The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations
with Matthew Fox |
Don't miss Matthew's exciting upcoming webinars, courses, and
a Cosmic Mass, listed at the bottom of this DM! |
“Christian Nationalism”—and Its Opposite: Join Me Saturday Morning 3/15/2025 |
As the impact of the current regime ripples out, learn the deeper stakes involved. Get your copy of Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ today! Choose your format in the book block below. |
In yesterday’s DM, I shared the very disturbing news about young MAGA followers who declared “Christian nationalism as a good alternative” to American democracy. Actually, there is nothing “Christian” in the authentic sense of that word about so-called “Christian nationalism.” Selling hatred is not in any way what Jesus was about. |
It is true that Christian history has a lot to apologize for when empires (Spanish, Portuguese, English, American) ravaged indigenous cultures and religions around the globe often in the name of Christ and sometimes inspired to do so by the papal “Bulls of |
Baptist leader speaks out: ‘Christian nationalism is not Christianity.’ CNN |
Discovery” (now rescinded and apologized for by Pope Francis). Or the shameful church endorsement of slavery over the centuries. |
“Christian nationalism” is an extension of such opprobrious and racist and hate-filled ideologies. Many so-called Christian churches in Hitler’s time surrendered Christ’s teachings for his vision of a Third Reich. This reality is what Lutheran theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was standing up to, after all, and he paid the ultimate price for resisting. |
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| Just recently I discovered a talk by Rabbi Abraham Heschel given to a gathering of 2000 Roman Catholics at a national liturgy conference held in Milwaukee in 1969.* In his talk, Heschel brought up a fact about the
Auschwitz death camps. He said: It is with shame and anguish that |
I recall that it was possible for a Roman Catholic church adjoining the extermination camp in Auschwitz to offer communion to the officers of the camp, to people who day after day drove thousands of people to be killed in the gas-chambers. |
Let there be an end to the separation of church and God, of sacrament and callousness, of religion and justice, of prayer and compassion.... Prayer must never be a citadel for selfish concerns, but rather a place for deepening concerns over other people’s plight….Prayer is meaningless unless it…seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods. What he spoke about in 1969 at a large Roman Catholic gathering, remembering the dark times of Nazi dominance and religion’s failures to resist, applies to our dark times as well. Christian nationalism is not Christ, it is antichrist. |
Speaking of a healthy Christianity and a Real Jesus, I am appearing in a dialogue with Steve Dinan of the Shift Network on Saturday to discuss the mysticism of the Real Jesus as well as our own mysticism. A mysticism and |
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love of life that gives birth to the prophet (or spiritual warrior) in us all. |
What is this thing called “Christianity” that is the opposite of this thing called “Christian nationalism”? What are the teachings of Jesus that support a deeper spiritual awakening and potential collective shift, reminding us of the value in saying “yes” to life as we embrace our inner mystic, prophet, and sacred calling to nurture and express the life-giving qualities of our humanity — compassion, wisdom, equality, and
joy? Our understanding of Jesus has often been distorted by overemphasizing dogma and underemphasizing experience. Mysticism is the experiential side of healthy religion that leads to a Yes for existence and love and truth and justice. The conversation is free of charge and you can Register here to reserve your spot. |
PLEASE NOTE: In March 12th's DM, we mistakenly said that Musk "paid $188 billion to buy a place in the White House." That number should have been $188 million. *Abraham Joshua Heschel, “On Prayer,” The Open Siddur Project, 1969. See Matthew Fox, Prayer: A Radical Response to Life. And Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ. And Fox, “The God of Awe, Wonder, Radical Amazement, and Justice: Meister Eckhart Meets Rabbi Heschel,” in Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, pp. 1-14. And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society. And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with
Social Justice.. And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
And Fox, Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations.
Banner image: “US flag pattern painted on wooden cross: a clear expression of Christian Nationalism.” Photo by Gilbert Mercier 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 |
What are your feelings about “Christian Nationalism” in our country today? And your understanding around the real and mystical and prophetic Jesus as teacher of compassion and justice? |
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 |
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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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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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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 |
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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 |
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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. |
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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 The Mysticism of Christ: Experiencing the Sacred Teachings of Jesus for Spiritual Awakening, a free video event with Matthew Fox, Saturday, March 15 at 10am PT. Register for free 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. |
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Matthew Fox and a panel of seven of the world’s foremost non-dual thinkers address the question – How do we respond to the time we are living through? This provocative online event is hosted by The Aspen Initiative, Monday, March 17, 10 AM 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. |
Join Matthew Fox for a lecture and Q&A on Earth and Community Healing in a Time of Crisis: The Need for Ritual,” hosted by the Florida Interfaith Climate Actions Network, at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg, FL. Friday, March 21, 7 pm ET. Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and the Climate Action Assembly in celebrating a Cosmic Mass on "Our Sacred Earth," hosted by the Florida Interfaith Climate Actions Network in St. Petersburg, FL. Saturday and Sunday, March 22 and 23.
Fri. 7:00pm ET. Fox talks on the Need and Power of Ritual
Sat. 9:00am ET. Climate Action Assembly - Trinity Lutheran Church – Preparing for the Cosmic Mass Sun. 2:00pm ET. St. Petersburg Coliseum - The Cosmic Mass: Our Sacred Earth Register HERE. |
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| Join Matthew Fox for three lecture and
Q&A sessions on “Angels & Science, Today & Yesterday,“ with special guest appearances by Rupert Sheldrake. Hosted by WisdomFeed.
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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. |
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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: |
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