The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers |
What It Means to be an American and
How Prayer & Compassion Can Help |
08/19/2023
by Rick
Reich-Kuykendall |
Today will be my final day of sharing these
gems of truth from the writings of Matthew Fox, and I thank him, and you, for the opportunity to share with you in a small way. What we will consider today is Matthew’s vision of what it means to be an American, and his thoughts on prayer. |
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AMERICAN I am beginning to learn
from native peoples what it means to be an American. To be an American does not mean that I wrap myself in the red, white, and blue and acquiesce | |
to the shibboleths and paranoia that so characterize the last days of empire building in the West. Rather, to be American means that I listen with my heart to the history of this land and its
peoples who for tens of thousands of years have lived and celebrated on this earth. We are prayerful when we
undergo mystical experiences
and when we march in the streets
or struggle to resist shadow forces through
reinventing work, education, or religions. THOUGHTS ON PRAYER Our work is meant to be—and can be—our prayer.
It is a radical response to life, it is prayer. I define prayer as a radical response to life. |
“Anne Lamott’s Unconventional Definition of Prayer | SuperSoul Sunday | Oprah Winfrey Network.”
OWN | The prayer process,
which goes on as long as life keeps beckoning
and we remain open to become aware,
free in our response, grateful and ready for conversion,
is a movement toward love, |
however imperceptibly it may rise
from the roots within us,
that will set fire to the earth. The only real “answer” to prayer
is a changed person on the one hand
and a changed people,
that is a changed world or culture, on the other. Compassion is about
sharing the joy
and sharing the pain,
and about doing what we can
to relieve the pain,
especially that are caused by injustices,
whether they be
ecological,
economic,
social,
racial,
gender,
or generational in
nature. |
There can be no compassion
without celebration
and there will be no authentic celebration
that does not result in increased compassionate energies. Jesus came preaching the kingdom
and what we got was the churches— what a let down! | Showing a little compassion and human decency. By Insider. |
See Matthew Fox, The A.W.E Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human, p. 122 See also Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet, pp. 94, 149 See Fox, Prayer: A Radical Response to Life, pp. xxiv, 95, 101 See Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality, p. 101 See Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice, p. 4 See Fox, Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life, p. 122 Banner image: “Compassion.” Image by Paul Fox on
Flickr. |
Queries for Contemplation How can you work with prayer and compassion for your country? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the
Human The A.W.E. Project reminds us that awe is the appropriate response to the unfathomable wonder that is creation... A.W.E. is also the acronym for Fox's proposed style of learning - an approach to
balance the three R's. This approach to learning, eldering, and mentoring is intelligent enough to honor the teachings of the Ancestors, to nurture Wisdom in addition to imparting knowledge, and to Educate through Fox's 10 C's. The 10 C's are the core of the A.W.E. philosophy and process of education, and include: compassion, contemplation, and creativity. The A.W.E. Project does for the vast subject of "learning" what Fox's Reinvention of Work did for
vocation and Original Blessing did for theology. Included in the book is a dvd of the 10 C's put to 10 video raps created and performed by Professor Pitt.
"An awe-based vision of educational renewal." -- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice. | |
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion.
Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic
Register | |
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. | |
Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
How do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? Fox defines prayer as a radical response to life that includes our “Yes” to
life (mysticism) and our “No” to forces that combat life (prophecy). How do we define adult prayer? And how—if at all—do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, Prayer introduces a mystical/prophetic spirituality and a mature conception of how to pray. Called a “classic” when it first appeared, it lays out the
difference between the creation spirituality tradition and the fall/redemption tradition that has so dominated Western theology since Augustine. A practical and theoretical book, it lays the groundwork for Fox’s later works.
“One of the finest books I have read on contemporary spirituality.” – Rabbi Sholom A. Singer
| |
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 | |
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Matthew Fox lays out a whole new
direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the
natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society” at an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, August 24, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT. 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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