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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Mystics, Lovers, Warriors, Community, Work as Love 2/11/2025 |
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. |
We are considering the role of the mystic in a time of unraveling of order and therefore a time of despair. And how the mystic lays the groundwork for the spiritual warrior or prophet in all of us. “The prophet is the mystic in action,” observed William Hocking. |
Yesterday we considered John of the Cross’s poem on the Dark Night. In another poem, “Deep Rapture: Rimes after an ecstasy of profound contemplation,” John offers a refrain at the end of each of nine stanzas. That refrain is: burst the mind’s barrier (toda sciencia tracendiendo). |
Exiled from his homeland for his vocal opposition to the Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh continued spreading his prophetic message of non-violence and reconciliation worldwide. 3MV |
Mystical love breaks through the rational brain to a bigger one, an intuitive and imaginative one that can imagine what is not yet and whose passion for justice and compassion burns and refuses to surrender or yield to despair. Jesus and the prophets call that the “kingdom of God”–a field where justice and
truth, beauty and love rule. And where lies, injustice, despair, greed and ugliness are banished. Or, like Dr. King’s speech, “I have a dream.” A dream of a beloved community. Thus, hope. Add to this gift from the mystics the definition of hope from eco- philosopher David Orr: “Hope is a verb
with the sleeves rolled up.” Hope and work go together. Our work is hope just as our work is prayer. Hope not just for ourselves but for others as well. For the community. |
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| The word “community” comes from the two Latin words cum and munio which means: To do work together. Sharing a common work.
“Love, it’s all I do,” said John of the Cross. Can we say that too? Is all our
work and expression of building common community and a beloved one |
that can endure because it is founded on truth and justice? And not on lies and greed that feed injustice? Work or the Via Transformativa comes to the rescue to resist and shout danger and gather allies and speak the truth and do the truth in the name of compassion and justice which are, for
the mystics, the very names of Divinity. Consider how Julian of Norwich, while living through the dreadful and fear-filled bubonic plague, yet wrote from her heart: |
God is the goodness in nature. God is the same thing as nature. God is the very essence of nature. Grace and nature are all aspects of a single goodness and where one operates, all are operating with us. God will refill what is lacking and restore us with the action of mercy and grace, which will abundantly pour into us from Divinity’s own natural goodness. |
“It Ain’t Much, But It’s Honest Work.” American farmer David Brandt, known for his humble voice for sustainable agriculture techniques, specifically no-till farming and cover crops. Wikimedia Commons. |
All things will be well, every manner of thing will be well. Clearly, mystics do hold medicine in a time of despair, just as Elliot observed. And awaken the “big heart”–courage (coeur large)–and spiritual-warrior energy to do battle with forces of lies and injustice, evil or
antichrist. T.S. Eliot was right: The mystics do challenge despair. |
*The Poems of St. John of the Cross translated by John Frederick
Nims, pp. 25-28.
See Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond, pp. 22f., 101f., 96-99.
And Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Times.
And Fox, Trump and The
MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election.
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.
And Matthew Fox, “Spiritual Warriors” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp.
77-104.
And Fox, “Spiritual Warriorhood,” in Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Faith Traditions, pp. 404-422.
And Fox, Skylar Wilson, Jen Lustig, Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action.
Banner Image: “Wells Fargo Defund Keystone XL Line 3” Hundreds gathered to unfurl banners and paint a giant street mural at the Wells Fargo World HQ, San Francisco Financial District, April 2021. Photo by Peg Hunter on Flickr. | For a list of organizations helping those affected by the devastating LA wildfires, please see this article from ABCNews HERE and the evolving AltadenaStrong hub page 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 |
How has exposure to the mystics helped you move beyond despair and to create communities that lift you up? And that inspires your work for the common good? |
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.
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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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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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Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling
author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
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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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One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more
than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully
express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit |
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Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Listug
In the midst of global fire, earthquake and flood – as species are going extinct every day and national and global economies totter – the planet doesn’t need another church or religion. What it needs is a new Order, grounded in the Wisdom traditions of both East and West, including science and indigenous. An Order of the Sacred Earth united in one sacred vow: “I promise to be the best lover and defender of
the Earth that I can be.”
Co-authored by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Berit Listug, with a forward by David Korten, this collection of essays by 21 spiritual visionaries including Brian Swimme, Mirabai Starr, Theodore Richards, and Kristal Parks marks the founding of the diverse and inclusive Order of the Sacred Earth, a community now evolving around the world.
“The Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way.” ~~ Joanna Macy, environmental activist and author of Active Hope. |
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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 |
Join Matthew Fox for an Evening Dialogue: Matthew Fox and John Philip Newell, a livestream event hosted by Earth and Soul. Wednesday, February 12, 7:30-8:30 MT. Register HERE. |
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Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice, in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, February 20, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth, in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, March 20, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. MONTHLY: Join Matthew Fox 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 |
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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