Hildegard; Prayer; Wendell Berry & Via Tranformativa

Week of 8/31-5/2026: Hildegard, Prayer, Wendell Berry & the Via Transformativa

9/6/2026

This is a summary of the previous week’s daily meditations. Some are written by Matthew Fox (MF) and some are written by his colleague, Gianluigi Gugliermetto. (GG)

August 31, 2026: Hildegard’s Politics (GG)

Hildegard was a nun, a healer, a composer, and so much more. But unlike most women of her time, she was also valued for her mind. She wrote prolifically, including correspondence with emperors and popes. When she was about 60 years old, Hildegard was invited to speak in the major cathedrals of cities along the Rhine. Large crowds came to hear her.

This invitation was nothing short of extraordinary, as women were not allowed to preach at all. It has been speculated that her fame as as a visionary who was in direct contact with the living light (as she said) was the reason for such an exception. She spoke about her distaste for clergy who lived lives of luxury, but also criticized the Cathars, who preached voluntary poverty and extreme asceticism.

The centralization of power under feudalism. Image from the
Medieval Chronicles website, modified by Rosanna Tufts.

September 1, 2026: Two Prayers: One from St Francis & One from The Dalai Lama (MF)

Matthew’s book, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, is a book about deep ecumenism. Today we reflect on prayers from two completely different traditions.

St. Francis’s famous Prayer for Peace begins: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace/Where there is hatred let me sow love/Where there is injury, pardon/Where is doubt, faith/Where there is despair, hope/Where there is darkness, light/Where there is sadness, joy.

Notice that rather than petitioning God for something that is wanted, this prayers asks that the one who prays be changed.

Meanwhile, a Buddhist prayer that the Dalai Lama likes to recite comes from Buddhist monk, Shantideva, who lived around 700 AD. It begins: May I be a guard for those who need protection/A guide for those on the path/A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood/May I be a lamp in the darkness/A resting place for the weary. Note the similarities!

September 2, 2026: Wendell Berry: Farmer, Mystic, Prophet, Champion of Earth & Body (MF)

Recently, Wendell Berry passed away. Farmer, poet, environmentalist, and prophet, he was one of the great creation spirituality thinkers and practitioners of our generation.

In his poetry, essays and books, he spoke on behalf of the mountains being raped by coal mining, on behalf of the soil being diminished by industrial agriculture, and on behalf of animals being rendered extinct.

In The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture, Berry wrote: You cannot devalue the body and value the soul—or value anything else. He also said: There is an uncanny resemblance between our behavior toward each other and our behavior toward the earth. Between our relation to our own sexuality and our relation to the reproductivity of the earth, for instance. His thoughts were in perfect alignment with the principles of Creation Spirituality.

Wendell Berry (agricultural prophet): from his lecture “The Work of Local Culture”
excerpted by SustainableTraditions.com. Photo by WiselyWoven on Flickr. CC-by-NC-SA 2.0.

September 3, 2026: Matthew Fox Essential Writings: Creation Spirituality 101 (GG)

Occasionally, a reader will ask GG to explain the frame of reference of these daily meditations. One particular book, edited by Charles Burack, may help. It’s called Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality.

If you have not read Matthew’s autobiography, you will find a summary of it in Burack’s introduction, which dispels some myths about Matthew’s fight with the Vatican. For example, he was never excommunicated, nor was there a trial in Rome.

The book then explains Creation Spirituality, including: “original blessing,” the “four paths,” and the “Cosmic Christ.” The book also discusses dreams, visions, and the “creation mystics,” as well as evil, prayer, education, and activism. It is altogether a very useful, informative, and inspiring book.

Matthew Fox (5of15) How Do We Wake Up
“How do we wake up?” Matthew Fox talks about Awe, which he said is the closest word we have to mysticism. Video by justmultimedia.

September 4, 2026: Complexity – part 1 (GG)

Complexity is hardly a word associated with spirituality. Its opposite, “simplicity,” often is. Having a simple heart, simplifying one’s lifestyle, etc.

One of the reasons GG resonates so strongly with Creation Spirituality is its focus on engaged activism and social change, which tends to be missing in any kind of New Age spirituality.

In the Via Transformativa, problems abound, and problem-solving strategies are necessary. And where there are problems, there is complexity. The Via Transformativa today reclaims center stage in our psyches because of the sorry state of the world. Could a better balance between simplicity and complexity help us?

September 5, 2026: Complexity – part 2 (GG)
At one time, we used to be more or less civil to those we disagreed with politically. Unfortunately, in this current political climate, that tolerance has been replaced by hatred. And that hatred is causing much chaos and extreme reactivity.

A case in point, which is especially important for those living in Europe, is the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Three years after the Russian invasion, there is no interest by the EU authorities in finding common ground with Russia. Only the Vatican continues to pursue a diplomatic solution.

GG believes that we who are spiritually aware have a great task in the present moment: Keep complexity alive. We need to understand that any war has complex roots. We may tend to prefer simple explanations to complex political and historical problems because we are overwhelmed.
GG suggests that it may be wise to let go of our need to control the situation, accept the chaotic complexity of our time, and root for the basic values of our common humanity.

Banner Image: Banner image: Wendell Berry with solar panels on his farm in Kentucky. Photo by Guy Mendes. Wikimedia Commons