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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Joy in the Midst of Anguish:
A Fruit of the SpiritBy Matthew Fox 7/22/2025 |
In
this DM, I wish to talk about Joy. |
Why talk about Joy? Because joy is why we are here—at least in St. Thomas Aquinas’s perspective it is—the universe has invited us into existence because of joy. “Sheer Joy is God’s and this demands companionship.” And, “joy is the human’s noblest act.” |
“Joy of Life.” One of the “Mother Nature” series by Mrinal Kanty Das, capturing the quintessential maternity embedded in Nature. Wikimedia Commons. |
Traditionally, joy is one of the nine “fruits of the Spirit” along with love, peace, kindness, etc. When Jesus says, “by their fruits you will know them,” he is instructing us to test events and words and even people by the fruits. Jesus ends his discourse of how “good trees bear good fruit, and evil trees bear bad fruit” by telling us to test things by their fruit. (Mt. 16-20; Lk 6:43-45) His very practical and down-to-earth instruction frequently works well. Paul talks about the “fruits of the Spirit” in his letter to the Galatians (5:22f.). Joy is so strong that even in the midst of trouble, its presence is not overcome. Joy is bigger than
woe—and deeper. It touches the inner sanctum and purpose of the vast universe. It brought us into existence. And it surrounds us daily. Former labor secretary Robert Reich recently wrote a column “On Being a Warrior” about an activist friend who seems to have mastered the art of holding on to joy in the midst of ever more
troubling news.* He introduces it with an admission that both national and international news are bringing “anguish” on a daily basis. |
“MISSION: JOY” Official trailer of the documentary about the
Dalai Lama’s & Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s friendship. | Lest we succumb to despair, he writes, a
major part of not submitting to Trump’s tyranny is living our lives to the fullest—hopefully and cheerfully, in the face of him and his regime. A breakfast with his |
friend who defends immigrants surprised him. “What gives? You seem almost, well, joyful?” he asked her. “Not exactly joyful,” she laughed. “But I’m in a good place.” Why? “Because I’m fighting on the front line…the very best place.” Said Robert, “You’re a warrior!” She
replied: “Yes. And I’m so thankful to be doing this now, at this moment in history.” I am reminded of a gathering of Sierra Club a few years ago in Berkeley, California where I was invited to speak with a scientist and with Sailesh Rao author of Carbon Dharma on the environmental crisis. My assignment was
to speak on Pope Francis’s encyclical about care for our common home, Laudato Sí (80% of which was written by a graduate of our ICCS Master’s program, which was shut down under pressure from Josef Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict). |
Following our three 20-minute presentations and a lively discussion, Joanna Macy came into the room. She was 92 years old, she took the mike, and exclaimed: “Isn’t it a wonderful thing to be alive today at this critical moment in history and contribute what we can to righting the ship!” (Something like that.) |
Joanna Macy describes the Tibetan Buddhist prophecy foretelling the emergence of “Shambhala warriors” – ordinary individuals who, armed with compassion and insight, will work to dismantle the destructive forces from within. Work That Reconnects Network |
I was deeply moved by her energy and enthusiasm and her “Yes” to life and her joy in the midst of struggle. Everyone was. This is no time to wallow in our misery, but it is a time to stand up, find allies, speak out, do what one can do to spread truth amidst the lies, Christ energy to combat
antichrist energy, caring therefore and passion for justice and compassion and truth, more truth. Stay rooted in joy, for out of it is born liberation, resurrection, redemption, rebirth and other fruits of the Spirit. |
* Robert Reich, “Sunday thought: On being a warrior” – Democratic Underground
Forums
And Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times, pp. 33-40.
And Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election.
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, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality.
Banner Image:
"If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want to Be a Part of Your Revolution." A protestor holds a sign with the famous Emma Goldman quote at a One Billion Rising march across the Golden Gate Bridge, 2013. Photo by Steve Rhodes on Flickr. |
A Heartfelt Request for
a DM Team Member Dear Friends, As many times as we have invited your action, today we ask in a very personal way. A key member of the DM team, Drake Moore — a young husband and father, gifted web wizard, musician, and generous soul — is |
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battling an aggressive Stage 4 cancer, which has wiped out his family’s income and buried them in medical expenses.
We ask your prayers, and if you are willing, we invite you to contribute to the GoFundMe Drake's friends have set up to help him and his family make it through this difficult time. Anything you can contribute will be enormously appreciated - thank you! --The DM Team |
Queries for Contemplation Can you find joy in the bigger picture of the
vastness and goodness and generosity of the universe that has brought forward the wondrous earth and ourselves? And empowered us with strength and conscience to make a better world, one like our ancestors hoped for and worked for? Are you in a good place? Let’s get to work. |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialogue, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a
sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit |
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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.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil
are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine.
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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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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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 |
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UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Matthew Fox in a new 6-month program of mystical wisdom for a new world.
In this 6-month immersion program with Matthew, you’ll explore what it means to be a modern mystic and prophet, integrating this sacred knowledge into your life through the authentic teachings of Jesus and other wisdom keepers. This journey births what Matthew calls Christianity 2.0 — based not on dogma, but on a spirituality that recovers the sacred sense of original goodness. By Application only - apply HERERegister for a free information session HERE |
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Matthew Fox offers an online lecture and Q&A to the Association of Pittsburg Priests on “Pere Chenu: Father of
Liberation Theology, Creation Spirituality, and Much of Vatican II”. Wednesday, August 6, 4:00pm – 5:30pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book, Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works with Letters and Songs, in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, August 21, 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 HERE, Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478 Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
GMU President Dr. Gerald Grudzen, along with Father Augustine Pamplany, Dean of the GMU Religion and Science graduate degree program, hosts the Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox for a presentation on "Creation Spirituality and Science," July 11,
2025. |
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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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