The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers |
Myths of Artistic Angst and More |
08/08/2023
by Rick Reich-Kuykendall |
Today we are going to look at some quotations by Matthew that focus on the myth of artistic angst and more. In his
book, Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet, he writes: |
Creativity, when all is said and done, may be the best thing our species has going for it. It is also the most dangerous. Then, on the next page, he reiterates this statement by saying: | The dark side of the space race: the Pentagon prepares for space conflict as China and Russia test weaponry to disable military and civilian communication satellites. WSJ |
Creativity constitutes the very meaning of being human, and our powers of creativity distinguish us from other species. Evil, as well as profound goodness,
transpires through our creativity. This is a continuing theme in Matthew’s writings on creativity—that there is a dark side to creativity that creates ever new means of destruction. |
Jeffrey Brown and Una Mullally of The Irish Times discuss Sinéad O’Connor’s spiritual legacy as a revolutionary, controversial figure: in creation spirituality terms, a prophet. PBS NewsHour | Recent Western history has denigrated the artist and created myths of alienation and isolation, myths about the ‘beatnik’ artist, the alcoholic artist, the ‘madman’ artist. Many of these myths indeed become self-fulfilling |
prophecies, for artists cannot survive without a living cosmology and few were able to find one in society itself. We are all here to birth
a unique expression of
the Cosmic
Christ. Creation spirituality does not just
theorize about our being co-creators
and fellow artists with God,
It insists that to enter into art as meditation
is
the primary prayer form for healthy adults. |
See Matthew Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet, p. 1, 2 Also see Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth, pp. 34,
91, 98-99 Banner Image: “The Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh (1889), was painted during the artist’s hospitalization in an asylum and showed his view of the cosmos as a living, dynamic place. Public Domain; Wikimedia
Commons. |
Queries for Contemplation How have you tried to practice art-as-meditation or “Extrovert Meditation” as Matthew used to call it
(because the meditation is active in the exterior world, while sitting meditation is “Introvert Meditation,” being only an inner experience)? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet Because creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species but also to our capacity for
evil, we need to teach creativity and to teach ways of steering this God-like power in directions that promote love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Pushing well beyond the bounds of conventional Christian doctrine, Fox’s focus on creativity attempts nothing less than to shape a new ethic. “Matt Fox is a pilgrim who seeks a path into the church of tomorrow. Countless numbers will be
happy to follow his lead.” –Bishop John Shelby Spong, author, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Living in Sin | |
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the
Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological
work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
Join Matthew Fox and Brian Swimme in a new 7-week online course hosted by The Shift Network: "Science, Spirituality & the Noosphere: Deepen the Meaning of Your Life & the Power You Hold to Create Fulfillment & Happiness," beginning August 8. Register
HERE and receive access to a free introductory video. 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 |
Aaron Perry hosts Matthew Fox on the Y On
Earth podcast, on “Hildegard von Bingen & Her “Viriditas,” sharing profound wisdom and deep insights about the essential importance of our relationship with Mother Earth, our celebration of the Divine Feminine, and our connection with Creation Spirituality, drawing upon centuries
of knowledge and wisdom from indigenous and mystical traditions world-wide… particularly from the Rhineland Mystic Movement of the medieval European Renaissance, and a most extraordinary woman at its helm: Hildegard von Bingen. | |
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