Summary of Feb 10-15: Fighting Back Despair, and Honoring Courage

2/16/2025

February 10: T.S. Eliot on the Mystics as Medicine for Despair

“The mystics — or else despair,” said T.S. Eliot. The writings and actions of the mystics (and the mystic inside all of us) bring hope and medicine to combat the despair that tempts us to just give up when faced with oppression too great to bear. The mystic ignites “the fire, the fire inside,” as St. John of the Cross wrote in his poem about the Dark Night. That fire, as Meister Eckhart wrote, is also the spiritual warrior in us, who fights for justice and love. For Rumi, that fire is “the ruler of all hearts.”

Racks of lighted votive candles. Photo by Thomas Bormans on Unsplash.

February 11: Mystics, Lovers, Warriors, Community, Work as Love

Another theme from the poems of John of the Cross, is toda sciencia tracendiendo, “burst the mind’s barrier.” Meaning, mystical love breaks through the rational brain to the intuitive or mystical brain, which ignites the fire of love and justice that refuses to yield to despair. Note how the Spanish word tracendiendo is similar to the Via Transformativa. Eco-philosopher David Orr describes hope as “a verb with the sleeves rolled up.” The Via Transformativa gathers allies, speaks the truth and does the truth, in the name of compassion and justice. Even Julian of Norwich, in the midst of the bubonic plague, could write, “God will refill what is lacking and restore us with the action of mercy and grace.”

February 12: Today: The 20th Anniversary of Spiritual Warrior Sr. Dot’s Martyrdom

Matthew honors Sister Dorothy Stang’s 40 years of working with the peasants in the Amazon region, helping them build schools and defend the rainforest from greedy landowners who wanted to cut it down for lumber or cattle ranches. She lobbied lawmakers and helped build sustainable businesses like growing cacao and other forest-friendly crops.
Her devotion to the works of Hildegard of Bingen helped strengthen her resistance to powerful forces. For this she was gunned down. February 12, 2025 is the 20th anniversary of her martyrdom. Her life and sacrifice is still honored in Latin America and around the world.
Honoring Sister Dorothy Stang on the 20th Anniversary of Her Martyrdom, with Cirlene Silva Lima

Celebrating Sister Dorothy Stang’s legacy on the 20th anniversary of her martyrdom, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur interview Cirlene, one of her students.

February 13: On Praying the News in Times of Danger and Darkness

Matthew shares a prayer from Rabbi Irwin Keller as a way of protecting oneself from too much doomscrolling:

My God, the soul you have placed in my is pure and vulnerable. I am afraid that looking at today’s news will be painful. Encircle me in a robe of light, so that I can witness the wounds of the world without being wounded myself. Let me learn what I need to know in order to be of my greatest use, without being overwhelmed by despair. I feel your protective light now as I open myself to the world’s suffering and the world’s joys. Amen.

This prayer acknowledges both the Via Negativa (awareness of the world’s suffering) and the Via Positiva (joy in seeing good people doing good things).

February 14: Love & Justice, J.D. Vance and Pope Francis

Matthew makes the case for continuing to use the term “spiritual warrior” even though it contains the word “war”: There is a big difference between a soldier and a warrior. Rather, a greater danger lurks in the splitting of “love” from “justice.”

We have seen the danger of this in J.D. Vance’s recent dispute with Pope Francis, in which Vance misquoted Thomas Aquinas to claim that the people who are in one’s inner circle are more deserving of love than suffering peoples in far-distant poor nations.

Such an attitude sacrifices justice, which should include love, and love should include justice, as Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan shows.

February 15: Honoring the Courage of Those Who Sacrifice & Follow Conscience

When the peasants of the rainforest buried martyred Sr. Dorothy Stang, they said, “We are not burying you. We are planting you.” Meaning, that the forest and justice would grow fruit elsewhere. Other modern-day prophets, such as Rabbi Heschel and Pema Chodrin, emulate the courageous way of Jesus, who braved “great dangers for great things,” as Aquinas said.

This week, we witnessed US Attorney Danielle Sasson and several other prosecutors refuse to comply with an order to drop her prosecution of corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, choosing instead to resign and walk away from their jobs. It is worth nothing that Ms. Sasson is herself Republican, but could not in good conscience comply with a directive from her Republican superiors.

Manhattan U.S. attorney resigns after DOJ says to drop Adams case. Video by CBS New York.

Banner image: The “Warrior 2” pose from yoga is one of the most powerful stances for stoking inner strength and courage. Photo by Charles Wills on Flickr.

For a list of organizations helping those affected by the devastating LA wildfires, please see this article from ABCNews HERE and the evolving AltadenaStrong hub page HERE.

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Recommended Reading

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.

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