The cutting down on oil and gas from Russia may spur a quicker movement to electronic vehicles and thus assist to set back climate change by other means as well.
The food crisis that is coming may also perhaps assist countries to cut back on eating meat and thus assist climate change.
It reinforces the need to deal with Evil both personal and societal.
It may wake the Russian people to depose their current despot.
·It has put democracy on display.
It has put Evil and our capacity for evil on display for all to see and to respond to.
It has put courage and generosity on display not only by Ukrainians but by many generously offering to assist the exiled Ukrainians and those others willing to sacrifice to pay more for gasoline and food (72% of Americans said they would pay more for gasoline to assist the Ukrainians).
It may awaken people worldwide to the grave dangers of feeding the toxic masculine (Putin, for example) and moving on to the healthy masculine in league with the sacred feminine (including wisdom and caring for Mother Earth and compassion).
It may awaken some far right wing Republicans to cease and desist their honoring of despots.
It reminds us that Truth matters. And Justice matters. And Peace matter.
It may so disgust us to see War so up close and personal that we move from war with each other to act collectively as a species to combat climate change and our own extinction.
It instructs the young that there are more important things in life than going shopping and acquiring the latest gadgets.
It may inspire the many giant corporations that currently pay no taxes to pay their fair share.
It may inspire congress to see to it that all corporations pay taxes.
See Matthew Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
See also Matthew Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer on Creation Spirituality
To read a transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: The sunflower is a common image used in anti-war, particularly anti-nuke, media given it’s resilient nature. The sunflower is also the official national flower of Ukraine. Originally posted to Flickr by Niobe Flux.
Queries for Contemplation
Which of these “silver linings” most speak to you?
Recommended Reading
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
12 thoughts on “Some “Silver Linings” within the Appalling News from Ukraine? Part II”
Matthew, You ask us today: “Which of these “silver linings” most speak to you?” Here are the “silver linings” you have shared with us in your meditation–and they all speak to me:
1. The cutting down on oil and gas from Russia may spur a quicker movement to electronic vehicles and thus assist to set back climate change by other means as well.
2. The food crisis that is coming may also perhaps assist countries to cut back on eating meat and thus assist climate change.
3. It has put democracy on display.
4. It has put Evil and our capacity for evil on display for all to see and to respond to.
5. It has put courage and generosity on display not only by Ukrainians but with others willing to sacrifice to pay more for gasoline and food (72% of Americans said they would pay more for gasoline to assist the Ukrainians).
6. It may awaken people worldwide to the grave dangers of feeding the toxic masculine (i.e. Putin) and moving on to the healthy masculine in league with the sacred feminine (including wisdom and caring for Mother Earth and compassion).
7. It may awaken some far right wing Republicans to cease and desist their honoring of despots.
8. It may so disgust us to see War so up close and personal that we move from war with each other to act collectively as a species to combat climate change and our own extinction.
9. It instructs the young that there are more important things in life than going shopping and acquiring the latest gadgets.
10. It may inspire congress to see to it that all corporations pay taxes.
If these things can be implemented it could be the beginning of a whole new day !!!
I too, see all the potential beauty and goodness of ALL the things Mathew has spoken of, regarding the silver lining to be seen, in the midst of this war. My hopeful prayer is that humanity will actively begin nurturing the unfolding of all of this… and that we collectively will evolve making the necessary changes… so that the light of all of this may emerge, from within the dark times we find ourselves living in. There undoubtedly will be many sacrifices… however the potential gains do inspire the hope of a global paradigm shift within the hearts, minds and souls of humanity. We all have our part to contribute.
Mathew, thank you so very much, for sharing the poetry, especially the second poem, regarding some of the history and the removing meaning of the words silver lining, as well as your personal comments regarding this. Much appreciated!
AMEN !!! Jeanette !!!
A beautiful work of art meditation. Combining the DM from yesterday with today, yes, the American political mindset has to change to the foundation of truth with heartfelt attempts at honesty. We can no longer use the perverted lower mind strategies of rationalization (koan fro Zen: WORDS ARE TRAPS) that obscure and alter the higher mind’s universal truths. It is a sin to employ sophisticated language strategies knowing the strategies are falsehoods and attempts at mind control. A citizen who is a staunch Democrat or Republican will look the other way when political rhetoric is tailored to deceive if it will win their debate. Notice that the same mindset is involved in sports events. When a referee makes a bad call fans will look the other way if the bad call advances their team. I agree with the “silver lining” that the world is growing up.
