The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Watch for Matthew Fox's video meditation -- now appearing every Monday! |
bell hooks & Others
on Beauty, Politics,
and Justice 8/2/2024 |
[FROM THE ARCHIVE: JUNE 2, 2023] In yesterday’s DM we continued our meditations on the Opening Ceremony of this year’s Olympic Games in Paris. We also addressed the mistaken understanding of a scene depicting a Dionysian Grecian feast and not—as reported—the Last Supper. (American TV
for some reason left out the key character in that depiction.) |
Also, we cited a major insight from bell hooks about the “next (and non-violent) revolution” which she predicted would be an “aesthetic one” that would bring humanity together. Beauty and excellence and sport and art can do that—if we allow that and |
Grunge reports on the global furor that has erupted due to religious misinterpretation of a tableau in the Paris Olympics opening
ceremony. |
not war to fill our minds and hearts. In recognition of bell hooks’ wisdom, we offer this meditation from a previous DM. Clearly, she is not alone in her insight. |
The
awakening to beauty and awakening to justice often go together. After all, what is more ugly than injustice? The injustice being perpetrated in Uganda, for example, where just yesterday a gay person was beaten practically to death by several citizens acting on recent presidential and congressional declarations condemning
homosexuality as a crime against the state—is that not just plain ugly? |
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| And what is more beautiful than the organizing of moral outrage and overthrowing of systems of injustice that raged when colonialism ruled in India or Jim Crow laws ruled in America or a dictator ruled in the Philippines? |
No wonder Gandhi said, “real beauty is my aim.” And "those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means." Gandhi was not alone in connecting beauty and justice, beauty and politics. Audre Lorde put it this way: The dichotomy between the spiritual and the political is false, resulting from an incomplete attention to our erotic knowledge. For the bridge which connects them is formed by the erotic….the passion of love in its deepest meanings. |
In an article on postmodern blackness, bell hooks proposes that the “next revolution will be a revolution in aesthetics” and it is aesthetics that will bring the “black underclass” and others in society together. |
bell hooks tells the story of her first meeting with Thich Nhat Hanh. Lion’s Roar. |
Arturo Paoli was an Italian priest who during the Second World War worked overtime to save Jews from the fascists. He lived to be 102, and in a book he wrote in 1997, he said: To be religious is to give your life so that the world may be more beautiful, more just, more at peace; it is to
prevent egotistical and self-serving ends from disrupting this harmony of the whole. There is a harmony of the whole. The universe is such a harmony. Earth is such a harmony. Human communities ought to be such harmonies. |
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| Simone Weil proposed that beauty constitutes the only finality here below…. Beauty is eternity here below. Buddhist poet Kenji Mayasawa said: We ordinary people must forge our own beauty. We |
must set fire to the greyness of our labor with the art of our own lives. In this kind of creation, every day becomes a pure enjoyment. Yes. Beauty and justice go together. Balance and harmony, justice and beauty are built into the macrocosm of the universe and the
microcosm of human communities. If we work at it. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality, pp. 293, 278, 201, 229, 202.
Also see Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times, pp. 101-108.
See also Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: Mercy, Justice, Beauty – LGBTQ+ banners at Old South Church, Boston, MA, USA. Photo by Jonathan Deamer on Wikimedia Commons. |
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See Matthew's video reflection from the Archive 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 are your experiences of beauty and justice in microcosm and macrocosm going together? |
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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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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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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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 |
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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