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“Resounding Melody”: Hildegard,
Mary Oliver, and Word Made Flesh01/18/2024 |
For Hildegard, words are alive, and take many forms. Word is music, a “resounding melody” inherent in every being and found in every corner of the universe. |
The whole universe vibrates with music, making melody. God’s Word is in all creation, visible and invisible. Word, music and light go together. The Light in all things is the Cosmic Christ and it lives. The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity. |
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Indeed, “all creation is awakened, called, by the resounding melody, God’s invocation of the Word.” For Hildegard, the “Word manifests in every creature.” The divine Logos is everywhere and in everything–this is the meaning of incarnation, the marriage of flesh and spirit. “This is how the spirit is in the flesh–the Word is indivisible from God.”
With permission, I share two poems by Mary Oliver in a chapter of my Hildegard book. The first begins this way: |
“Human as Microcosm of the Macrocosm” by Hildegard of Bingen in her Book of Divine Works. | The spirit
likes to dress up like this:
ten fingers,
ten toes,
shoulders, and all the rest… She tells us that spirit could float—but prefers to “plumb rough matter….” And so “it enters us”–fingers, shoulders and all. Clearly, Hildegard and Mary Oliver are on the same page announcing the incarnation and the holiness of the
flesh. Both flee from dualism, that bedrock of patriarchal fear. |
A
second Mary Oliver poem I eagerly reproduce in this chapter on “The Cosmic Christ and Living Light” is named “At the River Clarion.” It is a poem about how divinity dwells in all things, and it begins with this humble sentence, “I don’t know who God is exactly.” |
How many blowhard preachers and politicians have you run across who know for sure who God is exactly? And how many people have suffered and died because of the sureness of such colonial and righteous mindsets? |
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Oliver shares her time sitting on a rock in a river and listening deeply until she heard the rock and water and moss declare, “I am part of holiness.” The divine—the Christ, Buddha Nature, or Tselem (image of God) lies embedded in all things. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, “Living Words and the Cosmic Christ: Hildegard Meets Mary Oliver” in Fox, Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint For Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century, pp. 11-14, 17-22.
See also Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen.
See also Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet.
Banner Image: A river rushes over stones in the Siberian wilderness. Photo by pure
julia on Unsplash
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Queries for Contemplation How do Hildegard and Mary Oliver speak to you of the deeper layers embedded in nature and our everyday life experiences? How do they make
“incarnation” come alive for you? |
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. |
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from
her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.
“This book gives strong, sterling, and unvarnished evidence that everything – everything – we ourselves become will affect what women
after us may also become….This is a truly marvelous, useful, profound, and creative book.” ~~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism. |
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Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen
An introduction to the life and work of Hildegard of Bingen, Illuminations reveals the life and teachings of one of the greatest female artists and intellectuals of the Western Mystical
Tradition. At the age of 42, she began to have visions; these were captured as 36 illuminations–24 of which are recorded in this book along with her commentaries on them.
“If one person deserves credit for the great Hildegard renaissance in our time, it is Matthew Fox.” – Dr Mary Ford-Grabowsky, author of Sacred Voices. |
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Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet
Because creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species but also to our capacity for evil, we need to teach creativity and to teach ways of steering this God-like power in
directions that promote love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Pushing well beyond the bounds of conventional Christian doctrine, Fox’s focus on creativity attempts nothing less than to shape a new ethic.
“Matt Fox is a pilgrim who seeks a path into the church of tomorrow. Countless numbers will be happy to follow his lead.” –Bishop John Shelby Spong, author, Rescuing
the Bible from Fundamentalism, Living in Sin
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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 |
Matthew Fox’s episode on the Take Back Your Mind with Michael B. Beckwith
Podcast, Mysticism & The Modern Age, is available on the Take Back Your Mind YouTube channel. To listen, play at right. |
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