The Good, Evil, and Art

The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers

Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox

Don’t miss Matthew’s and Rupert Sheldrake’s upcoming course on angels, and more new courses listed at the bottom of this DM!

Week of 3/24-29/2025:
The Annunciation, Good vs. Evil, and Art
3/30/2025

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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 AD, 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.

The Annunciation by John William Waterhouse (1849-1917). Wikimedia Commons.

March 25, 2025: Annunciation 2025: A Metaphor for Spirit Birthing Creative Resistance

Yesterday, we saw some paintings of the Annunciation. They can be 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, humans require hope to survive.

“Virgin.” B/w and color diptych of Javier Garcia Lemus’ painting of the Annunciation of Mary. Used with permission.

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 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. In the painting, the three boxes, he says, represent the Trinity. 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 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.”**
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.

“Good vs. Evil.” This statue was seen over the doorway of a bar in Ensenada, Mexico. Photo by Adventures of KM&G-Morris in Flickr.

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 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.

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* Patrice Mersault, “My Debate with Satan: Is Trump Your Masterpiece—or Your Replacement?” Substack, February 14, 2025.

**Patrice Mersault, “My Debate With Satan, Part II: The Final Conflict.” Substack, March 26, 2025.

Adapted from Matthew Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen, pp. 132-135,

Banner image: Light vs. Darkness. Photo by Tom Barrett on Unsplash

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