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! |
What
is Death?
Lessons in the Via Negativa
from Holy Week 03/30/2024 |
What is death? It seems most creatures are not preoccupied with that question. Instead, they are very busy getting on with life securing their individual place in the world and carrying on the work of their species. |
But humans are regularly asking ourselves that question. And especially when witnessing it. I see death as a reminder that our work is finished on this Earth. Our time and presence and witness is finite, it has a beginning and an end |
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an
alpha and an omega. And yes, our work is united to our ancestors who did theirs before us, work we have inherited. |
In
a powerful interview on PBS news this week, a man who had lived a full and adventurous life as a reporter in wars and conflict situations was diagnosed with a brain condition that assures him he will die this year. He said he has learned more this year than in all the rest of his life combined. More about love and forgiveness and what life is for. |
The Pietà at the Härterichstraße 12 building in Bad Mergentheim, Germany. Wikimedia
Commons. | Jesus did not want to die. He
sweated blood and cried out in the Garden of Gethsemane that this “chalice be taken from me.” Few of us want to die—until we are ready and the time comes and we practice one more time that Letting Go and Letting Be lesson that life has taught us many times over. Eckhart: “We sink eternally from letting go
to letting go into the One.” Letting go is an eternal |
practice, it has been going on for 13.8 billion years. |
Death is a reminder to throw oneself fully into life—to live fully one’s commitments and values. |
Jesus’ death was that of a martyr and a prophet. I have known at least two martyrs in my life: One a student—Sister Dorothy Stang who became a teacher to me; and another a teacher, monk, writer—Thomas Merton with whom I had a correspondence. Both of them were people fully alive, fully |
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aware, fully in love with life in spite of its many and perilous struggles. Both lived from their conscience and seem to us to have died prematurely. |
Jesus reminds us to “rejoice and be glad when people abuse you and prosecute you on my account….This is how they persecuted the prophets before you.” (Mt 5.10-12) Living love and preaching it carry their price no matter how death comes to us.. |
See Matthew Fox, Meditations with Meister Eckhart. And Fox, A Way To God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey. And Fox, Original Blessing, pp. 132-177.
Banner image: This powerful photo, taken in Normandy, France, is entitled “NO WAR.” Image by unai Pascual Loyarte on
Flickr. |
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Queries for Contemplation What is death to you? Do you recognize it as an end of your work on Earth? |
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. |
Meditations with Meister Eckhart: A Centering Book
A centering book by Matthew Fox. This book of simple but rich meditations exemplifies the deep yet playful creation-centered spirituality of Meister Eckhart, Meister Eckhart
was a 13th-century Dominican preacher who was a mystic, prophet, feminist, activist, defender of the poor, and advocate of creation-centered spirituality, who was condemned shortly after he died.
“These quiet presentations of spirituality are remarkable for their immediacy and clarity.” –Publishers Weekly. |
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A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey
In A Way to God, Fox explores Merton’s pioneering work in interfaith, his essential teachings on mixing contemplation and
action, and how the vision of Meister Eckhart profoundly influenced Merton in what Fox calls his Creation Spirituality journey.
“This wise and marvelous book will profoundly inspire all those who love Merton and want to know him more deeply.” — Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism |
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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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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. "Matthew Fox has created a narrative, for every parent and grandparent, both spiritual and
scientific, that is a gift for all elders who recognize their responsibility in initiating the young ones into the grandeur of existence." Cosmologist Brian Swimme, Author of Cosmogenesis and The Universe Story "Matthew Fox has given all of us, children included, a wondrous and enchanting view of creation
and all that humanity should aspire to." - Caroline Myss, Author of Anatomy of the Spirit and A Time for Grace 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 speaks on “The Deep Feminine and the Deep Masculine and their importance in elevating consciousness and healing our world” at the The Heart of Nature 7-Day Summit with Jane Fonda, Marianne Williamson, Paul Hawken, Nina Simons and over 30 leading experts,
Tuesday-Monday, April 16-22. Register HERE. 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 |
Ilia Delio and theologian Matthew Fox pick up on their conversation about the viability of contemporary religious institutions in an evolutionary world. They discuss death and resurrection—the enduring challenge of modern approaches to the subject and what we can learn from mystics, past generations and ancient peoples alike. To listen, click HERE. |
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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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