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Elder and Youth
Interacting on Holiness and More 07/25/2024 |
[FROM THE ARCHIVE: MAY 23, 2020] Along with the dramatic presidential news of this week, we have been meditating on the subject of the depression of young adults found around the world according to recent scientific studies. In the next three DM’s we will reach back to consideration of youth and spirituality. Today’s DM concerns an encounter of this elder with a young man a few years ago who took to heart the meaning of “Original Blessing” in the story I relate below. We have stayed in touch since this original encounter and he is close to graduating with a PhD thesis in
process currently. |
We have been discussing art, creativity and healing in a time of pandemic in our most recent Daily Meditations. A story about my own work and creativity occurred this weekend when I had the privilege to dialog on video with Jaih-Hunter Hill. Jaia is a 27-year-old Apple product design
engineer with an engineering degree from |
Jaih Hunter-Hill. Photo from LinkedIn. |
Stanford University. We first met at a Sierra Club gathering last Fall when I was invited to speak on Pope Francis’s encyclical on the Environment, “Laudato Si” (which was written in great part by a graduate of my Master’s program in Creation Spirituality). Two scientists were also speaking on the environmental crisis and Joanna Macy, having just celebrated her 90th birthday, also showed up and offered powerful words of hope and
inspiration. During a break in the event Jaih came up to me and introduced himself as being genuinely excited about my book Original Blessing. As a writer, it is always fun to learn that someone—especially a young person–has derived some benefit from one’s work and equally fun to learn what part of one’s writing
has moved another. |
Holy hospitality: “Dorothy Day and the Holy Family of the Streets.” Painting by iconographer Kelly Latimore. Published with permission; to purchase, click HERE. | This weekend Jaih and I interacted in a video exchange where he went into greater depth about what moved him in Original Blessing. One topic that impacted him was “holiness as Cosmic Hospitality.” It turns out that Jaih loves to cook and create hospitality and took immediately to the teaching
that this work of his was a spiritual |
practice. Recent scholarship reveals that it was central to the work and teaching of the historical Jesus as well. In the book I cite Simone Weil who warns that …today it is not nearly enough to be a saint, but we must have the saintliness demanded by the present moment, a new saintliness, itself is without precedent. Holiness is a word worth retrieving. One of the most telling questions that can be asked
about a period’s spirituality is, what is its understanding of holiness? A people’s grasp of what constitutes holiness will affect its entire way of living, questioning, celebrating. |
I
reject the fall/redemption definition of holiness as “perfection” and this for psychological reasons (Otto Rank called perfectionism “a disease”); and for feminist reasons–poet Adrianne Rich warns us: Let us return to imperfection’s school
No longer wandering
after Plato’s ghost. |
The Japanese philosophy of Wabi-sabi rejects the pursuit of perfection and embraces the reality of imperfection. Einzelgänger |
Patriarchy countenances perfectionism. In nature, beauty and imperfection abound together. Every tree is beautiful–but also imperfect. Theologically, we need to realize that the Greek word in Matthew’s gospel often translated as “perfect” actually means “ripe” or “come to
maturity.” Furthermore, in the parallel passage in Luke’s gospel the word is “compassion.” Having criticized the dominant definition of holiness as perfection, I propose that holiness consists in hospitality–cosmic hospitality. Creation has been laid out for us as a banquet. God is a host; we are
guests. Through the Incarnation God becomes a guest and ourselves hosts. Jesus offers an “eschatological abundance” that the prophets envisioned. (Amos 9:13-15) |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Original Blessing, pp. 108-117.
Banner Image: Grandfather and Grandson: “The Favorite.” Painting by Georgios Jakobides, 1890. Wikimedia Commons.
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See Matthew's YouTube video reflection for this archived meditation 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 |
Do you learn and feel blessed when people respond to your work and your creativity? Reflect on those moments of interaction and the gratitude the arouse in you.
What is your definition of “holiness”? |
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. "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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HERE |
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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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