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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Holy Work: Critiquing Addictive Social Media, continued 12/30/2024 |
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. |
In Saturday’s DM, we meditated on a recent article by Thom Hartmann whose work I admire, as I do that of artist Lily Yeh whom we
meditated on in Friday’s DM. Both are being true to their vocations to work with “fiery hearts and willing hands,” as the “Our Father-Mother” prayer from the Aramaic Jesus invites us
to do in order to render earth more like heaven. All this is an affirmation of the holiness of our work after all. And surely we all seek a world and New Year where holiness is more active. |
Hartmann’s recent article, entitled “Is Social Media This Generation’s Heroin?”*, tells the story of how the increased presence of fear and rage is part of the dynamics of the rise of authoritarianism in our time. And it is promulgated by social media algorithms that record and amplify fear, rage and, I might add, scapegoating: The projecting of fear |
We could learn a lot from cats--they know an evil person when they see one! Video by Arash
Real. |
and
hate onto others. (Remember how Haitians were accused of eating peoples’ pets?) Hartmann reminds us that social media billionaires make billions on these tactics. Fear sells. And right wing “populist” politicians push these fear and rage buttons for political gain. |
Covid-19 patients at the Government General Hospital in Trivandrum, India. Photo by Nithinaf. Wikimedia Commons. | The pandemic increased fear and rendered appeals to fear
all the more enticing. When media and politicians lie, that of course adds fuel to the fire. (For example, shouting that crime is up or that immigrants do more crime than other citizens, etc.) Authoritarian solutions become more acceptable the more such lies are repeated. |
I recognize a
zeitgeist of fear playing out in the number of vampire movies, TV series, and other apocalyptic genres populating our popular media. When I recently applied one of these apocalyptic symbols to the present political situation in the name of the archetype of the antichrist, it was interesting how many mainstream and even supposedly
“progressive” journalistic media ignored it altogether. They and many churches are too comfortable to talk about “evil,” and don’t know how to. Fearful religionists want things quiet and sober and talk of evil disturbs. |
Yet, as
I made clear in my book on Trump & The MAGA Movement as Antichrist, that archetype was employed in blunt fashion by Hildegard of Bingen, a recently declared saint and doctor of the church; in a significant cathedral dating back 550 years; in the theology of the 16th century reformers; and in the gospels and Bible itself. As well as by secular |
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atheist Sigmund Freud, who visited the 550-year-old Orvieto cathedral three times to learn from that same archetype. Hartmann tells us how, when transcendental meditators gathered in hot crime sites in certain American cities to meditate on peace, statistics demonstrated that their meditations
actually showed significant results with lowering crime rates. He asks if the opposite is not also possible? Where social media gathers people eager to hate and scapegoat others—such is happening on Elon Musk’s X site—what are the effects of spreading more rage and more hate and more
scapegoating? Is that why the world appears to be crazier than ever? Do Silicon Valley and its still-secret algorithms spread hate, rage and authoritarianism very successfully? Is it not time that Congress regulate such unchecked power? Thank you, Thom Hartmann, for raising these powerful questions on the cusp of a new year and a new presidential administration. |
* Thom Hartmann, “Is Social Media This Generation’s Heroin?” The Hartmann Report, December 26, 2024. For going beyond such addictions, see HERE. For help in overcoming social media addiction, see Media Addicts Anonymous. See Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work: A
New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time. And Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine. And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society. And Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election.
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image: People on cell phones. Photo by DavideAngelini on Shutterstock. | A Caring Note from the DM Team: The results of the U.S. election are affecting us all in a variety of ways, and challenging times certainly lie ahead. If the burden becomes overwhelming, we urge you, please, to seek support. Here are a few resources that can help: National Helpline for essential services: 211 or 211.org National Suicide/Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 or
chat 988lifeline.org. Veterans Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255 LGBTQ Youth Lifeline: Call 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678678. Trans Lifeline: Call 877-565-8860 National Sexual Assault Hotline: Call
800-656-4673 |
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| To view today's video, please click the image. You will be taken to today's post on the Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox website, where you can see the meditation in a larger version and also view and post your Comments. In the sharing that follows, a kind of community is developing around the DM. If you can't reach today's post on the website directly, click HERE. If you can't reach Matthew's video on the website, try his Vimeo channel HERE. |
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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 is your work holy? Do you recognize your work as your gift to healing the world? And do you agree with Hartmann that social media can be a very negative addiction that makes certain media moguls richer and politicians ever more powerful? |
The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood For Our Time
Thomas Aquinas said, “To live well is to work well,” and in this bold call for the revitalization of daily work, Fox shares his vision of a world
where our personal and professional lives are celebrated in harmony–a world where the self is not sacrificed for a job but is sanctified by authentic “soul work.”
“Fox approaches the level of poetry in describing the reciprocity that must be present between one’s inner and outer work…[A]n important road map to social change.” ~~ National Catholic Reporter |
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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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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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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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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 |
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 and cosmologist Brian Thomas Swimme in a new 7-week live video course hosted by The Shift Network: “The 4 Paths of Creation Spirituality: Embracing Awe, Chaos, Creativity & Transformation With the Universe as Your Guide.” Tuesdays, December 3 –
January 28 (except Dec 24 and 31), 5:00pm - 6:30pm PT Register HERE. |
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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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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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