The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Good News in Times of War:
We are Capable of Compassion (Aquinas) 10/30/2023 |
In the midst of war — war in Gaza and Israel, war in Ukraine, and constant preparations for war around the world — it behooves us to hear news that is rarely in the headlines. News like this: We humans are capable of
compassion. |
That is what spiritual teachers the world over keep telling us. In recent DMs, we have shared teachings from Rabbi Heschel and Elie Weisel from Judaism, and Muslim poet Mosab abu Toha, about compassion. Today, let us focus on a Christian teacher, Thomas Aquinas. He writes: Through
compassion, human beings imitate God. |
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In every work of God, viewed at its primary source, there appears compassion. God is said to be rich in
compassion because God possesses an infinite and unfailing compassion, which human beings do not. Compassion is the fire that Jesus came to set on the
earth. |
Residents of Martha’s Vineyard step up to assist Venezuelan migrants who were flown there illegally. Video by MSNBC. | What is compassion for Aquinas? “To be compassionate is to have a heart that suffers from the misfortune of others because we think of it as
our own.” But compassion means action. “We are truly |
compassionate when we work to remove the misfortune of others.” Compassion springs from love: The love of
neighbor requires that not only should we be our neighbor’s well-wishers, but also their well-doers, according to 1 John 3:18: ‘Let us not love in word or in speech, but in deed and in truth.” And in order to be a person’s well-wisher and well-doer we ought to succor their needs. |
Aquinas believes that two principal obstacles lie in the way of compassion. First is a “contempt for the wretched.” In other words, a belief that others are not worthy of our attention and concern. The second obstacle is “assurance of one’s own power.” |
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When people want to lord over others, there is no room in them for compassion. Power trips drive compassion aside. As does fear. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality, pp. 400f.
See also Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times, pp. 109-116.
And Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths.
Banner image: Three ladies show compassion to a disabled man, while passers-by look on in puzzlement or judgment. Photo by Jacob Granneman on Unsplash. |
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| To view today's video, please click the image. You will be taken to today's post on the Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox website, where you can see the
meditation in a larger version and also view and post your Comments. In the sharing that follows, a kind of community is developing around the DM.
If you can't reach today's post on the website directly, click HERE.
If you can't reach Matthew's video on the website, try his Vimeo channel HERE.
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Queries for Contemplation Which of these teachings from Thomas Aquinas speak to you most deeply of the journey humanity is on, to become our better and best selves? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
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).
Foreword by Rupert Sheldrake |
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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 |
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One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global
spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary
spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit |
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______________________________________________________________________________________ UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE Join Matthew Fox for two days of learning and practice as he speaks at the online Stanford Medicine Contemplation by Design Summit, Wednesday and Thursday, November 1-2, 2023. Wed 4:00pm-5:30pm PT – Lecture, Q&A – Grounding & Expanding, Psyche & Cosmos, Friendship with Self, Others, the Universe: Toward a “Cosmic Religion” (Einstein) and Human/Planetary Survival Thu 7:30am-8:15am – Guided Practice – Finding the Divine (the “I am”, the Christ, the Buddha Nature, the Tselem or
Image of God) Within Thu 12:00pm-1:30pm – Workshop – Recovering the Sacred Masculine and the Divine Feminine Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox as he delivers a Lecture and Q&A: “Towards a New Mythology: New & Ancient Names for God from Mystical Ancestors and Contemporary Science (& Fit for Some Atheists too)” as part of the Unitarian Universalist of Berkeley Lawrence Lecture Series. Friday, November 10, 2023, 7:00pm-8:30pm 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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Inspired by this post? Share your insights on Universeodon, Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #RevDrMatthewFox and tag Matt with @RevDrMatthewFox FOLLOW MATTHEW FOX: |
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