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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox 

12/02/2024

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. 

One of the first prayers Sister Jose ever taught me was the Prayer to the Four Directions. It offers an excellent way to begin each day within a healthy context—creation itself—the cosmos. It puts the cosmos as the setting for our lives, connecting the psyche to the cosmos, thus deepening the Self and not just the self.

Seneca elder, Sister Jose Hobday. Beloved teacher at ICCS at Holy Names and at UCS.

It heals the narcissism of the modern consciousness wherein humanity (including religion) begins with itself and not creation. It is creation that birthed us and nourishes us every day of our lives. This is one reason I love the pre-modern mystics—because they too begin with the cosmos and not the self.

Sister Jose was a beloved teacher at ICCS at Holy Names College and then the University of Creation Spirituality. We also led retreats and workshops together. When I was silenced for a year and then expelled from the Dominican Order after 34 years, she continued to stand up for me and the work of creation spirituality. She took a lot of flak from right wing Catholics and hierarchy for doing so, including having lectures cancelled and more. 

She was a woman of integrity—and strength. Very few public figures in the church at that time dared to 1) support me publicly and 2) endure the flak she did. Her courage speaks to the depth of her spirituality as much as others’ timidity spoke to the shallowness of theirs.

Here is the Prayer of the Four Directions as she taught it to me. One does not read this, nor pray it in identical words each time one prays. One prays from the heart, not from the eyes.

“Song For The Sacred Elements – Chenoa Egawa & Alex Turtle.” Swan Clan

Stand and face the North. “Oh, spirits and angels of the North, where fierce storms come from. Come to us and give us strength and courage. Teach us to be strong like the buffalo who turns and faces the fierce winds and storms head on. Come, spirits and angels of the North.”

Face the East. “Oh, spirits and angels of the East where the sun rises every day. Bring light into our hearts and minds so we may also resurrect every morning, acknowledging new life and creativity and renewed hope every day. Come, spirits and angels of the East.”

Face the South. “Oh, spirits and angels of the South where the sun shines the hottest. Bring warmth into our hearts and friendships and all our relations. Come, spirits and angels of the South.”

Face the West. “Oh, spirits and angels of the West, where the sun sets every night. Teach us to be at home in the dark and in the silence of the night, and teach us to let go and to trust as we sink into the unknown and await the sun rising tomorrow. Come spirits and

Sunset over the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Photo by Cynthia Greb. Used with permission.

angels of the West."

Look Up to Father Sky. “Come, spirits and angels from above. Teach us to fly high with the eagle and so, seek wisdom and perspective in life. Come, spirits and angels from above.”

Look Down. “Come, spirits and angels from below. Where all plants find their roots in Mother Earth. Teach us to remain grounded and thankful for the Earth, our Mother, and to treat her with respect. Come, spirits and angels from below.”

Cross hands on the Heart. “Come, spirits and angels from all six directions, into our hearts. Gather in our hearts and make them full with blood that is red, full of energy and flowing with love, gratitude and generosity. Aho. Amen.” 

See Matthew Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-denominational Priest, pp. 135, 143f., 153, 157, 313, 331f., 382.

See Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.

And Fox, On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style (also known as Prayer: A Radical Response to Life).

Banner image: Banner image; “This is an example of the Medicine Wheel that is being used as a pedagogical tool in First Nations and New Age groups.” Wikimedia Commons

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Queries for Contemplation

Do you pray a Prayer to the Four Directions? How does this empower you to live your day beyond just the human agenda and to be sustained more fully for the work at hand?

Recommended Reading

Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition)

Matthew Fox’s stirring autobiography, Confessions, reveals his personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring added perspective in light of the author’s continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in church, society and the environment.
“The unfolding story of this irrepressible spiritual revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the heart — must reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self

Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth

Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.

Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
How do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? Fox defines prayer as a radical response to life that includes our “Yes” to life (mysticism) and our “No” to forces that combat life (prophecy). How do we define adult prayer? And how—if at all—do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, Prayer introduces a mystical/prophetic spirituality and a mature conception of how to pray. Called a “classic” when it first appeared, it lays out the difference between the creation spirituality tradition and the fall/redemption tradition that has so dominated Western theology since Augustine. A practical and theoretical book, it lays the groundwork for Fox’s later works.
“One of the finest books I have read on contemporary spirituality.” – Rabbi Sholom A. Singer

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.

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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