The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Joel Primack Eulogy, continued By Matthew Fox 2/18/2026 |
Note: Yesterday morning the world learned of the death of Rev. Jesse Jackson, head of the Rainbow Coalition in Chicago and bearer of a message of justice for the poor and oppressed from South Africa to the streets of America and the balcony of a Memphis hotel, where he was present the day Dr. King was martyred. Many tributes are appropriately being pronounced the world over.
I would simply offer this one: Jesse Jackson inherited Dr. King’s mantle and worked indefatigably to carry on his crusade for justice and equality for all. May this Ash Wednesday be a day where we give up this Lent all exclusion including racism and anthropocentrism (see this morning’s meditation) and grow our souls and selves. I am sharing my eulogy that I began in yesterday’s DM at Joel Primack’s Celebration of Life event. |
Geologian Thomas Berry used to say, “We will recover our sense of wonder and our sense of the sacred only if we appreciate the universe beyond ourselves as a revelatory experience of that numinous presence whence all things come into being. Indeed, the universe is the primary sacred reality. We |
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become sacred by our participation in this more sublime dimension of the world about us.” The young especially are to be invited into this awareness. As Primak and Abrams put it in their book, View From the Center of the Universe: “In many ways the young everywhere have more in common with one another than with the old who live in this country or even in their own house. Young people do not share a single religion or language, but they share an epoch in cosmic and terrestrial
history that their elders will never know.” A second teaching from Aquinas that applies to Joel’s vocation is this: “A mistake about creation results in a mistake about God.” Turn this around and it says, “An insight about creation results in an insight about God.” Joel left us with many insights about the divine
because he and his co-workers discovered many insights about the universe. For this too we thank him. Another teaching from Aquinas relevant to the life and work and legacy of Joel Primack is this: “Revelation comes in two volumes: Nature and the Bible.” Nature and the universe are themselves a source of revelation. It
speaks to us—if we listen. It tells us truths—if we listen. It fills us with awe and what Rabbi Heschel called “radical amazement,” if we let it. Joel listened; he studied the universe with teams of students and others. |
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| We can join him provided we are not stuck in “species
narcissism” and give a damn about something bigger and more primal than mere capitalist visions of money and power, power and money. By his vocation and also the |
values of community that he practiced, Joel took in the revelation that nature is. In their book on cosmology and society, Joel and Nancy instruct us to “think cosmically, but act globally.” They call for a “purified religion” that does not live in the past but honors the meaning of the universe and our special place in it. Let me share two stories from my interaction with Joel. About 12 years ago I started a program called YELLAWE to work with inner city teenagers in Oakland who were dropping out of school—64% of black teenage boys and 65% of Native American youth on reservations. One topic we emphasized was called “cosmology and
ecology.” (“Ecology is functional cosmology,” according to Tom Berry.) I invited Joel and Nancy to come and instruct these inner-city teenagers about the new cosmology as only they can with a slide show and all. They generously traveled to Oakland and back from Santa Cruz to do this. And the students were awestruck by their
teachings. |
On another occasion, a group called Creation Spirituality Communities celebrated the 25th anniversary of my book, Original Blessing, in Indianapolis, Indiana, and lo and behold Joel and Nancy traveled all the way to be with us and offered a workshop on the new cosmology! |
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What I remember best is their full participation with smiles on their faces in the circle dancing and spiral dancing that we did as a group. Joel was humble, close to the earth (humus), as well as close to the stars. And generous. (The word comes from genesis,
origin, kinship, genus and generativity.) Joel taught us about our kinship to the stars and our origins and sacred relationship to Father Sky, Mother Earth and one another. What a wonderful life! What a wonderful mentor! What a wonderful husband, father, teacher and friend! Thank you,
Joel. |
Confessions: The Making of a Postdenominational Priest, pp. 384f. “Father Sky,” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten
Metaphors To Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 10-17, 29f. Banner image: The Milky Way as seen from Lake Tekapo in New Zealand. Photo by Graham Holtshausen on Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation What do you find useful and inspiring in Joel Primack’s life and teachings? Do
you feel young people today are being invited to share in a new epoch of cosmic and terrestrial history that is special? What are the implications of that for education and religion and the young? |
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. Books and More by Matthew and Friends! Be sure to check out Matthew's new store at MatthewFox.org, now offering books, recorded courses old and new, and special events... and don't miss our growing collection of books endorsed by Matthew on Bookshop.org! CREATION SPIRITUALITY CONVERSATIONS |
Podcaster Jon Wilson speaks with Matthew Fox about Creation Spirituality: how Matthew became a Dominican priest; his studies in Paris, Original Blessing versus the Fall-Redemption tradition; the Four Paths; mystics Meister Eckhart, Carl Jung, and Otto Rank; Eros, ritual and how ‘this is
wisdom to love life’. Listen HERE. |
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Join Matthew Fox for a Lecture, Discussion, and Q&A on “Manifesto! For a Global Civilization; & Breakthrough: Meister Eckhart’s Creation Spirituality, ” an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, February 19, 2026, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. |
Matthew Fox joins the real-time Unity Earth Symposium V, “Spiraling Up: A New Energy for Planetary Consciousness,” to give a live-streamed lecture on “From Awareness to Action.” Sunday, February 22, 7:00am PT. Register HERE. |
Matthew Fox joins Unity Inspired Living to give an inspirational message,"Roots Before Wings: The Foundational Role of Science in Supporting Spirituality," at Sunday morning worship, also livestreamed on Facebook Live, March 8, 10:00am PT. Learn more HERE. |
Matthew Fox joins David Abram, Lynn Twist, and Randy Woodley as Cameron Trimble of Convergence CoLab hosts “Vision for the Common Good,” a four-session Conversation Series. Tuesdays, March 17, 24, 31, and April 7, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT Register 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.
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Matthew Fox offers a lecture, “A Christianity for All Creation” as part of “For All Creation: A Day with Matthew Fox, Kelly Sherman-Conroy and Will Allen,” an On-site and Virtual Event presented by the Center for Ecological Regeneration, Hennepin Ave. UMC, and Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Minneapolis, MN. Saturday, April 18, 9:00am – 3:00pm Register HERE. |
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. |
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