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! |
The First Juneteenth Holiday, 2021 06/22/2024 |
FROM THE ARCHIVE: 6/20/2021 This weekend we celebrate the first national holiday of Juneteenth, the culmination of the freedom of slaves in the USA (on paper at least). It is a holiday and holyday long overdue in the larger community, commemorating a keystone in Black American history. |
Juneteenth is to that community what the Exodus from Egypt was and is for Jewish people. A day of victory, celebration and remembrance of a great liberation. Just as Exodus has inspired |
"Juneteenth: What You Need to Know.” History |
enslaved people of many diverse cultures and periods throughout history, here’s hoping that Juneteenth does the same. |
I search for the reasons behind slavery and behind genocide toward indigenous peoples. Let us not forget the enslavements we call speciescide or ecocide that our culture is involved in even today insofar as we deny climate change and refuse to take
responsibility for the extinction spasms happening all about us on Earth. So many species struggling to survive. Is there a common denominator to these tragic stories of genocide, slavery, ecocide and extinctions? Sadly, I believe there is. It is our neglect of the sacredness of nature—human and
more-than-human. |
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| Is this not what all creation stories are in essence telling us? That we did not make nature; nature made us. Nature preceded us, we now know, by 13.8
billion years. We are nature’ s guest. Have we been good and grateful guests? Or have we been punishing our host/hostess, |
nature, for inviting us here? Have we projected onto nature our own self-hatred in place of awe, wonder, reverence, and gratitude? |
If
humans think we are #1 and earth creatures are here is to serve us, feed us, make our industry prosper or entertain us, that is the beginning of the downward slope. But the creation stories of the world do not tell us that this is the case. Slavery was both an economic thing and a bad religious
thing. The “discovery doctrine” from 15th century popes encouraged Christian kings and queens to take what they wanted from African peoples and peoples of Turtle Island because they were not “redeemed by Christ.”* |
A religious consciousness that leads with redemption and not gratitude for creation buttressed such atrocities. Creation Spirituality leads with creation and gratitude for the Creator. Thanking is very different from conquering in the name of redeeming. How might history have been |
“Original Blessing, Revisited.” Matthew Fox shares a letter from environmental activist and Buddhist Joanna Macy. Matthew
Fox |
different had a creation spirituality accompanied 16th century European explorers and missionaries? |
*To his credit, Pope Francis finally apologized for the Doctrine of Discovery, but the apology was very late coming and long after the horse had left the barn. See Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond, pp. 109-124, xxxviiif.
Banner image: Traditional African song and dance at Booker T Washington National Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom, 2019. Wikipedia.
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See Matthew's original YouTube reflection on this topic HERE
(scroll to the bottom of the
essay).
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 |
Meditate on how a religious consciousness that leads with the sacredness of creation including all of nature and all humans results in a different historical outcome than that manifested by slavery, genocide, ecocide, matricide and misogyny. Consider the religion Julian of Norwich espoused, for
example. |
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond
Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a
deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book.
“What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly
supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.” –Caroline Myss
Now also available as an audiobook HERE. |
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Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil
that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly
masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics |
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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. "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 |
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UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
MONTHLY: 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. Last Tuesday of every month, 4:00-5:00pm PT.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88665302478
Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478 Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org 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 and 11 other speakers for a 6-week course on Cosmic Water: The Radical Roots of Mystical Christianity hosted by Advaya.Life (Matthew speaks on June 18). Tuesdays, May 28 - Thursday, July 4, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT Register HERE (for 10% discount use code
FOX-WOW) |
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Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book Prayer: A Radical Response to Life in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, July 18, 6:00 - 7:30 pm PT.
Register HERE. Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Matthew Fox speaks on "Preserving Things in the Good" at the Unity of Walnut Creek Earth Day worship service held on April 21, 2024. |
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