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! |
The Unhappiness of Young
Adults World Over: A Scientific Study 07/22/2024 |
That pattern is that the young are usually happier than the adults. Scientists report being “shocked” by their findings. I will summarize the article here. While for generations, it was a mid-life crisis that marked the “low point” of peoples’ happiness, now it is young |
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adults. Studies show that, since around 2017, “Now, young adults (on average) are the least happy people. Unhappiness now declines with age, and happiness now rises with age.” This seems to be a global phenomenon found in rich and poor countries, democratic and non-democratic
countries, “irrespective of average earnings or GDP.” The results are similar in 145 countries, ranging “from Australia to Zimbabwe.” They even found a similar trend among populations of great apes. |
The Troubling Reality of the American Teenagers’ Mental Health. Video by TODAY. | In the United States, one in nine young women report “every day of their lives as being a bad mental health day.” For young men, the figure is one in
fourteen. Huge rises are being reported for young people “visiting mental health services, being hospitalized for self-harm, and even attempting suicide.” |
The scientists say they do not know the cause. Said one, “other than cell phones, I don’t have anything.” The global trends go back to 2011—long before Covid. And they continue even with the rise of more jobs and opportunities for young people. |
I came across this article at the same time that I was reading about a painting of a young man, created by Luca Signorelli around the year 1500, in the Orvieto Cathedral in Italy. An art historian commented on that painting this way. The figure depicted is the essence of youth. He has a capable body. He is full of expectation and optimism; he is eager and engaged. Everything else in the chapel he is surveying is about the end of life, about
death and pain, but the young man embodies the marvelous beginning of adulthood. He evokes the immense pleasure of being human on this earth.** |
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Is
there “an immense pleasure of being human on this earth” in today’s world? If not, why not? We will explore these questions in upcoming DMs. |
* Dr. Katie Spalding, Young People are Now So Unhappy That They've Changed a Fundamental Pattern Of Life, IFLScience.com,
July 16, 2024.
** Nicholas Fox Weber. Freud's Trip to Orvieto. New York: Bellevue Literary Press, (c) 2017.
See Matthew Fox, “Honoring the Child Within—Youth and the Cosmic Christ,” in The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, pp. 180-198.
And Fox, “The experience of God must not be restricted to the few or to the old,” in The Tao of Thomas
Aquinas, pp. 1-8.
And Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation.
Banner image: Homeless youth under a bridge in Vancouver, BC, 2009. Photographer unknown. Wikimedia Commons.
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| To view today's video, please click the image. You will be taken to today's post on the Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox website,
where you can see the meditation in a larger version and also view and post your Comments. In the sharing that follows, a kind of community is developing around the DM. If you can't reach today's post on the website directly, click HERE. If you can't reach Matthew's video on the website, try his Vimeo channel HERE. |
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 |
Are you surprised by this news that youth are unhappy around the world? How significant a happening is this, thus that a “fundamental pattern of life” is being ruptured and altered? |
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 Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and
action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author
of Anatomy of the Spirit |
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Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Authors Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox encourage us to use our talents in service of compassion and justice and to move beyond our broken systems–economic,
political, educational, and religious–discovering a spirituality that not only helps us to get along, but also encourages us to reevaluate our traditions, transforming them and in the process building a more sacred and just world. Incorporating the words of young activist leaders culled from interviews and surveys, the book provides a framework that is deliberately interfaith and speaks to our profound yearning for a life with spiritual purpose and for a better world.
“Occupy Spirituality is a powerful, inspiring, and vital call to embodied awareness and enlightened actions.”
~~ Julia Butterfly Hill, environmental activist and author of The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods |
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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 has created a narrative, for every parent, grandparent, both spiritual and
scientific, that is a gift for all elders who recognize their responsibility in initiating the young ones into the grandeur of existence." Cosmologist Brian Swimme, Author of Cosmogenesis and The Universe Story "Matthew Fox has given all of us, children included, a wondrous and enchanting view of creation
and all that humanity should aspire to." - Caroline Myss, Author of Anatomy of the Spirit and A Time for Grace |
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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 |
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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