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Values, Education and Heeding the Wisdom of the Young 05/10/2024 |
We ended yesterday’s DM citing congressman Ro Khanna about the sit-ins on campuses around America and the world protesting war. Other adults—as opposed to politicians making up ways to prove antisemitism is behind it all—have offered similar observations of the truth-telling going on on campuses.
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Values, Values, Values are missing in current academia. The dwindling of liberal arts education is just one sign of that. So too is the onslaught of a vapid legalist and capitalist take-over of education. |
Senator Bernie Sanders introduces a bill supporting free speech rights of student protestors. WCAX-TV
Channel 3 News |
Education stuck in the modern era is stripped of its primary purpose which Rabbi Heschel summarized this way: “To educate means to cultivate the soul, not only the mind.” Why did Albert Einstein say, “I abhor American education”? (Even though he was living on Princeton campus.) He tells us. Because
humanity has been given two gifts, that of the rational brain and that of the intuitive brain, from which we get our values. The rational brain should serve the intuitive brain, because that is where values are to be found. But our society and education values only the rational brain and ignores the intuitive brain. |
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recover values? Art as meditation. “The way of the prophets,” as psychologists Ornstein and Naranjo put it, calling it “extrovert meditation." Exercising the intuitive (or mystical brain in my vocabulary) is the path back to a value-based education. It is integral to all my efforts at reinventing education, and I saw
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accomplish miracles in our 50 years of practicing it with both adults and teenagers. Adultism is alive and well in our time. Adultism derives from the repression of the child (the mystic therefore) in adults (and in institutions adults run, including
academia). |
I spoke of the Cosmic Christ and the young years ago: The Cosmic Christ speaks: “I am eternal youth. I am always young, always new, always fresh, always eager, always in the beginning. Why aren’t you? The beginning is not in |
A young demonstrator offers a flower to a military police officer, 10/21/1967. Photo from U.S. Army records. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons |
opposition to the past, it fulfills it, complements it, invigorates it. I am also the past made fresh and new, powerful and exciting. Bring these parts together—the new and the past—in your present ‘now.’ Look about you at those who are actively doing this. Consider the
young. Be like them—awestruck and wonder filled, enthusiastic (meaning full of divine energy). To be continued. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance, pp. 198ff.
See also, Fox, The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing
Education, Reinventing the Human.
And Fox, “Deep Ecumenism, Ecojustice, and Art as Meditation,” in Fox, Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life, pp. 215-242.
And
Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Postdenominational Priest, pp. 126-176.
Banner Image: Protest by students at the California Polytechnic State University, 2018. Photo by the Kennedy Library on Flickr. |
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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. |
Queries for Contemplation |
Do you agree that values should be integral to education? In my book, The A.W.E. Project, I lay out a value system for a civil society and public education called the “10 C’s” that include ecology/cosmology; contemplation; chaos; creativity; community; courage; critical
thinking; ceremony; compassion; and character. Can you agree with this value system? Or create your own? |
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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The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human
The A.W.E. Project reminds us that awe is the appropriate response to the unfathomable wonder that is creation… A.W.E. is also the acronym for Fox’s proposed style of
learning – an approach to balance the three R’s. This approach to learning, eldering, and mentoring is intelligent enough to honor the teachings of the Ancestors, to nurture Wisdom in addition to imparting knowledge, and to Educate through Fox’s 10 C’s. The 10 C’s are the core of the A.W.E. philosophy and process of education, and include: compassion, contemplation, and creativity. The A.W.E. Project does for the vast subject of “learning” what Fox’s Reinvention of Work did for vocation
and Original Blessing did for theology. Included in the book is a dvd of the 10 C’s put to 10 video raps created and performed by Professor Pitt.
“An awe-based vision of educational renewal.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice. |
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Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life
In one of his foundational works, Fox engages with some of history’s greatest mystics, philosophers, and prophets in
profound and hard-hitting essays on such varied topics as Eco-Spirituality, AIDS, homosexuality, spiritual feminism, environmental revolution, Native American spirituality, Christian mysticism, Art and Spirituality, Art as Meditation, Interfaith or Deep Ecumenism and more.
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Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition)
Matthew Fox’s stirring
autobiography, Confessions, reveals his personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring added perspective in light of the author’s continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in church, society and the environment.
“The unfolding story of
this irrepressible spiritual revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the heart — must reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self |
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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 does it again, here for our young ones, who so need a positive, cosmic vision
to thrive, or even survive, in a sad time." - Father Richard Rohr, Author of The Universal Christ "Matthew Fox offers a resounding affirmation of what our souls have always suspected: we are made for joy." - Mirabai Starr, Author of God of Love and Wild Mercy 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 in a new, live, 7-week video course hosted by the Shift Network, Cultivating Compassion in Spirituality: What Meister Eckhart & Other World Mystics Can Teach Us About Navigating Collective Turmoil. Tuesdays, May 7 – June 25, 5:00pm - 6:30pm PT. Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book with scientist Rupert Sheldrake, 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. |
Join keynote speakers Matthew Fox and Brian Swimme at the 2024 Creation Spirituality Communities Gathering on “Reimagining Our Story, Hope for Humanity,” live at Cape Cod, MA and by livestream. Friday, May 31 – Sunday, June 2. Learn more and 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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