Creativity—My Own—Answering a Question from a Reader

This morning a DM subscriber took me up on my comment that the books I write have often surprised me.  I will attempt a few examples of what I mean in today’s DM.

When I was writing my book The Reinvention of Work some 27 years ago, I thought I was finished after treating chapters on The Pain of Work; How a new cosmology moves us from machine to green work and helps us to revision work; On inner work and vocation; How creativity merges our inner and outer work; and applying creation spirituality to reinventing education, farming, art, business, health care, psychology, etc.

I thought I was finished with the book when a dream said to me: You are missing a chapter, one on reinventing ritual. Sure enough, I added a chapter on “The Reenchantment of Ritual: Reinventing Work by Rediscovering the Festive.”  Not long after, I was expelled from the Dominican Order, had to reinvent my work, and joined the Episcopal church where I was allowed to reinvent forms of Liturgy into what we today call the “cosmic mass.” 

In writing my book on The Pope’s War: How Ratzinger’s Crusade Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved, I laid out the story of the 34-year papacies of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict, their killing of base communities and liberation theology, their siding up to fascist organizations and encouraging the like of Opus Dei, Legion of Christ, etc., their silencing of 108 theologians and attempts to kill theology outright. 

I asked near the end of the book: “Is there a purpose and a reason for this sordid history?”  And the answer came through very clear: The Holy Spirit wants to kill the church in its present form and restart Christianity as a more authentic witness to the teachings and person of Jesus.  This surprised me; still does to this day.

Most recently, I just finished a book entitled Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond. Julian lived through the worst pandemic in European history, the bubonic plague, yet stayed completely grounded and refused to run down the rabbit hole with those who hated life and nature in their panic response to what was transpiring.  Then, in examining more deeply her amazingly creation-centered and goodness-centered and feminist theology I was struck by not only her powerful mysticism but by her prophetic stance. 

Julian, by her emphasis on the feminine side of God, and also by her insistence on the goodness of nature and on non-dualism, was deconstructing the entire patriarchal agenda and Godhead.  No wonder she has been so little studied over the centuries!  She is addressing directly the cause of the pandemic—matricide and our hatred of mother nature that has resulted in climate change.  She is interfering with patriarchy big-time.  She is a prophet as well as mystic.

These are a few examples of my writing surprising me.  

See Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time.

See Matthew Fox, The Pope’s War: How Ratzinger’s Crusade Imperiled the Church and What Can be Saved.

Soon to come: Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond.  Publication date, October 15, 2020.

Banner Image: A collage of Matthew Fox’s books.

Do you have stories to tell of how your creativity and what you have given birth to has surprised you? 

Natural Grace: Dialogues on Creation, Darkness, and the Soul in Spirituality and Science 
by Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake

Natural Grace, a 208 page inspired dialogue between theologian Matthew Fox and scientist Rupert Sheldrake, unites wisdom and knowledge from unconventional angles. Considering themselves heretics in their own fields, Matthew and Rupert engage the conversation from postmodern and post-postmodern perspectives, deconstructing both religion and science—while setting the foundation for a new emerging worldview. Having outgrown the paradigms in which they were raised, both Fox and Sheldrake see it as part of their life missions to share the natural synthesis of spirituality and science rooted in a paradigm of evolutionary cosmology.

The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved

The Pope’s War offers a provocative look at three decades of corruption in the Catholic Church, focusing on Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. The final section in the book focuses on birthing a truly catholic Christianity.
“This book should be read by everybody, not only for its ferocious courage, but also for its vision for what needs to be saved from the destructive forces that threaten authentic Christianity.” ~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope.
“In the gripping The Pope’s War, Matthew Fox takes an unwavering look at the layers of corruption in the Catholic Church, holding moral truth against power.”   — Jason Berry, author of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II