Today’s America, a little like Alice in Wonderland, seems to be getting “crazier and crazier” the further we descend into the rabbit hole. Last week, a sitting senator from Iowa, a state I attended school in for five years of my life and was ordained in, held a town hall with her constituents.
When told by a constituent that the MAGA party’s proposed “big, beautiful budget” will actually be ending their lives sooner by expelling them from Medicaid (in order to give money so billionaires can pay less taxes), Senator Ernst actually responded by saying, “we are all going to die sometime.”
Is such coldness and hard-heartedness baked into not only the budget, but also the mindset and politics of one-half of American politicians? And those who cast their votes for them?
Is this what is behind the thwarting of USAID to poor people in Africa that has already resulted in the premature deaths of 300,000 children there?
Is it behind our government and our tax dollars upholding a government in Israel that is currently starving children and others to death in Gaza and has already killed upwards of 43,000 people?
Hildegard of Bingen named hard-heartedness in unambiguous language. This is what one must do in the presence of evil: Name it. Shed light on it so it is not allowed to hide and carry its power wherever it wishes to.
Hildegard saw an image that looked like dense smoke rising up as high as a tall person. This image did not have any human members, except very large black eyes. It spoke: “Nothing excites me except what benefits me directly….If I am always busy being compassionate, what good will it do me? What kind of life will I have if I pay attention to all the happy and sad people? I will take care of myself. Let others take care of themselves.
Yes, let them die early? Even if you are an elected official supposedly operating in a democracy and representing them in congress?
Hildegard comments on her vision of hard-heartedness this way. Nothing restrains a hard-hearted person. There is only firm, evil wickedness in hard-heartedness……This sin hardens people so much that they do not wish to know the image of God nor recognize it in other people, because without kindness they lack any kind of mercy and goodness.
It sort of sounds like the antichrist to me.
Hard-heartedness should not be allowed to harden itself against God or man. For this is the worst evil of all evils. It spares no one and shows no mercy. It despises people and draws back from God. It does not rejoice with people nor does it encourage humans to do good deeds. True mercy answers hard-heartedness and warns it to do good.*
*Hildegard of Bingen, The Book of the Rewards of Life (Liber Vitae Meritorum), translated by Bruce W. Hozeski, pp. 14, 40f.
See Matthew Fox, Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint For Our Times.
And Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen.
And Fox, Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works, Letters and Songs.
And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
And Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ.
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society.
Banner Image: Shedding a light that evil can’t hide from. Photo by Ververidis Vasilis on Shutterstock.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you agree with Hildegard that hard-heartedness is “the worst of all evils”? Do you see it baked into current American politics? How are we “answering hard-heartedness by warning it to do good?”
Recommended Reading
Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.
“This book gives strong, sterling, and unvarnished evidence that everything – everything – we ourselves become will affect what women after us may also become….This is a truly marvelous, useful, profound, and creative book.” ~~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism.
Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen
An introduction to the life and work of Hildegard of Bingen, Illuminations reveals the life and teachings of one of the greatest female artists and intellectuals of the Western Mystical Tradition. At the age of 42, she began to have visions; these were captured as 36 illuminations–24 of which are recorded in this book along with her commentaries on them.
“If one person deserves credit for the great Hildegard renaissance in our time, it is Matthew Fox.” – Dr Mary Ford-Grabowsky, author of Sacred Voices.
Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works: With Letters and Songs
Today there are many websites and Hildegard groups that celebrate and honor Hildegard’s teachings, philosophy, art, and music. Author Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her. In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice. A sixteenth century follower of Martin Luther called her “the first Protestant” because of her appeals to reform the church. As a writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, healer, artist, feminist, and student of science, Hildegard was a pioneer in many fields in her day.
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register
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.
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.
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
