Art, Peace and War

Daily Meditations] 1/4/2026: Week of 12/29-1/3/2025: Art, Peace & War

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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox

Week of 12/29-1/3/2025:
Art, Peace & War

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).

December 29, 2025: More Artists on the Christmas Archetype (MF)

Art is an organic way to learn and share important stories. Act them out. Embody them. Paint or write them. M. C. Richards says, “all art is bodily.” And that makes it easier to remember than, say, dogmas and doctrines.
Matthew teamed up Salvadoran artist Ullrrich Javier Lemus (now a US citizen) with M.C. Richards. One sculptural piece he did was of Mother Mary bent tenderly toward the fetus in her womb. The covering over her head is like the umbilical cord, which is connected of course with the fetus. There is an emphasis on the umbilical cord, which is a marvelous metaphor for interdependence.

The whole universe is interdependent. As Matthew reminds us: We are all mothers of God, birthers of the Cosmic Christ in ourselves and, hopefully, in our work and citizenship.

December 30, 2025: Evaluating the Past Year: The Bad News & The Good (MF)

The New Year offers an opportunity not only for planning the year ahead, but evaluating the year just past. From the point of view of the presidency, things were not good in 2025. At all. But let us celebrate some of the good news. Matthew was reading an end of the year newsletter from Lily Yeh and her Barefoot Artists organization. Her non-profit serves poor people in Rwanda, Kenya, China, and the U.S.*
In China, Barefoot Artists offers a large-scale mosaic mural project. In Rwanda, the organization helps families learn to cultivate land, grow vegetables, and plant fruit-bearing trees, providing nutritious foods they once gathered in the forest.
In January, Lily led a series of workshops in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. Said the organizer, “Lily’s visit and life’s work has quietly shifted all of us.” Lily’s work is a major witness to the power of art to heal.

The Barefoot Artist Official Trailer (2014) – Lily Yeh Documentary HD The Barefoot Artist Official Trailer (2014) – Lily Yeh Documentary. See the full playlist HERE.

December 31, 2025: The Prince of Peace (GG)

One of the wonderful archetypes of Christmas is that of “Prince of Peace.” All over the world, one can find stories of a wondrous male child born in difficult or miraculous circumstances who must live for a time in disguise but who will ultimately save his people from catastrophe.

The “Prince of Peace” ideal has inspired many, including Pope Paul VI who, in 1967, instituted “World Peace Day” to be celebrated on January 1 of each year. Meanwhile, on World Peace Day 2026, Pope Leo XIV will focus on that unarmed and disarming peace that has become his slogan since the day of his election.

Most importantly, Leo decries the current arms race. In a world ruled by narcissistic politicians, a public figure who keeps the bar steady, fighting against the perception of the inevitability of more war, is a treasure.

January 1, 2026: The Root of War is Fear (and Denial) (GG)

Today is World Peace Day, but in Europe, where GG lives, there are near-constant rumors of war. Fear is rampant. The famous expression by Thomas Merton “the root of war is fear” has become tragically appropriate yet again.

For centuries, the Catholic Church espoused the concept of a “just war.” Unfortunately, many exploited the concept as justification for war. Now, in contrast, we have Pope Leo, who unveils the reality of war as a mechanism of utter greed and contempt for human life.

We might be afraid for real reasons, but we need to confront the situation with a calm and rational mind and work to bring the peace that our planet so desperately needs.

January 2, 2026: Concerning News (GG)

It can be a challenge to keep our hearts open when faced with continual new horrors emerging from Gaza, and yet, as a spiritual people, we must.
The parliament of Israel has decided to expel from the occupied territories, 37 humanitarian organizations, effectively stopping their relief work.
Unfortunately, the Italian movement of resistance against the genocide, one of the strongest in Europe, is receiving a huge blow from a judicial inquiry accusing Mohammad Hannoun, a Palestinian man at the helm of several charitable organizations, of being an accomplice of Hamas. And, of course, this is being exploited by ring-wing people in Israel and elsewhere.
Infuriatingly, the information leading to the judicial case comes almost entirely from the IDF (the Israeli Army). Let us not miss any chance to unite our voices with those fighting for peace and for sanity in this troubled world.

Israel bans 37 aid groups from Gaza, where the humanitarian situation remains dire. FRANCE 24 English

January 3, 2026: A Great Book from 2025 on a Great Spiritual Teacher—Otto Rank (MF)

One of the most important spiritual books of 2025 that few people have heard of is Robert Kramer’s book, Otto Rank and the Creation of Modern Psychotherapy.

Matthew finds that Rank and Meister Eckhart are very alike in their belief in the pivotal role that creativity, and also the quest for justice, play in our spiritual life.

Kramer claims that “if the 20th century was the century of Freud, the 21st is shaping up to be that of Rank.” He recounts Rank’s feminism and how women have responded to his emphasis on the creative will and moved beyond a “masculine ideology” and the fear of “self-actualizations, self-realization, self-leadership.” Says Matthew: As the most thorough, broad, and fully researched study on Otto Rank ever, this book is a great gift to humankind.

*Tax-deductible donations to Lily Yeh’s work can be made HERE

Banner image: “Peace.” Image by Ross Pollack on Flickr.