, Generosity and Justice. In the Introduction to the anniversary edition of Centering she
writes: We move inwardly in opposite directions. Toward self-definition and toward community. Toward ethical individualism and toward social justice. It is this fusing of the opposites that
Centering enables. To be continued. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-denominational Priest, pp. 125, 153.
Also see Matthew Fox, “Deep Ecumenism, Ecojustice, and Art as Meditation” in Fox, Wrestling with the
Prophets, pp. 215-242.
Banner Image: “Person Molding Vase” by Swapnill Dwivedi on Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation Do you agree with M. C. that “fusing of the opposites” such as happens on a potter’s wheel is a way of deepening our inner (and outer) journeys? What follows from that? |
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Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition) Matthew Fox’s stirring autobiography, Confessions, reveals his personal,
intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring added perspective in light of the author’s continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in church, society and the environment. “The unfolding story of this irrepressible spiritual revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the heart — must
reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.” —Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self | |
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 and Brian Swimme in a free online event hosted by The Shift Network: “Hope for Humanity’s Future: Science, Spirituality & the Noosphere: Find Deeper Meaning in Our Spiritual Traditions With Illuminating Insights in Science & Technology.” Saturday, July 22, 10:00am PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox for a Cosmic Mass and Panel Forum at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions - A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights, August 14-18 in Chicago, IL Wed., 8/16,
7:00pm CT - The Cosmic Mass - Honoring Gaia, Solidarity for Our Earth Thurs., 8/17, 1:00pm CT – Panel and Response to The Cosmic Mass Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Brentwood Inspired Living Center, APRIL 16, 2023. REV. MATTHEW FOX, PhD shares the message with "Otto Rank and Père Chenu: Two 'Real, Raw and Radiant' Guides calling us to Deep Freedom." See the full worship service HERE. Matthew's talk begins at timestamp 34:25. |
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