The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Watch for Matthew Fox's video meditation -- now appearing every Monday! |
Sojourner Truth, Another Spiritual Hero and Activist 02/29/2024 |
We have been meditating on courageous spiritual-political activists including Sister Dorothy Stang, Alexei Navalny and Frederick Douglass. |
We cannot talk about great black leaders of Spirit in the 19th century without also talking about Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, both of whom knew and interacted with Frederick Douglass. Indeed, Douglass gave a eulogy for Sojourner Truth in Washington, DC, in which he called her: |
Mini-bio of African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth. Lesson by Daina Ramey Berry, directed by WOW-HOW Studio. TED-Ed |
Venerable for age, distinguished for insight into human nature, remarkable for independence and courageous self-assertion, devoted to the welfare of her race, she has been for the last forty years an object of respect and admiration to social reformers everywhere. Sojourner Truth
(1797-1883) began her life as a slave and became a leader in the abolitionist movement and the women’s movement. She said, “I don’t read such small stuff as letters, I read men and nations.” |
Alayna Vernon recites “Ain’t I A Woman?” by Sojourner Truth, delivered 1851 at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio. Marco
Learning | She was illiterate, though she did dictate her autobiography, The Narrative of Sojourner
Truth, which appeared in 1850 and was only the second book by a woman ex-slave. Speaking of women’s right to vote, she comments that the |
ballot box is a beautiful glass bowl, so you can see all the votes as they go in. Now the first time I vote I’ll see if the woman’s vote looks any different from the rest—if it makes any stir or commotion. If it don’t inside, it need not outside. She talks of having performed
immense physical labor in her day. |
I have done a great deal of work as much as man, but did not get so much pay. I used to work in the field and bind grain kept up with the cradler; but men doing no more, got twice as much pay…. We do as much, we eat as much, we want as much. On a Pentecost Sunday she became a
Christian–“The Spirit calls me, and I must go.” She asked God for a new name and changed her name to “Truth,” for “truth burns up error.” And since her life would be filled with traveling widely to preach the truth of equality |
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and
justice for women and men alike, she added the name “Sojourner.” She lived and lectured all over the Midwest (especially Michigan) and the Northeast, “speaking for the rights of colored women” as she put it. To be continued. |
See Matthew Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
And Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality.
And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social
Justice.
Banner Image: “Women’s Rights Pioneers: Sojourner Truth, Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton” Statue, Central Park Mall. Photo by
Brecht Bug on Flickr. |
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Queries for Contemplation What inspires you from Truth’s words and story that gives you courage to live and to resist like Sojourner
Truth? |
Responses are welcomed. To add
your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialog, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in
South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality
and Practice. |
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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 |
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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 |
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In the Beginning There Was Joy: A Cosmic Celebration for Kids of All Ages
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! 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. "This delicious book for children of all ages
celebrates joy as the essential truth of reality." - Andrew Harvey, Author of The Hope and Radical Regeneration "I absolutely LOVED reading this beautiful, creative, stirring story—a
charming, whimsical, powerful, parable." - Robert Holden, Author of Happiness NOW! and Higher Purpose Receive a 20% discount when you buy this and one other book from Matthew Fox’s store! Use Promo Code 20% at checkout. |
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UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, March 21, 4:00-5:30 pm PT.
Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox, Mariko Middleton and Skylar Wilson of the Order of the Sacred Earth in a free virtual meeting for connection and networking with other mystic warriors, Tuesday, March 26, 4:00-5:00pm PT. Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, April 18, 4:00-5:30 pm PT.
Register
HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book Natural Grace: Dialogues on Creation, Darkness and the Soul in Spirituality and Science in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, May 16, 4:00-5:30 pm PT.
Register HERE. Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Matthew Fox speaks on "What the Mystics Tell Us About Dying" at the 2024 Symposium on Death and Bereavement Studies. To listen, click the video thumbnail at right. |
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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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