Dear Friends,
We hope that you are safe and well!
Today's Meditation presents a message of Goodness Love and Joy from God and Nature in the words of Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich and Meister Eckhart. (be sure and click on the videos of the whale protecting the diver and the beauties of nature.)
We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in healthcare, in the workplace, in the Church--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.
In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that in God’s economy of abundance, when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.
We hope and pray that you and your loved ones experience genuine peace of mind and heart, and remain in good health during this challenging time.
As Spring comes to birth, may you find peace, healing, hope, and the infusion of joy in your life!
With our love and care,
Ron & Jean
The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers
Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox
Goodness, Love, Joy, from God and Nature
June 1, 2021
We speak of nature and cosmos and all within them as "words of God," Logos or "other Christs." This is the consciousness of creation spirituality.
Meister Eckhart says simply, "every creature is a word of God and a book about God." Thus to study creatures is to study God and interact with divinity. Surely this is where human awe derives from, being struck by something so much bigger than ourselves, something sacred therefore, which is nature with all its elements and all its beings and birthings, humanity included. Any part of it can strike us with awe. And reverence. And gratitude.
Whale biologist Nan Hauser dedicated her life to protecting whales…and was saved from a tiger shark by a humpback whale. Video by Did You Know Animals.
There is nothing neutral about nature or the cosmos. Yes, we have to have a certain amount of objectivity if we are putting nature’s pieces under a microscope or measuring distances of stars and supernovas and the rest, that effort at objectivity is what feeds scientific explorations after all.
But objectivity is not the bottom line, it is far from the whole story.
"Dome of Creation" in the Basilica di San Marco, Venice. Photo by Slices of Light on Flickr.
This is why Genesis one, which is after all, a creation story entirely about cosmology and how certain people of old told the story of creation to their children, is not just about facts. It is about wonder and the goodness that creation bathes in.
The term "God saw that it was good" is repeated all along the way as each story relates the unfolding of new dimensions to creation beginning with "the waters and dry land, the "earth" and the "seas." This goodness extends to "vegetation, seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees bearing fruit with the seed inside." And the two great lights, "one to govern the day, the smaller light to govern the night and the stars." And the waters "teeming with living creatures" and "birds flying within the vault of heaven," and the great creatures of the sea. And the earth that produced "every kind of living creature—cattle, reptiles and wild beasts."
And, after humans came along, "God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good." (1: 31)
All the parts are good, but the whole is very good.
Creation does not just exist. It teems with goodness in all its corners and places. It evokes awe and wonder and gratitude therefore. And joy. For love and joy are our response to goodness and beauty.
Mother Earth – Beautiful Nature Around The World. Video by PRIMAL EARTH SOUNDS.
This is what not only the first chapter of the Bible tells us, the J source. It is also what the mystics are singing about. It is Julian of Norwich saying:
"God is "unending goodness" and an "endless goodness."
Ancient trees tower over an ocean inlet in Ucluelet, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Photo by Brad Ralph on Unsplash
"God is the same thing as nature" and God is "the very essence of nature."
"The goodness in nature is God."
"The first good thing is the goodness of nature."
We are all born into a "birthright of never-ending joy."
All we encounter in creation is "everything that God loves" also.
"To behold God in all things is to live in complete joy."
A "reverent awe is the proper response to the supreme beauty of the divine."