The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Gratitude & The Via
Positiva
in the Midst of Dark Times By Matthew Fox 12/6/2025 |
This past week I was struck by an article for Thanksgiving Day written by Thom Hartmann, whom I consider one of the most courageous and lucid prophetic writers of our time. |
it. It covers the two major influences in Donald Trump’s life: Fred Trump, his father, and Roy Cohen, his major mentor — the key word being cruelty. It includes a chapter on the stolen election of 2024 and one on “The Empathy Deficit; Democracy’s Essential Ingredient,” and finally, what we can do about it: “Reform, Resist, and Remember.” But for this Thanksgiving Season, I thank Hartmann for his article unveiling his inner life, that which keeps him going in his prophetic vocation. |
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| He calls it “The Radical Power of Gratitude to Rewire Your Brain and Life,” and he begins by giving thanks to his “spiritual mentor, Gottfried Muller,” who taught him the practice of daily gratitude. Thom and his wife Louise recently took a long hike on trails in Portland where they live and “stopped a few times to look around at the forest and just notice what an amazing world we live in and then to say ‘thank you’ to all the life around us.”* |
Thom’s path is one of practicing the Via Positiva. In nature and toward nature and for nature. And of course, “nature” includes ourselves and one another and human beings. Thank you for our “amazing world”—do we all take time out for that? How amazing this universe is, all two trillion galaxies of it, all the hundreds of billions of stars and planets within each galaxy. all 13.8 billion years of it that have invited our species aboard. “Radical Amazement” is required,
as Rabbi Heschel names the Via Positiva. Do we ever have too much gratefulness, too much gratitude, too much thankfulness? All the creation
mystics celebrate our powers of gratitude, which, as Hartmann points out, are like “muscles” that need working out. Practice is needed. Every good habit is derived from practicing it—that is what virtue is, a good and healthy habit acquired by practice. |
The creation mystics are the champions of gratitude. For example:
Meister Eckhart: “If the only prayer you say in your whole life is ‘Thank You,’ that would suffice.” Julian of Norwich: “This is the holiest prayer—the |
Gratitude ritual: “Take water in your hands and say ‘Thank you for the Divine Energy through the water for all my body and the whole Humanity on planet Earth with Gratitude, Love and Light. And so it is.'” Photo by iezalel williams on Flickr. |
loving prayer of thanksgiving.” And, "the first duty of the soul is to reverently marvel." A "reverent awe is the proper response to the supreme beauty of the divine.” Thanksgiving leads to actions: “Charged with the quality of reverence and loving awe, we turn ourselves with all our might toward the actions to which we are guided.” Thomas Aquinas defines authentic religion this way: “Religion is supreme thankfulness or gratitude.” He cautions that “gratitude is paid spontaneously. Thanking is less thankful when it is compelled.” And “gratitude depends chiefly on the heart.” |
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| Hartmann reminds us how today’s science is confirming the power of gratitude—how we are learning
that gratitude “doesn’t just make us feel good momentarily: it actually reshapes our brains in ways that enhance our well-being long after the holiday dishes are cleared away.” |
Practicing gratitude creates “a positive feedback loop, training your brain to look for more reasons to be grateful.” Expressing gratitude activates the prefrontal cortex, “the brain’s command center for decision-making and emotional regulation.” This increases attention and motivation and combats stress. Grateful people are more resilient in the face of challenges. It sounds like Practicing Gratitude might be a wonderful practice in this time of the dark night of self, society, and the Earth. And in this Advent season, when we—all of creation—welcome the story of the rebirth of humanity and all of creation yearning to be free to express its inner beauty and goodness and capacities for peace and joy to all. To be continued. |
Queries for Contemplation Do you practice gratitude on a regular basis? Is your
brain always looking for more reasons to be grateful?
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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. |
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| Counterpoint: A Response to Peter Thiel’s Antichrist An Important Conversation with Matthew Fox and Gil Duran Did you miss this two-session series with its powerful counter-narrative rooted in wisdom, justice, and authentic |
spirituality? This is your chance to
add it to your library of classics to be watched, re-watched, and contemplated. Fox explores the archetype of Christ and Antichrist as it plays out in our world today but also in artists of old. He draws from the teachings of Jesus and Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Carl Jung, and other mystics and visionaries, illuminating the stark contrast between life-giving and life-destroying spiritual energies. Purchase HERE. |
UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Matthew Fox in a lecture and Q&A on “Dorothee Soelle: Mystical Feminist Who Transformed Theology through Suffering,” a presentation in the Spiritual Wanderlust Mystics and Prophets series. Saturday, December 6, 9:00am-10:30am. Register HERE. |
Celebrate the traditional feast of the Black Madonna and the Immaculate Conception when Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox joins award-winning singer/author Alessandra Belloni and music director John La Barbera in a 90-minute online event, “Honoring the Black Madonna as Our Lady of Freedom (Madonna della Libera),” in which they share the wisdom of the Black Madonna and her healing powers for our times when both democracy and Mother Earth are
in peril. Alessandra will also talk about her book Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna and present a 10-minute excerpt of her movie Musical Journeys with the Black Madonna in |
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Join Matthew Fox in a free 4-session Online Lecture/Discussion/Q&A event, “Creation Spirituality and the Celebrating & Healing of Mother Earth & Ourselves,” co-presented by the Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin and Matthew Fox Legacy Project. Wednesdays, January 14, 21,28, February 4, 2026, 4:00pm-5:30pm
PT January 14 - Creation as an Original Blessing and the Springboard of Awe and Wonder January 21 - Sacred Mother Earth: The Holiness of Creation and Recovering the Cosmic Christ January 28 - The Cosmic Mass, and the Stations of the Cosmic Christ: Reinvigorating Liturgy and Rituals February 4 - Jesus as a Teacher of Democracy and the Renewal of Education and Values through the “10 Cs” Register 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
HERE Register for a free information session HERE |
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Awakening the Divine Human: An Immersion in the Living Wisdom of Creation Spirituality …a week-long retreat in Sardinia, Italy, May 25-30, 2026 Join us on the sacred
island of Sardinia for a deeply immersive 6-day retreat rooted in the teachings of Matthew Fox, C.G. Jung, and the ancient wisdom of the land. Set along the turquoise shores and among the Neolithic sites of this timeless Mediterranean island, this retreat invites you into a transformative journey of reconnection—with Earth, Self, Gender, and the Divine. 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 HERE, Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478 Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Join Matthew Fox for a transformative 4-part series that brings together some of the most provocative spiritual leaders, thinkers, and activists of our time. Together, we’ll explore the deep spiritual roots of this political moment and uncover pathways toward
collective action, resilience, and renewal. Learn more HERE. |
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