The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Our True Nobility,
continued 11/06/2023 |
Yesterday we considered the teaching of Père Chenu that spirituality can be understood as “our true nobility.” How meditating on that can be good medicine in a time of wars like our current times. |
An important lesson in nobility occurred to me a number of years ago, shortly after my book on men and spirituality came out. I was lecturing at a conference on Earth and Spirit in Santa Fe, and after my talk a very dignified and unusually elegantly dressed man approached me. He was about 6’6”, had long white hair, and was wearing all black, including black tails. |
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He introduced himself as a Native American chaplain working in prisons for the last 12 years. He told me this story: He said: |
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| Men in prison do not want to look inside. They are busy projecting onto others, and for
a long time I have been looking for a book that they would read, that would get them to look inside. Your book on The Hidden Spirituality of Men was the first I ever found that got them to look and find the nobility inside. That phrase, “the nobility inside,” struck me so deeply and has stayed with me all these years. When I recently discovered Chenu’s definition of spirituality as “our true nobility” I easily connect the two. |
When we are wounded or abused, is that when we first lose touch with the nobility inside? When others do not treat us as noble, is that when we begin to forget the nobility inside? How many men are in prison because they lost touch with that nobility inside and thus lashed out at others? |
Did Donald Trump ever learn about the nobility inside him? And his many followers? All kinds of questions come to
mind when I meditate on that rich phrase from the Native American prison chaplain: The nobility inside. |
Trump’s niece Mary describes his lack of nobility, and how it has infected his followers. Video by MSNBC. |
Adapted from Matthew
Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest, pp. 417-420.
And Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine.
And Fox, "Meister Eckhart and Karl Marx: The Mystic as Political Theologian," in Fox, Wrestling with the
Prophets, pp. 165-198. Banner image: Chiefs march in a 2005 Powwow at the MCI Center. Photo by Walter Larrimore for the Smithsonian Institution. Wikimedia Commons. |
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Queries for Contemplation Are we busy exploring the nobility inside? How do you find the nobility inside you? And inside others? And how do you help bring it out of others? And yourself? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition)
Matthew Fox’s stirring autobiography, Confessions,
reveals his personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring added perspective in light of the author’s continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in church, society and the environment.
“The unfolding story of this irrepressible spiritual revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the
heart — must reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self |
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The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental
relationship with nature, to the Spiritual Warrior….These timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to connect to their deepest selves and to reinvent the world.
“Every man on this planet should read this book — not to mention every woman who wants to understand the struggles, often unconscious, that shape the men they know.” — Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of The Left Hand of God |
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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. |
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______________________________________________________________________________________ UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar 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. |
Join Matthew Fox online as he offers a lecture and Q&A on “Peacemaking and Creation Spirituality Today” hosted by The Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus. November 11, 11:00am PT. Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Hunger for Wholeness: What is Wholeness in the Midst of Crisis with Matthew Fox (Part 1) In the midst of increased violence between Israel and Palestine, Ilia Delio and theologian
Matthew Fox discuss the state of the world today and how to have courage in Part 1 of their conversation. Ilia and Matt discuss his mentor, Marie Dominique Chenu, the influence of liberation theology on social justice in the church today, and what can still be learned.
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