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Creating Ceremony for
Ritual among Homeless Youth 07/26/2024 |
[FROM THE ARCHIVE: NOVEMBER 7, 2020] Continuing our reflections on the young, I offer this DM about creating rituals together. Many young people can be met and healed in deep ways by learning to create rituals that serve their needs. Not only the Cosmic Mass has revealed this to me
over the past 26 years, but also stories such as the one that follows. |
We
have been exploring for several months the primal question: What does it mean to be human? We have sought answers by meditating on the “10 C's” and we are now meditating on the last of the “C's,” Ceremony or
celebration or ritual. |
Authentic ceremonies recharge us, heal us, energize us, amaze us. They release our best capacities for compassion and service, for learning and teaching. They demarcate and honor beginnings and endings. They re-member and re-connect with the ancestors, ushering |
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them among us. They awaken us. It is through ceremony that the biggest stories, such as those of the universe itself or of our great ancestors, are most effectively carried on. Ceremony is part and parcel of the post-modern awareness, not least of all because it is so integral to
pre-modern consciousness. Adam and Taz took the youth to a Buddhist retreat center located on land outside the city. Giving them a day to acclimate to the new setting, so different from a noisy, bustling city, they then focused on the work of forgiveness. |
Profile of one Reciprocity Foundation retreat for homeless youth to the Buddhist Center called Dharma Drum. reciprocityfdn. | The goal, says Adam, was to teach…youth how to cultivate compassion for their perpetrators and to step out of victimhood and into a more empowering mind. The youth engaged in many simple rituals to initiate themselves into the
retreat— |
such as finding objects in nature that represented the people they wished to forgive—even if they didn’t believe that forgiveness was possible. Two days were spent reflecting, journaling and discussing how and why we need to forgive each other. Then all gathered at the lake and each
youth was invited to step into the water—and to release the objects representing people they were ready to forgive and to describe how it felt to let go of their pain and anger. And also how their suffering had helped them to grow. We felt they needed a ritual to remember that pain wakes us up and reminds us of the ways in which we need to grow as human beings. |
The ritual moved Adam: I was in awe as I watched each youth step into the lake and offer their forgiveness to people who had committed atrocious acts of violence upon their bodies and spirits. Their capacity for forgiveness was astounding—and |
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they seemed to grasp the ways in which their suffering was also a blessing in their lives. It was important that the youth not only participate in doing the ritual but in creating it; and that it was bodily; and in tune with the outdoor setting in nature. Such practices are a
powerful way to open the gateway for transformative experience. It is this kind of post-religious but deeply spiritual work that resonate with young people. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human, pp. 137f.
Also see Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation, pp. 137f.
Banner Image: Sunrise yoga. Photo by
Carl Newton on Unsplash
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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 |
What elements of
the ritual described here moves you to consider creating similar rituals? Do these stories and teachings on ritual underscore the gift that ceremony or ritual brings to the greater community? Have you seen young people awakened and healed and energized by ritual? |
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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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.
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Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478 Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, August 15, 4:00-5:30 pm PT.
Register HERE. 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. |
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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