The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers |
Week of 8/21-26/2023:
Chenu, the Cosmic Mass & the Cosmos 8/27/2023
By Daily Meditation Team |
August 21, 2023: Père Chenu, Mentor and Namer of Creation Spirituality
Matthew tells us about the memorable teaching of his mentor and soul-friend Père Chenu, who said that that there are two spiritual traditions in Christianity: that which begins with "the Fall" and that which begins with Creation. If one understands the “Fall” to be the concept of original sin, then Elie Weisel’s
words are very important: “Original sin is not only not in the Bible but it introduces an idea that is contrary to Jewish thinking.” Meanwhile “Original Blessing” can be found in the creation story of Genesis in which God consistently expresses pleasure after each aspect of creation.
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Creation and ecological balance is reborn through the Re-Wilding efforts
in places that once had heavy industrial farming. Here, in
Britain.
Photo by Ray B’s world. Wikimedia Commons. |
August 22, 2023: Returning from the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago
Matthew shares about his participation at the World Parliament of Religions where, among other things, he and a team of 14 others celebrated a Cosmic Mass which was attended by about 600 people! The mass was held at the McCormick Center on Lake Michigan. Many years ago Matthew heard a talk there given by theologian Hans Küng. Küng had compared the Roman Catholic Church with the Politburo of Russia. This was a real wake-up call for Matthew. Years later, he
learned that Küng had, like Matthew, attended the Institut Catholique de Paris. |
Giant puppets of Fire, Earth, and the Moon, by Mary Plaster,
oversee the Creation Spirituality Communities booth at the
Photo by Mary Plaster, published with
permission. August 23, 2023. The Cosmos and the Cosmic Mass
For those not yet familiar, the Cosmic Mass is a movement to reset and revitalize worship, liturgy, and ritual. Matthew has been involved in sharing these powerful worship experiences for more than 27 years. The impetus for the Cosmic Mass arose from an observation
that young people are often absent from traditional worship services as well as his subsequent meeting of young people in England who offered the "Planetary Mass." Many years later, the Cosmic Mass is still inspiring and electrifying young people and others. |
August 24, 2023. Our Cosmic Mass at the Parliament of World Religions, cont'd
After the Cosmic Mass, an older gentleman came up to Matthew, so moved that he cried on
Matthew's shoulder. Another man who follows "the good red road" compared the Cosmic Mass and its four paths with the sweatlodge and its honoring of the four directions. Many people came together to help bring the Cosmic Mass to the Parliament of World Religions. As Matthew reminds us, “liturgy” means “the work of the people” and a Cosmic Mass is very much that. |
Volunteers craft a flower of natural items for a Cosmic Mass altar. From Matthew Fox’s collection. |
August 25, 2023. The Cosmos on My Mind—Yours
Too?
Matthew is currently teaching a class with Brian Swimme, and so the cosmos is very much on his mind. In Brian’s latest book, Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe, he recalls discovering Thomas Berry. It was Berry who said, “Ecology is functional cosmology.” He also said that our survival as a planet necessitates awakening to “our sacred story.” It is imperative that science and spirituality work together. If we
cultivate awe in the wonders of the universe, it will light a fire in our bellies to preserve our own precious world. |
August 26, 2023. Cosmos on My Mind, Renaissance on My Mind
Chenu spoke about how it was the rediscovery of nature that birthed the great 12th century renaissance that was a “spiritual revolution” as well as a cultural awakening. Now, with our expanded awareness of the cosmos as
facilitated by the Webb telescope, science is beginning to awaken to spirituality, and spirituality is grounding in science. We, as a species, are at a great turning point. We can choose to be a force for knowledge and praise and celebration, or we can continue on a path of destruction. It is time to finally “come of age.” |
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 | |
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. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
Join Matthew Fox and a speaker’s panel for brief Creation Spirituality presentations, music, songs, prayer, and refreshments in a free online and on-site Celebration of Matthew Fox's donation of papers to the University of Colorado, Boulder. University of Colorado Boulder Libraries – Center for British
& Irish Studies – 5th Floor Thursday, September 21, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT RSVP HERE for on-site attendance only. Virtual attendance link will be forthcoming. |
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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