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 meditation is below! |
My and My Brother’s Story
in Education 09/09/2024 |
Matthew’s new book exists
currently in audio (narrated by him) and in e-book format. We apologize to all those who have purchased an advance copy of the paperback book which we thought would be out by now. Apparently the colored pictures have contributed to a delay. We do expect its appearance any time now. Meanwhile, we recommend Matthew’s interview with Talia Baroncelli on TheAnalysis.news. Part II of that interview appears on Thursday this week. Thank you for your patience. |
Education has been at the heart of my vocation as a spiritual theologian. I intuited many years ago that one cannot teach spirituality in what I call a “European model of education,” i.e. with the rational brain alone. In 1974, because of the success of my first book on spirituality, On Becoming a Musical,
Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style (now called: Prayer: A Radical Response to Life), I was commissioned by the American Catholic bishops to make a study on education and spirituality. |
In indigenous cultures, bears have long been symbols of courage, strength and power, protection, curiosity, trust, spiritual power, harmony in nature, intuition, primal energy, and maternal love. Photo by Lorenzo Boldorini on Pexels. |
The method I chose was to study and visit all the decent-sounding programs then operating in America and give an assessment. In one school, a twenty-something student said to me, “we are studying the mystics but not how to be mystics ourselves.” My conclusion overall was that all the programs were lacking in teaching people how to be mystics and prophets, and that our model of education was largely to
blame. |
Learning to play boomwhackers teaches children tone, timing, and teamwork — and it’s FUN! Video by Unbeatable
Energy. | In 1975 I published my findings in a Catholic religious education journal called Living
Light, and proposed moving from religious to spirituality education. In it I offered a blueprint of what a more complete model of spiritual education would entail. That included stepping out of the rational brain exclusively, and doing daily circle dancing and art as meditation along with rational study, writing and debate. |
There must be a doing element, a practicing element, to spiritual education and art as meditation. Doing filled that need, whether it was dance or painting, clay or chant, photography or clowning, music or massage poetry or sculpture, etc. After all, science students have laboratory as well as intellectual classes. Why not spirituality? And thus was born ICCS, the Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality for 7 years at Mundelein College in Chicago; then for 12 years at Holy Names College in Oakland; and then for 9 years at the University of Creation Spirituality. The balance of intellectual work and intuitive work was integral to all the programs that I fathered in creation spirituality. |
I have spent my entire adult life teaching, designing and leading spirituality programs. Most were for adults (M.A. and D.Min. programs), but some were for children (one year I led a program for 10-year-olds) and for inner city teen-agers (the YELLAWE program: Youth and Elder Learning Laboratory for Ancestral Wisdom Education). |
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I
wrote books on education, including The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human, as well as a chapter on education in my book on The Reinvention of Work. My memoir on Confessions: The Making of a Postdenominational Priest contains my many escapades in education. My book Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet is also integral to a spiritual education. I give credit to my brother Tom for his educational practices that informed me along the way. Tomorrow we will begin to explore his book on edGe-ucation, a book that excites me which I received in the mail one week before he died. To be
continued. |
* G. Thomas Fox, on becoming edGe-ucated: how uncertainty can link the frontiers of expert inquiry to the education of all. Reykjavik: Bósala Stúdenta, 2024. See Matthew Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Postdenominational Priest, pp. 116f., 126-165, 327-362. See also Fox, The Reinvention of Work, pp.
169-189. And Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet. And Fox, Prayer: A Radical Response to
Life.
And Fox, Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election. Banner image: Building minds, hearts, bodies, and community. Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash. |
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to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Queries for Contemplation |
Do you see education needing reinvention today? What are the elements you most want to see come to life? |
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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The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood For Our Time
Thomas Aquinas said, “To live well is to work well,” and in this bold call for the revitalization of daily work, Fox shares his vision of a world
where our personal and professional lives are celebrated in harmony–a world where the self is not sacrificed for a job but is sanctified by authentic “soul work.”
“Fox approaches the level of poetry in describing the reciprocity that must be present between one’s inner and outer work…[A]n important road map to social change.” ~~ National Catholic Reporter |
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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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Prayer: A Radical Response to Life How do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? Fox defines prayer as a radical response to life that includes our “Yes” to life
(mysticism) and our “No” to forces that combat life (prophecy). How do we define adult prayer? And how—if at all—do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, Prayer introduces a mystical/prophetic spirituality and a mature conception of how to pray. Called a “classic” when it first appeared,
it lays out the difference between the creation spirituality tradition and the fall/redemption tradition that has so dominated Western theology since Augustine. A practical and theoretical book, it lays the groundwork for Fox’s later works. “One of the finest books I have read on contemporary spirituality.” – Rabbi Sholom A. Singer |
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Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election
Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using the term “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s
rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline
Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine. |
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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 |
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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 |
Matthew Fox will make a guest appearance during the Creation Spirituality
Communities course, Creation Spirituality in a Time of Apocalypse. He will talk about his new book on the antichrist, which is an apocalyptic archetype. Join Theodore Richards, founder of the Chicago Wisdom Project and editor of the online Magazine/Podcast ReImagining as he takes us through 4 sessions exploring how Creation Spirituality can give birth to
new stories during times of upheaval. Dates: Sept 9, 16, 23, 30 from 7-9 PM ET. Cost: $150 per student. Register HERE. |
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Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, September 19, 4:00-5:30 pm PT.
Register HERE. |
ConvergenceCoLab hosts Matthew Fox, Margaret Wheatley, and Brian McLaren in an online conversation on “Post-Doom Spirituality," Wednesday, October 16, 6-8:30 PM ET. Register now with an EARLY BIRD rate of $30, HERE. |
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Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his two books, In the Beginning There was Joy and The Return of Father Sky, in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, October 17, 4:00-5:30 pm
PT.
Register HERE. |
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Creation Spirituality Conversations |
in part 1 of an in-depth interview titled "Trump and the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ," where Fox asserts
that the archetype applies to the darker side of MAGA and it's Christian-nationalist backers. |
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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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