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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox 

12/01/2024

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. 

A healthy man spends quality time with his children. Photo by Sebastián León Prado on Unsplash.

November 26, 2024: Hidden Spirituality of Men: A Word to My Brothers, Part II
The need for this letter to men is greater than ever because young men, especially, chose to vote for an election denier, a climate change denier, and a man who tried to overthrow our own government. Most men probably think that ministers, priests, and monks know how to do “this spirituality thing,” but that they don't. Actually, spirituality is about the wisdom we carry inside of ourselves: 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. We have to go deeper than talking about the weather or Super Bowl or stock market. Spirituality lives inside of us, and unfortunately, society does not reward us for “going there.”  

November 27, 2024: The Hidden Spirituality of Men: A Word to My Brothers, Part III
In Matthew’s book The Hidden Spirituality of Men, he speaks of ten archetypes, of which one is the hunter/gatherer. Says Matthew: Our species was full-time hunter-gatherer for 90% of its existence. So we have it in our DNA. But what are we hunting and gathering for today? A better job, mate, parking space? What if we took that energy and used it for more noble purposes? Another archetype is Father Sky. For a long time we were taught that the sky was inert, full of parts that are cold and dead. But now we know the sky is ALIVE, a new star is being born every 15 seconds! Another archetype is the Green Man, which represents our intimate relationship with nature and our generativity and creativity. The Green Man therefore defends Mother Earth. These are just a few of the metaphors of the healthy masculine that can nourish us at this critical time in human and planetary history. 

U.S. Representative John Lewis, an example of someone who lived the sacred masculine, poses for a photo with an activist at Black Lives Matter plaza in Washington DC. Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

November 28, 2024: A Prayer on Thanksgiving Day, 2024, a la Julian of Norwich
Matthew begins this DM: “This is surely the most difficult Thanksgiving of my 83 years of spinning around the sun.” One shudders and grieves and rages and fears about what is in store for America and the Earth…when an elected antichrist and serial liar…takes over the reins of government. To find the reasons for our thanks, we have to “seek the deepness,” as Julian of Norwich puts it. Let us give thanks for our existence, for Creation, the universe, the cosmos, the beauty of Mother Earth. For all the creatures, which Thomas Merton calls “saints.” For our ancestors. May we be an “original blessing,” bringing goodness into the holy circle of existence.

November 29, 2024: The Hidden Spirituality of Men: A Word to My Sisters
Matthew is following up on his letter to men with “a word to my sisters.” Women can play a very important role in helping men to reclaim their hidden spirituality. More than ever we need to criticize the models and metaphors in which we train our boys to be men. What serves a healthy Earth, for example? And healthy relationships? And how do we develop effective rites of passage? Toxic views of masculinity have prevailed in so many cultures since Patriarchy and Domination replaced Partnership as a cultural norm. (Language from Riane Eisler.) Both women and men have suffered from patriarchy.

“Is Male Dominance in Our DNA?" Amy McPhie Allebest traces the history and interviews Riane Eisler, founder of The Partnership Way. Breaking Down Patriarchy.

November 30, 2024: A Word To My Sisters, continued
If women truly love the men in their lives, they will want to assist them in their own liberation. Similarly, healthy men who love women are not threatened by their gains. Because all women have a masculine side, and all men a feminine, both genders may be unconsciously carrying around a toxic masculinity as a result of the matrix we’ve been living in for thousands of years. The archetypes of Father Sky, the hunter gatherer, the Green Man, and the spiritual warrior (not a soldier) can help us reclaim the values that matter as we revision our society. We are in this together—all genders, all races, all ages. Let’s create a healthier world.

Banner image: “Under the Rainbow – Optimism. The rainbow… is a magical symbol all over the world. It represents hope, luck, blessings, wealth and health and many more good things. The rainbow represents the contract between heaven (God) and earth (man) and the final union of the two. Psychologically the unification of Self and Ego.” Image by Hartwig HKD on Flickr.

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Recommended Reading

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

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.

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

Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond

Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book.
“What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.”  –Caroline Myss
Now also available as an audiobook HERE.

Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century

Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.
“This book gives strong, sterling, and unvarnished evidence that everything – everything – we ourselves become will affect what women after us may also become….This is a truly marvelous, useful, profound, and creative book.” ~~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism.

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.

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, 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.

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