The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Today's the day: Matthew Fox's
video reflection is below the essay! |
On
Martin Luther King Jr., His Movement & His Mentors 01/15/2024 |
Today we celebrate one of the greatest Christian saints of all time: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
King had at least three mentors: Jesus, Howard Thurman, and Gandhi. One thing that made him great was his deep ecumenism, insofar as he humbly learned from a Hindu saint, Mahatma Gandhi, how to apply Jesus’ teachings to battling injustice—using a method called non-violent resistance. |
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Under King, that
resistance brought down almost a century of Jim Crow laws, lynchings, and other evil structures that perpetuated racism and slavery even after the Confederacy lost its Civil War. Marching, facing firehoses, police dogs and police on horseback, filling jails, beseeching courts, politicians and presidents, ordinary citizens and church-goers of the movement MLK Jr. led, applied
Gandhi’s spiritual practice that had taken down the British empire in India, without firing a shot. |
Mahatma Gandhi (center) during his first public non-violent resistance action, the 24-day Salt March of 1930, which protested the British monopoly on salt. Source unknown. Wikimedia Commons. | Father Bede Griffiths, a wise monk and observer of India who lived fifty years in an ashram there, said this about Gandhi: He “was deeply influenced by the gospel, not only directly through the New Testament, but still more indirectly through Ruskin and Tolstoy.” Through its Indian adaptation, “the social
gospel of Christianity” |
underwent “a most significant transformation.” Gandhi demonstrated how the principles of the Sermon on the Mount can be applied to social and political life in a way which no one before him had done: he made the beatitudes a matter of practical concern in a way which few Christians have realized. Or accomplished. |
One Christian did realize it: MLK Jr., with a powerful team behind him, implemented and adapted Gandhi’s practice based on the Sermon on the Mount, to American history. Courage as well as vision and intergenerational moral outrage steered to a greater good, accomplished what the civil rights movement achieved. |
President Lyndon B. Johnson meets Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the signing of the Voting Rights Act, August 6, 1965. Photo by Yoichi Okamoto (the first official presidential photographer). Wikimedia Commons. |
The immense sacrifices of that movement—including King’s and others’ martyrdoms—are in jeopardy today, sixty years later. Racism does not just disappear, it morphs into new forms. Each generation has to step up to challenge it in its own way. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Christian Mystics: 365 Readings and Meditations, pp. 204-215, 248. See Fox, “Deep Ecumenism,” in Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance, pp. 228-240. Banner image: View of the crowd at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963. Photo from the US National Archives at College Park, MD. Wikimedia Commons. |
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Queries for Contemplation What does the courage and holiness of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his many co-marchers and non-violent resisters mean to you, this election
year of 2024? |
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. |
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
As Matthew Fox notes, when an aging Albert Einstein was asked if he had any regrets, he replied, “I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life.” The 365 writings in
Christian Mystics represent a wide-ranging sampling of these readings for modern-day seekers of all faiths — or no faith. The visionaries quoted range from Julian of Norwich to Martin Luther King, Jr., from Thomas Merton to Dorothee Soelle and Thomas Berry.
“Our world is in crisis, and we need road maps that can ground us in wisdom, inspire us to action, and help us gather our talents in service of
compassion and justice. This revolutionary book does just that. Matthew Fox takes some of the most profound spiritual teachings of the West and translates them into practical daily mediations. Study and practice these teachings. Take what’s in this book and teach it to the youth because the new generation cannot afford to suffer the spirit and ethical illiteracy of the past.” — Adam Bucko, spiritual activist and co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation for Homeless
Youth. |
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The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
In what may be considered the most comprehensive outline of the Christian
paradigm shift of our Age, Matthew Fox eloquently foreshadows the manner in which the spirit of Christ resurrects in terms of the return to an earth-based mysticism, the expression of creativity, mystical sexuality, the respect due the young, the rebirth of effective forms of worship—all of these mirroring the ongoing blessings of Mother Earth and the recovery of Eros, the feminine aspect of the Divine.
“The eighth
wonder of the world…convincing proof that our Western religious tradition does indeed have the depth of imagination to reinvent its faith.” — Brian Swimme, author of The Universe Story and Journey of the Universe. |
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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 |
SPECIAL EVENT: 5-DAY WORKSHOP IN AQUINAS’ HOMETOWN OF ORVIETO, ITALY
WITH MATTHEW FOX, MESHI CHAVEZ, AND CLAUDIA PICARDI
JUNE 9-14, 2024
LEARN MORE HERE. |
Join
Matthew Fox as he discusses his book “Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest ” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat.Thursday, January 18, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox as he lectures on “What the Mystics Tell Us About Dying “ at the Conference on Death, Grief and Belief, “Emerging Spiritualities: Death and Bereavement Across the Spiritual Spectrum,” Saturday, January 20, 9:00am – 5:00pm PT. Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book “The Lotus & The Rose” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, February 15, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
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Creation Spirituality Conversations |
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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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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