Blog
review of revised and updated
autobiography
Matthew
Fox
Confessions
THE
MAKING OF A POSTDENOMINATIONAL PRIEST
Matthew Fox, heart friend and colleague first published his
autobiography on his birthday, December 21st, winter solstice
1995. Now in 2015, on his 75th
birthday Matthew has revised and updated
CONFESSIONS: THE MAKING OF A
POSTDENOMINATIONAL PRIEST by adding the past 18 years of his life to this
incredible telling. It is no accident
that Matthew was born on December 21st, winter solstice, the day we observe
creation welcoming the “new light” as days begin to lengthen. Matthew’s birth is timely; the gift of his
life, precious, a “new light” for us not only to observe but also to take to
heart.
I started working with Matthew at the University of
Creation Spirituality as co-director of the Doctor of Ministry Program after he
published CONFESSIONS in 1995. So the added 200 pages that tell the story of
his last 18 years are much of the time that I have known him.
With the assuredness of his heart’s convictions and the
undergirding by his vast intellectual capacity and extremely well read and
informed mind, his creative soul insists on combining, correlating, finding,
developing, sharing, leading with new metaphors, new myths that have the power
to bring Christianity into a new way of being.
Matthew believes that it may be too late for organized religion as we
have known it and he hopes it is. It is
time for something new. This is a new
day where all belief systems are coming together to create a new thing.
Matthew states what he believes: Principles of Creation
Spirituality (316). In these last 18
years he has doggedly stood by those Principles in every written document, book
and lecture. He lives and breathes these
Principles and challenges the Church and each of us to embrace them and begin
to exemplify them. In so doing, we might
still have an opportunity to save our Earth home.
In his Confessions we witness his courageous heart. He has
a large heart and a willing persistent spirit as he demonstrates by taking on organized
religion that has been amuck in patriarchy far too long. I am a woman who has
been oppressed by that patriarchy. It is not only women who are oppressed. Men suffer oppression and the poor who seek
liberation suffer at the hands of patriarchy.
This oppression touches all of us.
Reading Matthew’s remarks about the need for change, his historical
reporting of the papacies that have wounded the church by their actions and
silencing the voice of the already oppressed.
And then, like a breath of fresh air, we witness the hopeful spirit of
Matthew’s courage when Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Jesuit training, first from the
Americas with intellectual curiosity and a heart for the poor is selected for
the Papacy. He chooses the name,
Francis, another first. Matthew writes “Letters
to Pope Francis: Rebuilding a Church with Justice and Compassion” stating his
expectations for this papacy (433). Way
to go, Matthew.
I believe that Matthew Fox’s name will be recorded in
history as one theologian who made a significant impact on the way that
Christianity is experienced and understood in the 21th Century. He
has a courageous heart; a large heart for justice and compassion; a heart that longs
for justice and compassion for all of creation and he is specific to the needs
of women, children and the LGBTQ community.
He puts himself on the line for the oppressed. When I read his writing I find words for what
my heart has always known and has never been able to voice. If you are seeking to understand your own
personal spiritual unrest you may very well find a comrade in Matthew’s words that
are clear, firm, loving, compassionate, direct and forward reaching.
Reading these pages I experience the light of wisdom and
profound care of his courageous heart. What a relief to have such a powerful and
relentless advocate!
In reading CONFESSIONS
I came to think of Matthew’s Mind as a huge mansion; each room a treasure of
codified knowledge garnered from personal experience as activist/prophet and from
tireless hours of research. He takes
elements from each room and mixes them together in precise alchemy of the
Wizard and challenges us all. One of the wonderful gifts of this book is the descriptive
overviews that Matt provides for many of his books. He lists the main points, sometimes offers an
outline, or enough detail to wet the appetite and entice the reader. Each book
is a work of scholarly art based on thorough research and knowledge along with
his vast ability to pull all that he knows together into deep teaching that we might
understand and embrace wisdom not only with our minds, but also with our hearts.
I was surprised to learn of a Children’s book; a Seuss-like
telling of the creation story, In the
Beginning There Was Joy (395).
Matthew’s creative presentation is inviting, for example,
when presenting Hildegard anew at the time of her canonization and being made a
doctor of the church, he wants to present the power and true presence of
Hildegard. Matthew seeks a way to bring
this twelfth century genius and leader into the twenty-first century. He selects a methodology of placing Hildegard
in a room with various twentieth century thinkers of note. Hildegard meets
folks like Mary Oliver, Howard Thurman, Einstein, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes,
Dorothee Soelle and the final chapter is a question: “Is Hildegard a Trojan
Horse Entering the Gates of the Vatican?” (427).
Another aspect of Matthew’s writing that I find delightful
and I am thrilled to see him doing is RAPPING. Matthew shares a rap that he
created for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 2006 (405) and one that he shared at a
poetry slam in Oakland, CA. on the State of the Church, 2006 (411). They are both “stoppers!” They encourage the
reader to “stop” and hold the energy of the words that stirs ones heart to
justice and compassion. They embrace ALL
and that’s what I love about this “new light” that shines through Matthew Fox,
a solstice child by design.
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