As mentioned previously, Skylar Wilson, Jen Listug and I invited a number of people to express their visions in the second half of our book on the Order of the Sacred Earth as to how they saw OSE might serve. Following are some partial examples of those responses.
From cosmologist Brian Swimme:
An individual hydrogen atom will persist as it is without change for billions of years. At the most, it might disintegrate into an electron and a proton. It will never create anything new by itself.
But, the amazing fact is that if a hydrogen atom finds itself in the intense and interacting community called a star, it discovers that it has the power to participate in crucial ways in its transformation into the elements that give birth to life. In the community called a star an individual atom becomes the gateway into the next era of the universe’s story.
This process whereby the universe constructs communities that ignite creativity of its members has been at work for 14 billion years and at every level of complexity. It now operates in the human world. It will, I predict, be operating with a new intensity with the OSE.
From mystical writer Mirabai Starr:
It is, of course, the balance of the Sacred Feminine and the Holy Masculine that will restore wholeness to the soul of the world. It is with great joy that I discover this vision of an Order of the Sacred Earth. Everywhere I go now, as I travel and teach, I am seeing these seeds bursting through the ravaged landscape.
The youth I meet are hungry for meaningful spiritual practice and wary of organized religion. I want to be part of this revolutionary effort to build a holy container in which to access and express the deepest truth of love echoing from the heart of the world’s wisdom communities in honor of ‘Our Sister, Mother Earth,’ who sustains us.
From philosopher and economist David Korten:
A viable human future requires our transition to an Ecological Civilization grounded in the emerging living Earth narrative of a Second Enlightenment that recognizes and honors the true wonder of creation’s order, complexity, intelligence, and purpose.
This civilization will rest on the foundation of an economy that measures performance by its success in providing every person the opportunity for material sufficiency and spiritual abundance in balance with the generative capacity of a vibrantly healthy living Earth.
I welcome the opportunity to find a spiritual home and intellectual identity in an Order of the Sacred Earth in fellowship with other spiritual-intellectual-activist seekers/doers seeking a deeper truth beyond the partial and outdated cosmologies of established religious dogma and political ideology.
See Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, Jen Listug, Order of the Sacred Earth, pp. 116, 122f., 128.
Banner Image: A group of young people contemplate the sunset. Photo by Tobias Tullius on Unsplash
Queries for Contemplation
Meditate on the journey of an atom—from being a lonely being to a member of a star community and thus transmuting into something new and creative. Do you see community transforming you that way also?
Recommended Reading
Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Listug
In the midst of global fire, earthquake and flood – as species are going extinct every day and national and global economies totter – the planet doesn’t need another church or religion. What it needs is a new Order, grounded in the Wisdom traditions of both East and West, including science and indigenous. An Order of the Sacred Earth united in one sacred vow: “I promise to be the best lover and defender of the Earth that I can be.”
Co-authored by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Berit Listug, with a forward by David Korten, this collection of essays by 21 spiritual visionaries including Brian Swimme, Mirabai Starr, Theodore Richards, and Kristal Parks marks the founding of the diverse and inclusive Order of the Sacred Earth, a community now evolving around the world.
“The Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way.” ~~ Joanna Macy, environmental activist and author of Active Hope.
5 thoughts on “Visions about the Order of the Sacred Earth”
Dear Matthew,
Back in the 1980’s I heard you speak in Lincoln, NE. I don’t recall the venue, but I do remember being very impressed – so I purchased a copy of Original Blessing. I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. I am a retired pastor. I served in the Church of the Brethren for 40 years. I served three different congregations. I spent 21 years at my last call, and led this group to adopt a Statement of Inclusion that was adopted unanimously by our congregation. We have joined a growing group of “affirming Christians.” I am currently reading your book Confessions, and only recently searched for you on Facebook, and signed up for your Daily Meditations.
This morning I read the chapter about Taking on the Vatican. I find it so sad that the church would try to silence you. I find it ironic that Joseph Ratzinger was probably the worst pope in my lifetime. I wonder what kind of relationship, if any, you have with the Catholic Church today. Also, what do you think of Pope Francis?
Thank you for the daily meditations!
David
David–Do I recognize you from TUC? This is a wonderful and educational spot as Matthew is a prophetic and compassionate teacher, in my opinion.
Dear David,
Welcome back to Creation Spirituality and the wisdom of Matthew Fox! We are glad to have you with us on these meditations and hope that you will send in a comment as responses arise. If you go into the archives to the right of each meditation, and choose the month of August, you will find that Matthew has written three meditations about Pope Francis on August 7, 8, and 9. He has also written an extended commentary on his encyclical, Laudato Si: The Pope’s Encyclical and the Coming of Age of Creation Spirituality. The movement continues. Welcome back!
Gail Sofia Ransom
For the Daily Meditation Team
I LOVE all this!! A VISION that makes sense in Today’s World of generating wild ideas and unthought-of previously creations that work and are interconnected for the GOOD OF THE WHOLE AMAZING NEW CREATION SCHEME WITH THE NECESSARY PROVISIONS SUPPLIED FOR SUSTAINING THE EXISTENCE WE NOW PRESENTLY IN TIME CALL “LIFE.” I feel JOY with THANKSGIVING in meditation’s deliberate contemplation of each individual idea and item! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! AMEN. PEACE. SHALOM in all its variations of the beautiful word. I LOVE this one today. My faith is restored and my heart is again filled with hope for our lives in the “hereafter.”
“Twinkle, twinkle, Little Star!
How I wonder what you are!
Way above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!”
–Me, too!
–Barbara
Dear Barbara,
Establishing an ecological civilization that is just and honorable, that encourages creativity and service and creates trust Within its communities requires some of us hold the vision clearly until this second enlightenment congeals. Judging from your comment, this may be the place for you to serve in the Order of the Sacred Earth. Hold the vision. Nurture the hope. Make the pledge. Sing the songs.
Gail Sofia ransom
For the Daily Meditation Team