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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The Hidden Spirituality
of Men: A Word to My Brothers, part II 11/26/2024 |
As the results of the election ripple out, learn the deeper stakes involved. Get your copy of Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election today! Choose your format in the book block below. |
I am sharing a letter I wrote 17 years ago to my brother men as part of our reflection on finding the healthy masculine. The need for this hit me hard with the latest election results, where young men especially chose an election denier and global warming denier and instigator of attacking a democratic ritual of counting electors on January 6, 2020. |
We left off with the following observation: I talk of the hidden spirituality of men because I think most of us have a kind of inferiority complex when it comes to spirituality. We think some minister or preacher, some pope or monk, some professional
pray-er |
From the ‘Bro Vote’ to political action, Gen Z students in San Antonio Catholic and Christian colleges weigh in on the election. KSAT
12‘s Sarah Acosta reports. |
knows all about spirituality and we are just novices kneeling to hear their wisdom and kiss their ring. While we can hope that our ‘professional pray-ers’ know something about spirituality, that is not the point. The point is that spirituality (unlike much
organized religion) is about the wisdom we all carry inside of us: The dreams, the aspirations, the yearning of soul, the ability to let go, to forgive, to move on, to struggle, to survive, to care, to be strong, to honor what is beautiful and what matters. |
U.S. Representative John Lewis poses for a photo with an activist at Black Lives Matter plaza in Washington DC Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash. | We all carry these things inside us. We have all tasted the Divine—maybe it was on a camping trip out at night with the stars; maybe while studying the history of our people; or nature; maybe it was in making music or dancing or making love; or in organizing for worker’s rights or civil rights. Wherever the best of us has been called forward, that |
is
where Spirit dwells. And it dwells and works in each of us. But we have to dig to access it. We have to go deeper than talk about the weather or the Mets or the A’s or the Super Bowl or the stock market to get down to where spirituality truly lives and breathes inside of us. For it is hidden. We are not
rewarded for “going there.” For going down. We have to change our ways. We have to want to find the hidden parts of ourselves. Otherwise, how will we change? How will our species change? How will our species survive if we don’t become hunter gatherers for the best in
ourselves? |
It is from this depth that our creativity will come alive and we will find ways to create alternative energies and more participatory politics and more fair economics and more ways to grow and distribute food and alternatives to war and more ways to celebrate life. |
“57 Years Apart – A Boy And a Man Talk About Life.” Facts. |
Our depths are often hidden even from ourselves. But they are there. We all carry depths within us. We need to remove the veils in order to uncover what is in us. How do we do that? I propose ten metaphors that are very ancient, so ancient that they live in us as archetypes,
that is as universal names of traits all of us carry within us. I have just named one of those archetypes—that of hunter-gatherer. To be continued. |
Matthew Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine.
And Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times.
And Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times.
And Fox, Christian Mystics: 365 Readings and Meditations.
And Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality.
Banner Image: Men enjoying the mountains together. Photo by Anand Thakur on Unsplash | A Caring Note from the DM Team: The results of the U.S. election are affecting us all in a variety of ways, and challenging times certainly lie ahead. If the burden becomes overwhelming, we urge you, please, to seek support. Here are a few resources that
can help: National Helpline for essential services: 211 or 211.org National Suicide/Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Veterans Crisis
Line: 1-800-273-8255 LGBTQ Youth Lifeline: Call 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678678. Trans Lifeline: Call 877-565-8860 National Sexual Assault Hotline: Call
800-656-4673 |
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 |
A Native American prison chaplain told me he was looking for 12 years for a book that would get men in prison to “look inside” and find the “nobility inside.” And that he found it in this book on ten archetypes of the sacred masculine. Do you “find the nobility inside” and assist others to do so? |
The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an
ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental relationship with nature, to the Spiritual Warrior….These timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to connect to their deepest selves and to reinvent the world.
“Every man on this planet should read this book — not to mention every woman who wants to understand the struggles, often unconscious, that shape the men they know.” — Rabbi Michael
Lerner, author of The Left Hand of God |
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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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Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time
While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises.
Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others.
“Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a
post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of
Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward |
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Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
As Matthew Fox notes, when an aging Albert Einstein was asked if he had any regrets, he replied, “I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life.” The 365 writings in
Christian Mystics represent a wide-ranging sampling of these readings for modern-day seekers of all faiths — or no faith. The visionaries quoted range from Julian of Norwich to Martin Luther King, Jr., from Thomas Merton to Dorothee Soelle and Thomas Berry.
“Our world is in crisis, and we need road maps that can ground us in wisdom, inspire us to action, and help us gather our talents in service of
compassion and justice. This revolutionary book does just that. Matthew Fox takes some of the most profound spiritual teachings of the West and translates them into practical daily mediations. Study and practice these teachings. Take what’s in this book and teach it to the youth because the new generation cannot afford to suffer the spirit and ethical illiteracy of the past.” — Adam Bucko, spiritual activist and co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation for Homeless
Youth. |
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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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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. 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 HERE. To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE. To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE. Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download. |
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The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages
The second book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series, The Return of Father Sky helps boys and girls to celebrate a new relationship with the masculine by way of Father
Sky, whose return excites joy and wonder and possibility that enlarge the soul to welcome others and all creation. Written in a rhyming Dr. Seuss-like style, this full-color, beautifully illustrated book, written by world- renowned theologian Matthew Fox weaves together modern science and classic spirituality in a whimsical, entertaining format to illustrate important truths to readers aged 4 and up. 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. |
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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 and cosmologist Brian Thomas Swimme in a new 7-week live video course hosted by The Shift Network: “The 4 Paths of Creation Spirituality: Embracing Awe, Chaos, Creativity & Transformation With the Universe as Your Guide.” Tuesdays, December 3 –
January 28 (except Dec 24 and 31), 5:00pm - 6:30pm PT Register HERE. |
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Join Matthew Fox, Rev. Nóirín Ní Riain, and celebrated Irish performers Owen Ó Súilleabháin, and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin in an Interfaith Advent celebration of Irish sacred music and storytelling to honor the varied Festivals of Light and explore the mysteries they reveal. Saturday, December 7, 9:00am – 11:00am PT. Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox for an on-site and online Advent Retreat titled “A Great Coming: Creation Spirituality and the Renewal of Religion, Humanity and Holy Mother Earth,” hosted by Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles. Saturday, 12/14, 9 AM -5 PM; Sunday, 12/15, 9-11 AM.
Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his two children’s books, Father Fox's Fantastical
Fables – In the Beginning There was Joy and The Return of Father Sky in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, online. December 19, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT Register HERE. |
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Creation Spirituality Conversations |
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