On Saturday we meditated on “cataclysms.” There are plenty in circulation these days.
Consider the fact that the previous president knowingly and in a premeditated way translated the “Big Lie” into an assault on the capitol because he was not man enough to admit he lost an election. And how many millions he has suckered into his lie, many of whom are committed to upending our election apparatus and safeguards in another assault on democracy at least as dangerous as that of January 6.
And the lengths he and his followers went to invade the nation’s capital, seek to disrupt the electoral process by violent means, and convince millions that the last election was bogus with the result that now 291 politicians are on the ballot for November 8 who themselves stand for election denial. And, if elected, will implement some of the 400 hundred plus new laws proposing the end of democracy as we know it.
It is easy to be more in love with hate than with healing the nation’s wounds.
This past week Hate was again front and center. Alex Jones, radio personality in the mode of Rush Limbaugh, after years of making millions of dollars attacking families whose small children were murdered at Sandy Hooks, received a court ruling demanding he pay close to one billion dollars in restitution. His response? More hate.
Hate leads to violence—consider the events of January 6 and the ex-president’s friends like Roger Stone and Steven Brannon calling for just that before the event.
Another lie loudly penetrating our politics is the denial of climate change and the suffering of Mother Earth. That is why matricide is a word worth meditating on, praying about and acting on asap.
Speaking of matricide and cataclysms, I received a note recently from Kristal Parks, a friend who has lived in Africa and is very dedicated to saving elephants from extinction.* Her news is sobering and it shows how what is happening in the animal world at the hands of humans parallels very much what humans are doing to one another, whether in Ukraine or at the nation’s capital or in the current election. She writes:
I’ve done the research and the math. . . elephants face extinction in 12 years if the poaching (for ivory) and killing (for revenge by farmers) and the drought don’t stop.
I can not bear the thought of a world without Elephant. The Massai and Samburu tribes of Kenya told me that if elephants go extinct, humans will lose their soul and go crazy.
One of my colleagues in Kenya told me once that “you have a noble dream to save elephants.”
I feel driven to do all I can before it is too late.
See Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, “Your Mother is Dying,” pp. 11-34.
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.
*See PachydermPower.org
To read a transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: The Elephant Ambassador and his family, 2011. Photo by Deena Metzger, from her website home page. Deena shares her encounters with the Elephant Ambassador in her blog,Ruin and Beauty.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you recognize a “cataclysm” on the horizon toward democracy in America? And the “cataclysm” toward Mother Earth and her marvelous creatures, elephants among them? Are you feeling “driven to do all you can before it is too late”?
Recommended Reading
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
In what may be considered the most comprehensive outline of the Christian paradigm shift of our Age, Matthew Fox eloquently foreshadows the manner in which the spirit of Christ resurrects in terms of the return to an earth-based mysticism, the expression of creativity, mystical sexuality, the respect due the young, the rebirth of effective forms of worship—all of these mirroring the ongoing blessings of Mother Earth and the recovery of Eros, the feminine aspect of the Divine.
“The eighth wonder of the world…convincing proof that our Western religious tradition does indeed have the depth of imagination to reinvent its faith.” — Brian Swimme, author of The Universe Story and Journey of the Universe.
“This book is a classic.” Thomas Berry, author of The Great Work and The Dream of the Earth.
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
9 thoughts on “Further Cataclysms including Elephant Futures”
Matthew, Today you speak to us of the cataclysms that we are facing today–of the 291 politicians who are on the ballot for November 8 who themselves stand for election denial. Then another cataclysm is being caused by the
lie loudly penetrating our politics, which is the denial of climate change and the suffering of Mother Earth. And finally you tell us of Kristal Parks, a friend who has lived in Africa and is very dedicated to saving elephants from extinction. She tells us that elephants face extinction in 12 years if the poaching (for ivory) and killing (for revenge by farmers) and the drought don’t stop. You ask us: “Do you recognize a ‘cataclysm’ on the horizon toward democracy in America?” I don’t think it is on the horizon. I think it is already here! As long as we have politicians that can be bought, and a Supreme Court that the people have no input on, nor do we have any way to get rid of them if we do not like what they are doing, because they have life terms. They need term limits!
