The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations
with Matthew Fox |
Be sure
to catch Matthew's newest social media channel on Bluesky! |
Week of 2/17-22/2005:
Evil vs. Courage & Spiritual Warriorhood 2/23/2025 |
As the impacts of the new regime 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. |
February 17, 2025: Alexei Navalny: More Courage, Sacrifice, Conscience, Spiritual Warriorhood
We are all called to be both prophets and
mystics. The mystic says “Yes” to Life; the prophet says “No” to injustice. Among the many from whom we can find inspiration is Alexei Navalny. In spite of being tortured during his incarceration, he never stopped fighting against Putin’s oligarchy. Yesterday was the first anniversary of his murder. Let’s remember Jesus’ words: Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.…Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your
reward in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. |
A year after his murder, the grave of Alexei Navalny is piled high with flowers
as pilgrims continue to visit. Wikimedia Commons. |
February 18, 2025: Evil on the March, Resistance Too?
We celebrate the courage of Alexei Navalny and those who carry on his legacy. Meanwhile, there are some examples in the U.S. of the
opposite of courage. Police in New York charged five men with torturing a trans person for several months and then murdering him. Three Rochester city council members report that hostility toward transgender people is rising. This does not sound like a “land of the free" or "the home of the brave.” Singling out trans people—a minority of a minority—hardly seems like a brave thing to do. It’s what bullies do—pick on those they think no one else will support. Fortunately, in
the face of this hate, resistance against our own fascist regime is rising. February 19, 2025: When
Presidents Celebrated the “Advancement of Human Nature”
Recently JD Vance visited Germany and, turning his back on the duly elected premier of Germany, visited instead the neo-Nazi party leader of AfD, a far-right political party. In an article in The Bulwark,* William Kristol writes: There have been plenty of presidents with whom many of us have disagreed…but there’s been nothing, at least in my experience, that’s challenged our basic pride in our own government until now. He cites Abraham Lincoln’s eulogy of Senator Clay,
given in 1852, where he praised Clay for championing the “advancement…of human liberty, human right and human nature.” We need to tap into our moral outrage, exercise our conscience, and stand up and protest in whatever ways we can. In essence, we must advance human nature. February 20, 2025: Imam Muhsin Hendricks & Other Spiritual Warriors Among Us
Fortunately, along with the rise of rightwing fascists and oligarchs, we also have
many examples of courageous spiritual warriors. One is Muhsin Hendricks, a gay imam who ran a mosque in Cape Town as a safe haven for gay and other marginalized Muslims. Sadly, he was shot to death recently. In a documentary in 2022, when asked about the threats he faced, he responded this way: “The need to be authentic was greater than the fear to die.” How similar that is to something MLK, Jr. once said: “One must love something more than the fear of death if he is going to live.” A
parallel story of courage is unfolding in the U.S. as dozens of competent, experienced civil servants in the DOJ and other departments are leaving their jobs rather than violate the oaths they made to the Constitution. |
“Muhsin Hendricks: The World’s First Openly Gay Imam Killed in South Africa.” The
Indian Express offers a memorial to his life and legacy. |
February 21, 2025: Governor Pritzker Speaks Truth to All Americans
Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, gave a powerful State of the State address recently. Pritzker, who is
Jewish, spoke about how the Holocaust began with “a seed of distrust and hate and blame.” And he sees that seed in our own country right now when, for instance, the president who watches a plane go down in the Potomac and suggests—without facts or findings—that a diversity hire is responsible for the crash....The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems. If you think I’m overreacting
and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this: It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. He ends his speech thusly: Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage. So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let the ‘tragic spirit of despair’ overcome us when our country needs us the most. |
Illinois Gov. Pritzker drew parallels between Trump’s populist agenda and the rise of the Nazis prior to WWII in his State of the State budget address. Eyewitness News WTVO WQRF |
February 22, 2025: What If We Had Not Just a King But a Mad King?
Recently, the man who sits in the Oval Office referred to himself as a king. What if he were not just a king
but a MAD king? Would a mad king, for example, declare that Ukraine started the war with Russia (even though Russia invaded Ukraine)? Would a mad king end all environmental protections, further endangering the planet that he and the rest of us live on? How do we fight such madness? First, organize and protest. Phone your representatives and senators. Demand town halls. Second, stay grounded spiritually. Read the news but not overly much. And take care of yourself. Live
and breathe and pray and meditate and get outdoors and practice kindness and learn from the mystics. Third, find allies, find community. |
| 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. |
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. |
|
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 |
|
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew
Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our
deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register |
|
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.
“I am reading Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth by Matt Fox. He is one that fills my heart and mind for new life in spite of so much that is violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang. |
|
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 |
|
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. |
|
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 |
As
we enter this Lenten season—a time of reflection, reckoning, and renewal—we find ourselves at a crossroads unlike any other in recent history. Join Matthew Fox and fellow thought-leaders and activists Andrew Harvey, Mirabai Starr, Yvette Flunder, Adam Bucko, and Cameron Trimble in From Darkness to Dawn: Spiritual Courage and Political Action in the Age of MAGA, a 4-part series of transformational conversations, exploring the deep spiritual roots of this political moment and
uncovering pathways toward collective action, resilience, and renewal. Tuesdays, March 4, 11, 18, 25, 4-5:30 pm PT. Enroll HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he offers a guest lecture in the Creation Spirituality Communities course “Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: An Exploration of Evil” led by instructor Carolyn Million. Wednesdays, March 12– April 16, 4-6 pm 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 |
Matthew was recently interviewed by Sandie Sedgbeer on her program “What is Going OM,” about his book, “Trump and the MAGA Movement as AntiChrist.” Watch or listen HERE. |
|
Inspired by this post? Share your insights on BlueSky, Instagram, Universeodon, or Facebook using the hashtag #RevDrMatthewFox and tag Matt with @RevDrMatthewFox FOLLOW MATTHEW FOX: |
|
|
|
