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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox 

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12/21/2024

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The darkness of the solstice season and of Advent and of global warming and democracide in our time invite us to meditate on the Dark Night of our species.

In the darkness, it can be hard to find our way. Photo by Dan Ox on Flickr.

Here I call on our ancestor from the thirteenth century, Mechtild of Magdeburg. She was a member of the Beguine movement which was the women’s movement of the Middle Ages. She underwent a Dark Night and talks about it this way.

There comes a time when both body and soul enter into such a vast darkness that one loses light and consciousness and knows nothing more of God’s intimacy.
At such a time when the light in the lantern burns out the beauty of the lantern can no longer be seen.
With longing and distress we are reminded of our nothingness.

For many people November 5 was such a time. And even before that, the news of global warming and humanity facing its own extinction is like that.

“Mechthild of Magdeburg on Prayer.” 832existentialiste on YouTube

Mechtild continues:

At such a time I pray to God: ‘Lord, this burden is too heavy for me!’ And God replies: ‘I will take this burden first and clasp it close to Myself and that way you may more easily bear it.’ But still I feel that I can bear

no longer the wounds God has given me, unanointed and unbound. I am hunted, captured, bound, wounded so terribly that I can never be healed. God has wounded me close unto death…..

I receive correspondence that many people are undergoing experiences like this today. Mechtild goes on:

Lord, I will tear the heart of my soul in two and you must lay therein. You must lay yourself in the wounds of my soul.
I am ill and I long deeply for the health-giving draught which Jesus Christ himself drank. And he drank of it so deeply that he was on fire with love.
God replied: I wish always to be your physician, bringing healing anointment for all your wounds.

Mechtild continues:

From suffering I have learned this: That whoever is sore wounded by love will never be made whole unless she embrace the very same love which wounded her.
Life without sorrow would be fool’s folly. That is why God Himself took this path, one of sorrow and pain. God shows us that it is still a wonderful, noble, and holy way. Only one without great guilt or sin suffers pain.

Having befriended nothingness, Mechtild, like Gandhi, links it directly to the service of neighbor. The darkness taught her this lesson:

Love the nothing, flee the self.
Stand alone, seek help from no one.
Let your being be quiet,
be free from the bondage of all things.
Free those who are bound,
Give exhortation to the free.
Care for the sick, but dwell 

"Love Flows from God – Mechtild of Magdeburg.” Bishop Fintan Monahan

alone.
When you drink the waters of sorrow you shall kindle the fire of love
with the match of perseverance—this is the way to dwell in the desert.*

Sue Woodruff, Meditations with Mechtild of Magdeburg, pp. 60-70.

See Matthew Fox, Original Blessing, pp. 27, 43, 48, 58, 64, 69, 88, 108, 115. 139f., 142, 145, 148f., 151, 155, 162, 178, 198f., 203, 205, 213, 221f., 233, 242, 248, 271, 274, 278, 283, 287, 291, 293.

See Matthew Fox, Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations, pp. 61-74.

See Matthew Fox, “Liberated and Liberating Sisters: Meister Eckhart Meets Dorothee Soelle, the Beguines Mechtild of Magdeburg and Marguerite Porete, and Julian of Norwich,” in Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, pp. 77-96.

Banner image: Dark Night with Moon. Photo by Cynthia Greb. Used with permission.

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Queries for Contemplation

Do you find insight and support for traversing the Dark Night and “dwelling in the desert” and doing service from these teachings from Mechtild?  What especially speaks to you?

Recommended Reading

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

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.

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

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. 
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Creation Spirituality Conversations

Hear a conversation between Matthew and Ana Otero of The Desert Rose Mystery School in "Mystical Pathways. A Sacred Talk with Matthew Fox, founder of the Creation Spirituality Movement."

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