March 24, 2025: Good News in the Midst of Evil News: The Feast of the Annunciation
The mystics call this a time of the “Dark Night of the Soul,” which Rabbi Heschel changed to the “Dark Night of Society.” Matthew suggests we call it the “Dark Night of our Species.” The story of the annunciation, at its most basic, is thus: Around the year 5 CE, an angel came to a simple young Jewish woman whose people were struggling under the might of the Roman Empire, and told her that she was to bear a very special child who would bless the world. This story has appeal to anyone who would like to see evil overcome, empires dissolved, hate replaced with love, and despair replaced with hope. In this time of moral, political, and Earth upheaval, let’s hold onto what this story promises. That youth, womanhood, motherhood, and birth can help turn the tide.
March 25, 2025: Annunciation 2025: A Metaphor for Spirit Birthing Creative Resistance
Yesterday, we saw some paintings of the Annunciation. They are a great source of inspiration for us. In fact, creativity is one of humanity’s greatest gifts. We are all artists. The Holy Spirit works on and through us all. The Via Creativa is integral to everyone’s spiritual journey. Aquinas said, “The same Spirit that hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation hovers over the mind of the artist at work.” Today, we celebrate a new Annunciation painting by Javier Garcia Lemus. Why do we find such hope in the Annunciation story? In dark times, dire times, humans require hope to survive.
March 26, 2025: The Annunciation: One Artist’s Take on the Times We Live In
Matthew interviewed Javier Garcia Lemus about his new painting of the Annunciation of Mary, called “Virgin.” Javier said that he painted this in homage to Mary who saved him when he was a 16-year-old boy. He further explains that while he and his father were swimming, his father had a heart attack and died in Javier’s arms. Javier began sinking deeper and deeper. He realized he was drowning and prayed, “Mary, help me!” She appeared to him beneath the sea, as a being of light, and Javier suddenly shot out of the ocean, saved from death. The three boxes, says Javier, represent the Trinity, who existed both before Mary. When asked about the political turmoil we are immersed in, Javier responded that we can “change the vibrations of the earth” by the beauty we make.
March 27, 2025: The 4 Paths As Spiritual Practices For Hard Times
The Four Paths of Creation Spirituality are themselves spiritual practices that lead to bringing compassion into the world. This is not compassion which is seen as pity, but compassion coming from a place of “interdependence.” The Via Positiva is about wonder and awe and falling in love with life. The Via Negativa is about emptying, silence, and stillness, as well as undergoing grief and suffering.. “Be still and know I am God.” The Via Creativa is where the human and Divine meet. And the Via Creativa spawns the Via Transformativa, which calls all of us to be spiritual warriors on behalf of compassion and justice.
March 28, 2025: Angels, Demons, and News of Our Time
It seems that both angels and demons are in the news this week. Recently in Substack, two brilliantly satiric pieces were written by Patrice Mersault. They are entitled: “My Debate with Satan: Is Trump Your Masterpiece, or Your Replacement?” and “My Debate With Satan, Part II: The Final Combat, A Diabolical Confrontation On Inferno Politics: Standing Against Trumpism Without Losing Your Soul.” You can click on the titles to read the articles. In each, the author engages in a dialogue with the devil or, as he calls him, “My Dearest Lord of the Pit.” The devil, in turn, addresses him as “Mortal.” Meanwhile, next week Matthew just happens to be leading a new course, an inquiry into angels (and demons). The course will include two visits from British biologist Rupert Sheldrake based on the book he and Matthew co-authored, The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science and Spirit Meet.
March 29, 2025: Talking about Evil
Often people feel they don’t have the language today to deal with the extreme darkness they are witnessing and feeling. This is where art can be very helpful. The writer we referred to yesterday, Patrice Mersault, masterfully—and playfully—imagines a dialogue with the devil about today’s times. Satire and laughter can sometimes reach us at times when other avenues cannot. As for the devil, Matthew proposes that the familiar names of Lucifer, Satan, and Beelzebub could easily be replaced with other words such as racism, sexism, fascism, or Christian Nationalism. Art and creativity are among the many tools that a spiritual warrior can use when fighting evil.
Banner image: Light vs. Darkness. Photo by Tom Barret on Unsplash
Recommended Reading
The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science & Spirit Meet
By Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake
When was the last time a scientist and a theologian discussed angels together? What are angels? Many people believe in angels, but few can define these enigmatic spirits. Now visionary theologian Matthew Fox and acclaimed biologist Rupert Sheldrake—pioneers in modern religious thinking and scientific theory—launch a groundbreaking exploration into the ancient concept of the angel and restore dignity, meaning, and joy to our time-honored belief in these heavenly beings.
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
