In my guide, One River, Many Wells, demonstrating and working towards Deep Ecumenism and printed within the yr 2000, I laid out 18 themes or ideas that I discovered generally taught in all world religions.
I shared teachings from Scriptures and mystics of the world religions to show how a lot they’ve in frequent—and the way fantastically every shares their frequent insights.
I divided the themes into 4 classes: Our Referring to Creation; Our Referring to Divinity; Our Referring to Ourselves; and Our Referring to the Future.
The Conclusion chapter known as “The place Do We Go From Right here? How Deep Ecumenism Explodes Our Imaginations With Eighteen New Myths And Visions.”
Themes lined embody the next: From Half I: Deep Ecumenism itself or “the Universality of Expertise”; Creation—All Our Relations; Mild; Group and Interdependence.
From Half II: Names for God; The Female Face of Divinity; Knowledge: One other Female Face of the Divine; Type Formlessness, Nothingness; The Divine ‘I AM’: Humanity’s Share in Divinity.
From Half III: Meditation and Mindfulness; Holy Creativeness: Artwork and Ritual as Paths to Mindfulness; Pleasure; Struggling; Magnificence; Sacred Sexuality; Dying, Resurrection, Reincarnation.
From Half IV: Service and Compassion (together with Justice and Celebration); Religious Warriorhood.
I share this define of my guide on Deep Ecumenism as a result of Deep Ecumenism is so wanted at this time, given the trials and tribulations that humanity is dealing with, most of which it has introduced upon itself. We want the knowledge that Deep Ecumenism can summon—the apparent query being, “If science alone shouldn’t be sufficient to rescue our species and Mom Earth, what extra is required?” We cited environmental scientist Gus Speth in a current DM, that he discovered the laborious approach that good science alone can not save the Earth, since behind Local weather Emergency lurks humanity’s persevering with compulsion to hold on selfishness, greed and apathy.
How will we tackle these points? How will we diminish their energy inside and amongst us? That is the place spirituality and wholesome faith can work with science to fight these forces, private and societal, that may intervene with human frailty and sin.
Discover I exploit the time period fight. That time period is intrinsic to the theme of non secular warrior that we have now been invoking of late in our Day by day Meditations. The necessity for it because the final theme in my One River guide stunned me after I wrote the guide. I believed the final theme on Compassion and Justice could be appropriate for ending the guide. However no.
I spotted that we couldn’t implement both compassion or justice, magnificence or pleasure, Holy Creativeness or any of those frequent themes with out an inside power that’s warrior-like. It takes non secular warriorhood to perform our survival and intervene with the deep wounding of Mom Nature in our time.
Due to this fact, we will probably be exploring the archetype of non secular warriorhood as developed by world non secular traditions in some upcoming every day meditations.
To be continued.
Tailored from Matthew Fox, One River, Many Wells: Knowledge Springing from International Faiths, pp. if., 15-26, 404-422.
See additionally: Matthew Fox, “Religious Warriors,” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Males,” pp. 77-104.
And Fox, “Religion as Trusting the Prophetic Name of the Holy Spirit,” in Fox, Unique Blessing, pp. 257-264.
And Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Occasions.
And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Items for the Peoples of Our Time.
To learn the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video meditation, click on HERE.
Banner Picture: The primary World’s Parliament of Religions (1893) was one of many earliest initiatives towards Deep Ecumenism within the fashionable period. Picture from John Henry Barrows’ account of the occasion, obtainable on the Web Archive. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
Are you sensing the necessity right now in historical past—personally and collectively—for a deepening of power such because the prophet or the non secular warrior calls on? What individuals assist mannequin that inside power for you?
Really helpful Studying
One River, Many Wells: Knowledge Springing from International Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all of the world traditions for his or her knowledge and their inspiration in a piece that’s excess of a listing of theological place papers however a brand new method to pray—to meditate in a world non secular context on the knowledge all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes which can be foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all of the world non secular traditions provide knowledge about every.“Studying One River, Many Wells is like coming into the wealthy silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you learn this textual content, you mirror, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Really no phrases can absolutely categorical my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to modern spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, creator of Anatomy of the Spirit
The Hidden Spirituality of Males: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he reveals ten metaphors, or archetypes, starting from the Inexperienced Man, an historic pagan image of our elementary relationship with nature, to the Religious Warrior….These timeless archetypes can encourage males to pursue their larger calling to connect with their deepest selves and to reinvent the world.
“Each man on this planet ought to learn this guide — to not point out each girl who desires to know the struggles, usually unconscious, that form the lads they know.” — Rabbi Michael Lerner, creator of The Left Hand of God
Unique Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out an entire new course for Christianity—a course that’s actually very historic and really grounded in Jewish pondering (the truth that Jesus was a Jew is usually uncared for by Christian theology): the 4 Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an prolonged and deeply developed approach.
“Unique Blessing makes obtainable to the Christian world and to the human group a radical remedy for all darkish and derogatory views of the pure world wherever these might have originated.” –Thomas Berry, creator, The Dream of the Earth; The Nice Work; co-author, The Universe Story
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time
Whereas Matthew Fox acknowledges that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers all through historical past, he additionally desires to introduce Eckhart to at this time’s activists addressing modern crises. Towards that finish, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Wealthy, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and lots of others.
“Matthew Fox is maybe the best author on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has efficiently bridged a niche between Eckhart as a shamanistic character and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith motion, to disclose simply how cosmic Eckhart actually is, and the way remarkably related to at this time’s non secular disaster! ” — Steven Herrmann, Creator of Religious Democracy: The Knowledge of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Ahead
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Items for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the therapeutic and liberation present in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of each non secular and political persuasion to unite in a brand new imaginative and prescient via which we study to honor the earth and the individuals who inhabit it because the present of a great and simply Creator.
“A watershed theological work that gives a typical floor for non secular seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Follow.
“I’m studying Liberating Items for the Individuals of the Earth by Matt Fox. He’s one which fills my coronary heart and thoughts for brand new life despite a lot that’s violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang.
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