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Generosity, Its Etymological Roots
and Meanings 06/07/2023 |
We have been meditating on the signs of holiness in our time and have named two in previous meditations: Joy and Courage. Now we are considering Generosity, beginning with the very rich
etymology of the word. |
The word “generous” comes from two Latin words: genere, which means to beget, produce, create, cause to exist, bring to life or generate. And
genus, which means birth, descent, origin (especially of high birth), father, family, nation, stock, offspring, race, kind, class, sort. | |
The words “generate” or “generative” also derive from the word genus, or kind. To be part of a kind, part of a genus, is to have brought being into existence, to have procreated and given birth. There is such an affirmation of our powers of creativity in this term “generosity” and its related terms! The lesson seems to me that it takes generosity to be generative. The Via Creativa triggers generosity. |
| According to Webster’s dictionary, the English word “generous” means: to be
magnanimous, kindly, liberal in giving, openhanded, marked by abundance or ample proportions, copious. |
Thomas Aquinas teaches that magnanimity is a great virtue—indeed it comes from two Latin words for a large soul
(magna anima). It implies excellence and derives from gratitude. We give away when we are grateful. He warns us that “it is difficult to be magnanimous; no evil person is magnanimous.” Trust is essential for magnanimity and
courage—trust in oneself as well as trust in the Spirit. Indeed “magnanimity strengthens a person to take on good tasks” and brave tasks. Here is Aquinas discussing Magnanimity which he defines as |
…the expansion of the soul to great things…. Magnanimous people do not expose themselves to danger for trifles, nor are they lovers of danger, as it were, exposing themselves to dangers hastily or lightly. However, magnanimous people brave great dangers for great things | “I am grateful for my life. I wouldn’t change a thing.” Part 1 of an interview with Holocaust survivor and author Richard Wiener. Continue with Parts 2 and 3. Web Talk Radio |
because they put themselves in all kinds of danger for great things, for instance, the common
welfare, justice, divine worship, and so forth. A magnanimous person is not a bitter person but has learned to let go and to forgive. Such people “deliberately determine to forget injuries they have suffered.” They are people who are
“more solicitous about the truth than about the opinions of others” and do not leave their path of virtue “because of what people think.” Magnanimity is part of fortitude or courage. To be continued. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, pp. 381f.
And Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times, pp.
153-158.
And Fox, Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality, pp. 350f.
Banner image: “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.'” Nelson
Mandela shakes hands with F.W. de Klerk, two years after Mandela’s 1990 release from his 26-year imprisonment. The two men made history by ending apartheid with a commitment to truth and reconciliation. Wikimedia Commons. |
Queries for Contemplation Do you agree with Aquinas that “no evil person can be magnanimous”? Who are some magnanimous people whom you admire? How do they inspire you to be both generous and magnanimous? |
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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 | |
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas:
Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action. Foreword by Ilia Delio. “What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit | |
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 for an online lecture and Q&A on “Letting Our Minds be Remade Regarding Religion,” hosted by The World Community for Christian Meditation, Tuesday, June 13,
11:00am-12:30pm PT. Learn more: https://wccm.org/events/metanoia/ Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “The A.W.E. Project – Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human” in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, June 15, 4:00-6:00 pm
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: https://parliamentofreligions.org/ |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Tikkun Magazine releases a new Interview of Matthew Fox by Andrew Harvey regarding Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality (Orbis, 2022) edited by Charles Burack. Read the interview HERE. | |
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