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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox 

The Mystics on Joy & Thanks 
(Whatever the News)

11/21/2023

Joy is bigger than and deeper than humans hating one another and themselves and even Mother Earth. Joy trumps our sadness when we can learn to let go.       

As Meister Eckhart puts it, “the soul grows by subtraction and not by addition” and “we sink eternally from letting go to letting go into the One.” We are capable of sinking into the One, the Source of all Joy. 

That is what the mystics remind us. Consider the following:

The Dalai Lama reveals insights into human behaviour and values that impact our happiness in Western society. The Happiest  

“Sheer Joy is God’s and this demands companionship.” Here Thomas Aquinas tells us his understanding of why the universe exists at all: for the sake of sharing the divine joy. As Thomas Berry said in yesterday’s DM, celebration is the bottom line of the universe. Aquinas tells us there is an “original goodness” that we are here to share. 

A life of shared joy and grief: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter kiss at the Democratic National Convention, 1976. Their 77-year marriage transitioned on 11/20/2023 with Rosalyn’s death at 96. Wikimedia Commons

And it follows that “joy is the human’s noblest act.” Are we in touch with our nobility? Are we acting our noblest acts?

Joy is deeper than sorrow and grief. It exists not by banishing suffering but by going deeper. The Via Positiva sustains us when the Via Negativa tends to swamp us and take over.

Julian of Norwich reminds us that “the first good thing is the goodness of nature" and

God is “the very essence of nature” and “the goodness in nature is God.” She did not reveal these things during a prosperous and happy time but while living through the bubonic plague which was killing one out of two or three humans, including most likely those in her own family.

She also taught that the entire universe is kept together by God’s love and that we are all born into “a birthright of never-ending joy.”  

And that “God loves all creatures” and “to behold God in all things is to live in complete joy.”

Our Joy is deeper than our 

Louis Armstrong, who was raised in poverty and struggles after being abandoned by his father, nevertheless reminds us "What a Wonderful World." Soulful Sounds

sorrows and what causes sorrows and who causes sorrows.

Adapted from Matthew Fox, Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality, pp.33f., 118-120.

And Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas, pp. 33-44.

And Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond, pp. 40, 101.

Also see Fox, In the Beginning There Was Joy: A Cosmic Celebration for Kids of All Ages

Banner Image: Sharing joy through simple things. Photo by Alex Alvarez on Unsplash

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Queries for Contemplation

Have you experienced Joy that is deeper than Sorrow and sustains us in times of sorrow?

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Recommended Reading

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

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

Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond

Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book.
“What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.”  –Caroline Myss
Now also available as an audiobook HERE.

In the Beginning There Was Joy: A Cosmic Celebration for Kids of All Ages
Receive a 20% discount when you buy this and one other book from Matthew Fox's store! Use Promo Code 20% at checkout.
The first book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series tells the story of the big bang and how humans fit into the awesome, fantastical, cosmic picture! In this full-color, beautifully illustrated book, world- renowned theologian Matthew Fox weaves together modern science and classic spirituality in a whimsical, entertaining format to illustrate important truths to readers aged 4 and up. With artwork curated from illustrators around the world, this book expresses the joy and wonder of all peoples and cultures, planting seeds of respect, cooperation and hope to work together for the healing of our planet.

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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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