Good can follow evil, as light can emerge from darkness, enthusiasm from tedium, courage from fear, faith from doubt, and poetry from prose. Our hope is in the God who allows, creates, toggles and reconciles these contraries at his whim, and gives grace, consolations, and encouragement to ride this earthly rollercoaster. All why keeping a sharp eye on the dirty ways of the world in not falling prey to the illusions we’re asked to embrace — like soldiering through higher gas prices to help the Ukrainian cause. Nonsense. There are no global oil shortages. Supply is as it has been prior to the Russian invasion. Our imports of Russian oil were only a piddling 3% of the total supply anyway. Truth be told, the oil cartels and consortiums worldwide seize on any earthly wrinkle to raise prices and gouge consumers. We see it every Memorial Day when summer travel increases, so do gas prices, for no reason other than to line the pockets of the 2% who control 70% of the world’s wealth, including those in our nation who price fix for self-gain. The “silver lining” is in their pockets, increased when any unrelated weather event or war or even a minor geo-political turbulence is seized on as a flimsy reason to gouge the average person further. And don’t think for a second, that glaring failures in our foreign policy with Russia going back to the dissolution of the Soviet Union hasn’t contributed to the rise of Putin, and weighed significantly in his decision to invade Ukraine. Do your discerning homework or be duped into “group think,” every government’s dream for its gullible citizenry.
Joe, Today’s question was: “Which of these ‘silver linings’ most speak to you?” It seems that none of them did! Because you do not once comment on the things that Matthew shared that can be taken as “silver linings” (and I listed them all for you in my comment). And when Matthew said: “It has put courage and generosity on display not only by Ukrainians but with others willing to sacrifice to pay more for gasoline and food (72% of Americans said they would pay more for gasoline to assist the Ukrainians).” Your only response was to say that we should “not falling prey to the illusions we’re asked to embrace — like soldiering through higher gas prices to help the Ukrainian cause. Nonsense.” Your points on the prices of oil may be right, but that does NOT change the generosity of the spirit of giving in the 72% of Americans who said they would pay more for gasoline to assist the Ukrainians. And if you listened to the origin of the phrase “silver lining” I would say that your way of saying, “The ‘silver lining’ is in their pockets” of the oil people, just seems to me to be a poor use of the phrase to make a snide comment, for no one but the those who profit from oil or the war would see what they do as a “silver lining” in the TRUE sense of the words.
I agree with you that we need to be aware of how there will always be those who take advantage to make more profits no matter how many have to die and that our foreign policy has often failed to support democracies in favor of despots, again considering only the profit motive. But I also believe that people in general can and do come through and unite at a time like this, even if for just a while—despite the underlying and overlying corruptions in the “system”. One does not destroy the other, both exist–and I pray that the majority of people keep their hearts in the place of compassion and justice, in the face of great evil from the current despot and those who think only of short term profits.
❤️ loved this sharing Mathew. Thank you.
It reminds us that Truth matters. And Justice matters. And Peace matter. Feels like it’s breaking our hearts wide open to share in what really matters and taking heartfelt action with courage globally beyond nationhood.
The light is always there but it gets clouded over with covering up the truth over time. This art piece really resonates with so many of the issues above.
The Fountain of Exhaustion
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-ukraine-pavilion-curators-commitment-exhibiting-venice-biennale-midst-war?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=622e081d856cf16e5fed88bd8be2160a
The commitment to exhibiting Makov’s work at the Biennale is larger than the Biennale itself. The work coalesces the collisions of cultural erasure, infrastructure ruins, and the sustenance of a people in the midst of war. Lanko’s efforts to bring The Fountain of Exhaustion to Venice have been nothing but an extraordinary feat. “I think the challenges our team are facing add value and new meanings to [The Fountain of Exhaustion],” Pavlevych offered. “I think that the myth behind the work will be part of the work itself.”
Thank for this list of hope. It does remind me of the old song, even if it is mainly just sentimental and not very deep at all https://genius.com/Chet-baker-look-for-the-silver-lining-lyrics
Faith~Hope~Love~Wisdom~Creativity~Strength are still within and among us on our spiritual Soul journeys in this earthly dimension and other multidimensions of God’s Creation and Evolution in the Cosmos…. Maybe this quantum connectivity and mystical Loving Oneness can be called the Cosmic Silver Lining….