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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox 

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By Gianluigi Gugliermetto

5/15/2025

Matthew finds a good side to lust as well as a bad side, which is best understood as control and addiction. On one hand, we can experience sexuality as an avenue and a path toward the Divine.Tantric sexual practices and the Song of Songs in the Western Scriptures are examples of the praxis of sexual pleasure as a theophany or sacramental experience. On the other hand, sexuality can be turned into an addiction and 

Life-giving energy springing from the sacral chakra. Composite clipart image.

a power trip.

Instead of the equality and mutuality that a sexual union can enhance, the energy of sexual desire may be employed to control and objectify the other, as we know too well. Once the other is a “thing,” lust can ensue in sex addiction, much as it is with food or with any other substance or physical reality. The tradition has called these unfortunate habits “sins of the flesh” while Matthew prefers to call them “sins against the flesh” to underline that the flesh, in and of itself, is a blessing.

A couple enjoys a quiet moment in blossoming nature. Photo by Nicholas Swatz on Pexels.

It is important to emphasize the positive side of lust by recognizing that this kind of energy, the immediate desire for union and generativity, goes even beyond the human and the animal realms. The lust of flowers that bear fruits and grains that strive so hard to 

spread their pollen amidst the wind blowing and the insects flying — all the lust of the world makes us be and live and ourselves be lusty. We are dealing, therefore, not with a private energy, but with a cosmic one.

Although not all relationships are sexual, there is a grounding of all relationships in the energy of cosmic lust, in the sense of a desire for union and reciprocity, unless such desire is perverted into a quest for control and domination. The fact that so many mystics have spoken of sexual energy as a metaphor for love of all kinds, including Divine love, is very telling. Not only sexual pleasure is the epitome of ecstasy, but the gathering of human lovers is always a generative activity. That is, the relationship between the two implies a third, when the relationship is healthy. In the Christian tradition, Divinity itself was not content with self-love or even dual love. Its own love created a third love, a Holy Spirit.

We don’t need to look far away to see that the violence of insatiable desire is built into the very economic structures of our culture and that the “market morality” of our time is destroying healthy lust and sexuality. Matthew borrows the expression “market morality” from Cornel 

Cillian Murphy explores Ireland's dark secret of the Magdalene Laundries in Small Things Like These. Irish Deep Dives.

West and further quotes several feminist authors who, as a whole, offer an alternative to the patriarchal exploitation of sexuality and women.

Charlene Spretnak speaks of the “empowerment” of women in terms of their “cosmological self”; Rosemary Ruther describes feminism as the quest for wholeness; Adrienne Rich defines feminism as “developing the nurturing capacities of both women and men”; Suzi Gablik speaks of feminism as the principle of interdependence.

Perhaps one thing that we can do is re-read these authors and meditate deeply upon their suggestions, as well as on Matthew’s own revision of the meaning of “lust” and “pleasure” in Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh (pp. 209-233), in Original Blessing, and in many other volumes. Being women and men who walk in life, in our very violent environment, without fear of our own lust, without accepting the objectification of someone’s perverted lust, while carrying a deep respect for all others and for all relationships, is a blessing and a task. It is holy work.

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Quotes from Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh, pp. 210,  213,  206, 219, 221.

See also Fox, Whee! We, Wee All the Way Home: A Guide to Sensual Prophetic Spirituality 

See also Fox, Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God…Including the Unnameable God.

See also Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths.

See also Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet.

Banner Image: “Couple in Love” Photo by Lightfield Studios, Adobe Stock

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Queries for Contemplation

Do I realize that my efforts at justice and mutuality in my own personal relationships is holy work? Am I able to see that such work is at the root of all changes that I am called to effect in the world?

Recommended Reading

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

Whee! We, Wee All the Way Home: A Guide to Sensual Prophetic Spirituality

Years ahead of its time when first published in 1976, this book is still bold and relevant today. Perfect for anyone who thinks mysticism needs to get out of the head and into the body. Matthew Fox begins the Preface to this book by stating, “This is a practical book about waking up and returning to a biblical, justice-oriented spirituality. Such a spirituality is a way of passion that leads to compassion. Such a way is necessarily one of coming to our senses in every meaning of that phrase.” One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, this title explores the importance of ecstasy in the spiritual life. Fox considers the distinction between “natural” ecstasies (including nature, sex, friendship, music, art) and “tactical” ecstasies (like meditation, fasting, chanting); he goes on to consider that a truly authentic mysticism must be sensuous in its orientation, so to cultivate the maximum amount of ecstasy for the maximum amount of people.

Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God …Including the Unnameable God

Too often, notions of God have been used as a means to control and to promote a narrow worldview. In Naming the Unnameable, renowned theologian and author Matthew Fox ignites our imaginations by offering a colorful range of Divine Names gathered from scientists and poets and mystics past and present, inviting us to always begin where true spirituality begins: from experience.
“This book is timely, important and admirably brief; it is also open ended—there are always more names to come, and none can exhaust God’s nature.” -Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, author of Science Set Free and The Presence of the Past

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

Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet

Because creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species but also to our capacity for evil, we need to teach creativity and to teach ways of steering this God-like power in directions that promote love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Pushing well beyond the bounds of conventional Christian doctrine, Fox’s focus on creativity attempts nothing less than to shape a new ethic.
“Matt Fox is a pilgrim who seeks a path into the church of tomorrow.  Countless numbers will be happy to follow his lead.” –Bishop John Shelby Spong, author, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Living in Sin

UPCOMING EVENTS

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Join Matthew Fox in a new 6-month program of mystical wisdom for a new world: Activate your spiritual awakening with the mystics Say “yes” to life & the beauty, goodness & potential it offers Awaken your inner mystic & prophet for deeper awakening Nurture the life-giving qualities of your humanity By Application only - apply HERE Register for a free information session HERE

Join Matthew Fox in a 6-Class Course: The Great Christian Mystics, exploring some of the richest and most inspiring mystic-prophets in the Christian lineage, including Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Thomas Aquinas, and Meister Eckhart. Open-ended course includes six modules of pre-recorded lessons, live community discussions, and live conversations with Matthew Fox. Starts Tuesday, May 20; 10% off discount code: FOX-10

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Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book, Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life, in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat.

Thursday, May 15, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT.

Register HERE.

Join Matthew Fox as he offers a lecture / Q&A on “Navigating the Dark Night of Soul, Society, and Our Species,” hosted by the Jung Center of Buffalo, Friday, May 23, 4 pm PT.

Learn more 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  

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