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Resistance and Songs – Part 1By Gianluigi Gugliermetto 9/10/2025 |
I am very fond of the Anglican hymns written at the turn of the 20th century. I love their melodies, their harmonies, and even more their texts. More exactly, I love how all of these combined create a unique flavor and ambience which is not just that of religious exaltation, but include a profound sense of engagement with life and society. |
The best combinations are those employing a melody taken from English or Irish folk songs with verses written to address social situations. See, for example, these words written by G.K. Chesterton for the Hymnal of 1906: From all that terror teaches / From lies of tongue |
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and pen / From all the easy speeches / That comfort cruel men / Deliver us, O Lord! For Christmas, an interesting choice still available in the current hymnal of the Episcopal Church is represented by these verses by Laurence Housman: Lust of possessions worketh desolations / there is
no meekness in the powers of earth / led by no star, the rulers of the nations/ still fail to bring us to the blissful birth. Perhaps the most courageous of all Anglican hymns is this one: God is the only Landlord/ To whom our rents are due./ God made the earth for everyone/ And not for just a few./ The four parts of
creation — / Earth, water, air, and fire — / God made and ranked and stationed/ For everyone’s desire. Refrain: Lift up the people’s banner / And let the ancient cry / For justice and for freedom/ Re-echo to the sky. Any discussion about the uneasy combination of imperialism and socialism within the Anglican
tradition must wait, but I hope I made my point about the energetic and engaged character of this repertoire which I love. |
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| Where are today the same energy and social consciousness in religious hymns? Surely not in the
boring harmonies, cloying melodies, and frankly sentimental texts of evangelical music. The “contemporary ensembles” of the (once) mainstream churches do not fare much better, besides |
choosing music usually impossible to sing for the congregation. |
A very interesting solution has emerged in circles apparently far distant from each other such as those of Neopagans covens and Christian monasteries. Chants and mantra-like repetitions — among whom my favorite Taizé songs — represent a way to involve easily everybody in the practice, while building an atmosphere of peace and calm concentration. Yet, while the mystic in us is awakened by such kind of music, the prophetic voice rarely can emerge from it. I find instead the same energy of strength, resilience, and challenge to power — which I like so much — in non-church pieces
that are to me no less transcendent than my favorite hymns, even though they bear no explicit religious connotation. |
One example is the song “Mio fratello che guardi il mondo” written over 30 years ago by Italian poet/singer Ivano Fossati:
My brother looking onto the world… but the world does not look like you/My brother looking into the sky… but the sky does not look |
“Ivano Fossati / Mio Fratello Che Guardi Il Mondo.” VideoBoxMusic |
back to you./If there’s a road under the sea, sooner or later it will find us/ If there is no road in other people’s heart, sooner or later it will be traced!/ I was born and I died in every country/ and I defended my dignity at a high price/ I was born and I worked in every country/ and I walked on every road of the world that you can see. |
Here are the words in Italian: Mio fratello che guardi il mondo e il mondo non somiglia a te. Mio fratello che guardi il cielo e il cielo non ti guarda. Se c’è una strada sotto il mare, prima o poi ci incontrerà. Se non c’è strada dentro il cuore degli altri, prima o poi si traccerà. Sono nato e sono morto in ogni paese, e ho difeso con fatica la mia dignità. Sono nato e ho lavorato in ogni paese, e ho camminato su ogni strada del mondo che vedi. Mio
fratello…
More evocative than direct, this text — which I hope you can hear with its music — was immediately heard as speaking about the hardship of the immigrants who look for a solution to their plight, and who think about sailing across the Mediterranean sea, risking their life to reach Europe. Sometimes I think that God, having being bored to death by church songs, is hiding now within “secular” music that has a heart. It is this kind of music and poetry that can help us navigate this difficult time of ours. |
See Matthew Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet See also Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh:
Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
See also Fox and Adam Bucko, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
And Fox, Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
And Fox, Trump and the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A
Handbook for the 2024 Election Banner image: “We Shall Overcome” is a classic song of the Civil Rights Movement, sung here at the Civil Rights Summit on April 10, 2014. Pictured are: Julián Castro, Pamela Horowitz, Julian Bond, Luci Baines Johnson, Ian Turpin, Graciela Cigarroa, and Francisco Cigarroa. Photo by David Hume
Kennerly. Wikimedia Commons |
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Queries for Contemplation What songs are giving you hope and strength at
this time? |
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. |
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 |
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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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Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Authors Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox encourage us to use our talents in service of compassion and justice and to
move beyond our broken systems–economic, political, educational, and religious–discovering a spirituality that not only helps us to get along, but also encourages us to reevaluate our traditions, transforming them and in the process building a more sacred and just world. Incorporating the words of young activist leaders culled from interviews and surveys, the book provides a framework that is deliberately interfaith and speaks to our profound yearning for a life with spiritual purpose and for a
better world.
“Occupy Spirituality is a powerful, inspiring, and vital call to embodied awareness and enlightened actions.”
~~ Julia Butterfly Hill, environmental activist and author of The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods |
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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.
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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UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book, Whee! We, Wee All the Way Home: A Guide to Sensual, Prophetic Spirituality, in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, September 18, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox and 40 other wisdom teachers in the 2025 Contemplative Summit as they explore The Spacious Heart: Holding Suffering with Love, the theme of Spiritual Wanderlust: The 2025 Contemplative Summit. Thursday - Sunday, September 25-28 Register for free HERE. Join Matthew Fox and 40 other wisdom teachers in the 2025 Contemplative Summit as they explore The Spacious Heart: Holding Suffering with Love, the theme of Spiritual Wanderlust: The 2025 Contemplative Summit. Thursday - Sunday, September 25-28. Register for free HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book, Meditations with Meister Eckhart in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, October 16, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. Join spiritual pioneers Dr. Matthew Fox and Rev. Cameron Trimble for “In Search of a New Story: Reimagining What Comes Next,” a timely and transformative 4-part series featuring conversations with some of the most compelling wisdom voices of our time: Carolyn Myss, Diana Butler Bass,
Luther Smith, and Ilia Delio. Thursdays, October 23, 30, and November 13, 20, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT 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 HERERegister for a free information session HERE |
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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 HERE, Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478 Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Matthew Fox and Fr. Bede Griffiths each lecture for approximately 30 minutes followed by 30 minutes of dialogue. 91 minutes. 1990. You will receive a secure link to the file to download. |
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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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