In Tuesday’s DM, I named some saints I have known and worked with and promised that discussion would be continued.
Why is it a good idea—even a good spiritual practice—to pause and meditate on saintly people we have known and worked with?
Because we must combat the flood of news about the evil deeds of people that is pouring out from the media daily.
Because greatness and goodness need to be held up and honored to remind us of the depth of our time on earth and how we can contribute to goodness in the world. And having mentors is a great start.
Other saints I have known and worked with include Thich Nhat Hanh who came to UCS with 40 monks and nuns to lecture to a public audience that filled Historic Sweets Ballroom. And who I ended up counseling when he confided in me that the Vatican had called him “the anti-Christ.”
And the Dalai Lama whom I have met and shaken hands with on several occasions. And Daniel Ellsberg whom I met at dinner at Joanna Macy’s home, a courageous prophet in our time and whose amazing son, Robert, was a housemate and brother to Dorothy Day and now publisher at Orbis Books.
And Leonardo Boff, liberation theologian from Brazil, now married with numerous adopted children, a champion of the poor and of a Christianity truer to the teachings of Jesus. And a proponent of deep ecumenism calling it the future of the church. And Dominican Father Schillebeeckx of Holland, a student of Père Chenu and authentic Dominican scholar and theologian active at Vatican II and for many decades after that.
And Father Albert Nolan, a South African Dominican priest active in the anti-apartheid movement, author of Jesus Before Christianity and several other books that cut to the core of Jesus’ teachings and who very much supported me in my decision to join the Anglican church (he had worked closely with Bishop Tutu after all) when I was expelled from the Dominicans. He said, “the Vatican wants to isolate you and choosing to join another Christian community makes all the sense in the world.”
And Thomas Merton, whom I never met in person but with whom I corresponded and who advised me (and ultimately indirectly my Dominican superiors) to go to the Institut catholique in Paris to study spirituality and who therefore is the reason I met Pere Chenu, Louis Cognet and many other mentors. And who sent me a stack of his notes for teaching novices and some unpublished works a few months before he left his monastery for his Asian trip where he ultimately died. And, by all accounts, died a martyr.
These are just some of the saints I have been blessed to know in my lifetime. Joanna Macy’s passing brings these memories to the forefront.
And also, if Thomas Merton is correct that “every non-two-legged creature is a saint,” then I must also acknowledge Tristan, my dog and spiritual companion and director for 15 years which include writing many books and starting many programs and also being silenced and ultimately expelled by the Vatican and Dominicans.
Thank you, Tristan. Thank you, All! I bow to you and thank you and carry you in my heart and practice.
To be continued.
See Matthew Fox, Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations.
And Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-denominational Priest.
Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, pp. 33-56.
Fox, A Way To God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey.
Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality.
Banner Image: Matthew Fox and Tristan, his companion and spiritual director of many years. Photo gifted by Rick Reich-Kuykendall.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you also recall two legged and four-legged saints who have crossed your path in your life time? What does that recall bring to you in your own life and struggles? How can it be a spiritual practice for you?
Recommended Reading
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
As Matthew Fox notes, when an aging Albert Einstein was asked if he had any regrets, he replied, “I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life.” The 365 writings in Christian Mystics represent a wide-ranging sampling of these readings for modern-day seekers of all faiths — or no faith. The visionaries quoted range from Julian of Norwich to Martin Luther King, Jr., from Thomas Merton to Dorothee Soelle and Thomas Berry.
“Our world is in crisis, and we need road maps that can ground us in wisdom, inspire us to action, and help us gather our talents in service of compassion and justice. This revolutionary book does just that. Matthew Fox takes some of the most profound spiritual teachings of the West and translates them into practical daily mediations. Study and practice these teachings. Take what’s in this book and teach it to the youth because the new generation cannot afford to suffer the spirit and ethical illiteracy of the past.” — Adam Bucko, spiritual activist and co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation for Homeless Youth.
Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition)
Matthew Fox’s stirring autobiography, Confessions, reveals his personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring added perspective in light of the author’s continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in church, society and the environment.
“The unfolding story of this irrepressible spiritual revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the heart — must reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time
While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others.
“Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward
A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey
In A Way to God, Fox explores Merton’s pioneering work in interfaith, his essential teachings on mixing contemplation and action, and how the vision of Meister Eckhart profoundly influenced Merton in what Fox calls his Creation Spirituality journey.
“This wise and marvelous book will profoundly inspire all those who love Merton and want to know him more deeply.” — Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
“I am reading Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth by Matt Fox. He is one that fills my heart and mind for new life in spite of so much that is violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang.
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story