Then you ask: “And the ‘cataclysm’ toward Mother Earth and her marvelous creatures, elephants among them?” I can see that is where we are headed, just as you pointed out in the DM on Florida last week. And “Yes” I am feeling driven to do all I can before it is too late? God help us!
Regarding the prophesy of the The Massai and Samburu tribes of Kenya, I think it has already happened to some people. How else can you explain the words and actions of people like Alex Jones and Roger Stone and so many others? That is me exaggerating but it leads to my question. Can a person actually lose their soul? Is that possible? Watching the actions of people like Putin and Jones, I truly do wonder if they have lost their souls.
How about more solutions and not just gloom and doom. I’m sure there has to be some resurrection message in all of this.
If elephants were to go extinct, then we humans deserve to go extinct as well. In the grandeur of the universe we are just one annoying species , in comparison to the millions of other species in our biosphere who are doing what they do in an orderly intelligent way ( mushrooms, trees, earthworms and on and on).
Matthew, in today’s DM you raise very sobering questions about what ‘mankind’ (intentionally meaning toxic and unbalanced patriarchal values/institutions/individuals) has historically destructively done to the present day to the rest of humanity, and Mother Nature/Earth is nothing short of existentially cataclysmic for All Life. If we become extinct as a species (like so many thousands of our fellow sacred species have already passed), God forbid, this will be a ‘man’ caused extinction, and probably Mother Nature will be healed and go on thriving without us. It seems like we have ungratefully destroyed the sacred gift of Life on sacred Mother Earth that God has given us. Can enough of ‘mankind’s’ sins of egocentricity, greed, lies, racism, ignorance, hatred… be healed to save us and Mother Nature/Earth? These are the prophetical existential questions you are asking of all of us. May our Creator, the Divine Feminine~Sacred Masculine, have Mercy on us and All Life in God’s ongoing co-Creation~Evolution in the Cosmos….
🔥❤️🌎🙏
Metaphorically and symbolically the elephant represents “The Keepers of Memory”. They call to our remembrance the true nature of our Soul and the wisdom ways of the collective of souls working in balance, harmony and alignment… in collaboration with the One Creatrix Matriarchal Mother Soul of all, whom maintains and sustains the Great Webb of all life that exists, linking the As Above with the So Below. The threads of this Great Webb have been cataclysmically unraveling, due to many within humanity having forgotten, many whom have lost the conscious awareness, memory, and rememberance of the true nature of Ones soul, which is intimately linked to the One Soul of the Earth Mother in union with the Cosmic Mother and Her Wisdom ways. I find myself being driven, to go within and do the deep soul work that I am responsible to do, consciously awakening, remembering, reclaiming, restoring and resurrecting the memory of the true nature of my soul, through Her Wisdom ways. I also find myself being driven to step out and do what I am given to do in collaboration with others as well. Over the past 2 days I gathered with others in prayer, drumming and singing the ancient healing chants, as well as entering into the womb matrix of the Sweat Lodge through the wisdom ways of prayer, ceremony and ritual; keeping the portals and gateways of Divine Light open and flowing… a river of light that gives life, poured out upon and radiating out toward all.
In todays Meditation I would recommend finding another way to describe Mr. Trumps non action rather than “not man enough.”
I think a previous DM mentioned soul carnage, which it seems to me describes both the actions and the results of evil actions so that we face extinction of democracy, our precious relatives of plants and animals, and thus, ourselves. I have a friend who believes the end times are upon us from her religious beliefs in the literal interpretation of the Bible, especially Revelation, but many of us also believe that we may be in the end times simply because of our own greed and selfishness. Politics has always been risky, but we are close to losing our human rights. That is no excuse, IMO, though, for passivity. I call on everyone to work to elect people who are not deniers. There are all kinds of opportunities to make phone calls through phone banks, write letters and postcards, and to contact elected officials even though they appear to represent everything you abhor. Yesterday some lectionaries featured the gospel story of the poor widow insisting that a corrupt judge give her justice, and he finally gave in to get her off his case. Persistence is needed even if the outcome may not please us. And we always have the responsibility to bear each other’s burdens (St. Paul) and walk each other home (Ram Dass) no matter what else is happening.
Sue, You write today: “I call on everyone to work to elect people who are not deniers.” I totally agree! I hope that everyone does their homework for this election, and yotes only for people who are NOT deniers !!!