The Media, Gaza/Israel and Gratitude

Week of 12/1-6/2025:

The Media, Gaza/Israel, & Gratitude and The Black Madonna

12/7/2025

This is a weekly summary of the previous week’s Daily Meditations. Some are written by Matthew Fox (MF), and some by Gianluigi Gugliermetto (GG). You can click on the title of a DM in order to view the original piece in its entirety. A

December 1, 2025: Trump vs. The Media: A Guardian Victory & Lessons for Media Who Grovel (MF)

Recently, a judge threw out a $250 million case against The Guardian filed by Trump and his media company. The primary issue at stake was Trump Media, owners of “Truth Social,” and the $8 million in loans it received from suspected Russian ties. Those loans “helped keep the company afloat long enough for Trump to take it public last year, when he netted an additional paper fortune of about $4.6 billion.”

The suit accused The Guardian of “harboring a bias” against Trump Media and “frequently publish(ing) articles critical of Donald Trump.” Kudos to The Guardian for not groveling at the feet of this authoritarian madman. Other noteworthy authors and podcasters speaking out against Trump include: Timothy Snyder, who wrote On Tyranny; Mary L. Trump; and Thom Hartmann whose new book is The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink.

Mary L. Trump in 2016. She now broadcasts a news wrap-up every day from her home.

Find her on Substack under “The Good In Us.” Wikimedia Commons.

December 2, 2025: Hope: What Good Journalism & Citizens Rising Up Can Accomplish (MF)

In Common Dreams, Thom Hartmann informs us of something historical that many of us probably do not know about. When Adams was president and Jefferson VP (and of a different party!), Adams became increasingly “authoritarian to the point of jailing numerous newspaper editors who disagreed with him.” Part of his strategy was to vilify “Jefferson and his party as anti-American….” Sound familiar?

People responded with protests in the streets. Adams employed the army to threaten protestors, but the states fought back. Jefferson ended up winning the next election while Adams’ party, the Federalists, faded into obscurity.

In addition, Hartmann, in his recent book The Last American President, tells us how “America’s Voting Rights were stolen in 2024.” Thom says: This isn’t speculative: it’s the cold, hard math based on documented evidence from our own federal government.

December 3, 2025: Victims/Colonizers (GG)

Sadly, infuriatingly, the bombing and killings in Gaza have not stopped, despite the ceasefire agreement. There continue to be about 100 violent deaths per week. A video of two Palestinian men being executed minutes after having raised their hands has drawn a formal condemnation from several European governments.

One Israeli recently said: “Historically, we are the only colonizers with the identity of victims.” Perhaps the unflinching engagement of Rabbis for Human Rights, Breaking the Silence, and many other organizations from within Israeli and Palestine have prepared the ground for radical change. We must hope that the tipping point will soon be reached and that the difficult work of justice can then begin.

“Israeli settlers block aid trucks to Gaza.” This action comes as a poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute found that 79 percent of Israeli Jews are “not so troubled” or “not troubled at all” by reports of famine in Gaza. Middle East Eye

December 4, 2025: Hypocrisy and Colonialism (GG)

The European Union once valued such qualities as democracy, respect for individual liberties and rights, diversity, and solidarity. It was especially inspiring that the EU was born of ex-enemies who pledged to end war amongst themselves and with the rest of the world forever.

Now, the EU is not only a humungous bureaucratic apparatus, but is perpetuating the worst colonial policies, creating havoc and misery around the world while hypocritically talking about “Western values.”

Meanwhile, the crisis in Ukraine is taken as a pretext for the sudden rearmament of all of Europe. So, Europeans live a life of hypocrisy, while America must endure the daily show of greed and cruelty.

December 5, 2025: The Soul of Europe (MF)

Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur of the UN for the occupied Palestinian territories, has clearly shown with facts and numbers that not only the U.S. but the EU nations in particular have such deep ties with the economy of Israel that they could have stopped the killings many months ago simply by ceasing all trade with it.

Spain and Ireland have taken the right steps on their own, while the governments of France and the UK have tried to appease their populations with the formal approval of a Palestinian state, but not with economic sanctions. Marches and protests are continuing all over Europe.

Not antisemitic but supporting Gaza: two protesters in Rome.

Photo by Leonardo Basso on Unsplash

December 6, 2025: Gratitude & The Via Positiva in the Midst of Dark Times (MF)

Matthew considers Thom Hartmann one of the most courageous and lucid prophetic writers of our time. Besides his powerful book The Last President, Hartmann recently wrote an article called “The Radical Power of Gratitude to Rewire Your Brain and Life.”

He begins by giving thanks to his “spiritual mentor, Gottfried Muller,” who taught him the practice of daily gratitude. Thom’s path is one of practicing the Via Positiva—in nature and toward nature and for nature. All the creation mystics celebrate the powers of gratitude.

Julian of Norwich: “This is the holiest prayer—the loving prayer of thanksgiving.” Meister Eckhart: “If the only prayer you say in your whole life is ‘Thank You,’ that would suffice.” Practicing Gratitude might be a wonderful practice in this time of the dark night of self, society, and the Earth.

Thom Hartmann, “Trump Delivers Darkest Thanksgiving in US History,” Common Dreams, November 28, 2025.

Thom Hartmann, The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink.

Thom Hartmann, The Hartmann Report, “The Radical Power of Gratitude to Rewire Your Brain and Your Life,” November 27, 2024.

Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society

Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ

Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth

A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice

Prayer: A Radical Response to Life

“The Antichrist Playbook: Peter Thiel & Silicon Valley Apocalypse Hype” – Matthew Fox is a guest on The Nerd Reich with Gil Duran.

The Antichrist Playbook: Peter Thiel & Silicon Valley Apocalypse Hype

Counterpoint: A Response to Peter Thiel’s Antichrist

An Important Conversation with Matthew Fox and Gil Duran

Did you miss this two-session series with its powerful counter-narrative rooted in wisdom, justice, and authentic spirituality? This is your chance to add it to your library of classics to be watched, re-watched, and contemplated.

Fox explores the archetype of Christ and Antichrist as it plays out in our world today but also in artists of old. He draws from the teachings of Jesus and Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Carl Jung, and other mystics and visionaries, illuminating the stark contrast between life-giving and life-destroying spiritual energies. Purchase HERE.

Celebrate the traditional feast of the Black Madonna and the Immaculate Conception when Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox joins award-winning singer/author Alessandra Belloni and music director John La Barbera in a 90-minute online event, “Honoring the Black Madonna as Our Lady of Freedom (Madonna della Libera),” in which they share the wisdom of the Black Madonna and her healing powers for our times when both democracy and Mother Earth are in peril.

Alessandra will also talk about her book Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna and present a 10-minute excerpt of her movie Musical Journeys with the Black Madonna in Southern Italy, which premiered last February at NYU Casa Italiana, and was voted winner of Best Documentary Feature at two film festivals.

Monday, December 8, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT