The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
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Some Testimonies To Tom
Fox & His Vocation as an Educator 09/12/2024 |
NOTE: With days ticking down to 11/5, Matthew Fox’s urgent new book turns the Anti-Christ archetype into a searing device for understanding the deeper stakes in the 2024 election. For immediate access to Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book
with 10 full-color prints from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. To receive the limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order
from MatthewFox.org. |
First, I want to thank those many readers who sent their prayers and condolences about the death of my brother, Tom Fox, whose book, published shortly before his death, I am sharing in excerpts this week. Your support means a lot to me. He lived a full and productive life as is clear from the
comments I show in today’s DM. |
As it turned out, four days after Tom died, my other older brother, Nat Fox, also died. Nat’s field was engineering, and he contributed much, including 80 patented inventions and a company called Geopier which helped implement
them (see his accomplishments in the Iowa State University College of Engineering Hall of Fame page honoring him HERE). I am two years younger than Nat and three years younger than Tom. Nat too lived a full and creative life and loved his four children and two step- |
Matthew Fox’s brother Nathaniel S. Fox. Portrait from the Iowa State University College of Engineering Hall of Fame page. |
children and wife Lily whom he leaves behind. I wish to close my 3-day meditation on science, education, and spirituality offered up by Tom Fox with some responses to his book, on becoming edGe-ucated: how uncertainty can link the frontiers of expert inquiry to the education of all. W. Nikola-Lisa, Christopher Award winning author of How We Are Smart: A Multicultural Look at the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, compares Fox’s book to Thomas Kuhn’s iconoclastic On the Structure of Scientific
Revolutions. He says: Fox’s ideas about education based on more than 50 years of experience, are nothing short of earth-shattering. Like Kuhn, Fox offers a paradigmatic shift in our thinking, urging us to look more
deeply at the nature of knowledge and how we acquire it. The result: a truly revolutionary, as well as much-needed 21st century vision of education. From Dr. Sue Hansen, Consultant to Action Research Leadership Institute, Chicago Foundation for
Education: |
G. Thomas Fox, Matthew’s brother, with his book, on becoming edGe-ucated: how uncertainty can link the frontiers of expert inquiry to the education of all. Photo from the personal collection of Matthew Fox. | In addition to giving fascinating insight from an unorthodox career, Tom Fox’s wonderful book validates the complex and difficult work of good teachers—those who wish to prepare their students for the changing
and challenging world of today—and at the same time indicates new directions for teacher preparation. Olafur J. Proppe, former Rector of the Iceland University of Education and Jon Torfi Jonasson, former dean of the school of Education, University of Iceland: |
In his book, Fox explains thoroughly and with various examples the concept of ‘edGe-ucation’ and how it differs from ‘education’ as often practiced in schools. The book is enlightening and provocative, but also a pleasant and important read for the development of both education and educational research. The day Tom died, I had a long-standing dinner date with a woman who was in town from NYC. I told her of his death and how he had taught at National Louis University and she told me she attended school there in 1993 and had one exceptional teacher who
thoroughly changed her life. When I shared a picture of my brother the following day, she said, “That was he! It was Tom Fox and I will forever be grateful for his presence in my life. I loved our long conversations and how he challenged me to think and feel for myself before advocating for others. He challenged my very way of viewing life and personal purpose.” |
Yesterday, I received a correspondence from Marianne Grosspietsch, a German humanitarian activist who has worked for years with orphans and children with leprosy in Kathmandu, Nepal. On reading my DMs on Tom, she wants to plant a tree in his honor at their school. She writes: In your obituary you painted such a beautiful picture of a highly inspiring educator… all his students will certainly feel vividly reminded of their admirable teacher and his |
Marianne Grosspietsch lights a candle with prayers for compassion and justice to prevail in the U.S. on Election Day. Photo by Marianne Grosspietsch |
wonderful teaching methods. His phantasy, his inspiring ideas, his respect of the individuality of his students…you describe all this with such loving admiration and vivacity that you made me think, that I met him personally. On a plaque near the tree will be this inscription: “Tom Fox, the inspiring educator: May his
teaching continue to motivate young people to explore the beauty of our creation.” For my part, my knowing Tom and reading his book is a great gift. He was a man with a vast spirit born of a curiosity to know and love the world whether by way of science, mathematics, religion, sports, art, or sharing of minds. His was a
search for wisdom and rendering it real to younger generations through a revolution in education. I am proud of my older brother and pleased to see his life’s work wrapped up in this book and in the many lives he touched on two, now three continents. Education needs a radical reinvention and his is for thirsty souls
everywhere. |
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 know teachers and educators in your life to whom you are deeply indebted? What are the best way you have found to thank them and carry on their spirit work? |
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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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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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 |
Talia Baroncelli interviews Matthew Fox on The Analysis 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 its 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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