Many people tuned in online from around the country to Peter Gabel’s memorial service last week, myself included.
I learned so much from the sharing at Peter’s memorial service thanks to Rabbi Michael Lerner’s sharing and that of many others. One story being how Peter, who had a father who did not initially support his own vocation, bent over backwards to be a different kind of father to Sammy, and encouraged him unconditionally in his vocation to be an artist.
Sammy and his mother Lisa, who spoke at the gathering, were in attendance at the memorial service.
The service began with a song to “Return again to the land of our soul; to the land of what we are; to the land where we are; to be born and return again.”
Peter brought heart and soul to the law. His most recent book, which I heartily recommend, is called The Desire for Mutual Recognition: Social Movements and the Dissolution of the False Self. Congressman Jamie Raskin called this book “a thrilling and comprehensive take on how to create a different kind of politics in America.”
Theologian Cornell West called Peter Gabel “one of the grand prophetic voices in our day” and “a long-distance runner in the struggle for justice.”
At the memorial service, people testified to how “he brought out the best in everyone,” that he led in the “politics of meaning” movement, that his was a “feeling philosophy” committed to dissolving the false self and deconstructing patriarchy. That he displayed a kind of “glow” that came from his inner luminescence.
In a small group session, I learned from two people, one participating from Colorado and another from Fresno, Ca, how deeply Peter touched their work and souls directly and indirectly.
The service ended with one of my favorite songs adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes (ch. 3): “Turn, turn, turn. There is a reason, turn, turn, turn,” etc.
It was said that Van Morrison’s lyrics spoke deeply to and about Peter:
If my heart could do my thinkin’
And my head begin to feel
I could look upon the world anew
And know what’s really real.
Peter was a real mensch. A gift to the world of law and all who desire to use the law for freedom and making room for the Spirit of truth and justice.
As president of New College, Peter was also a gift to the world of education trying to bring values to academia. (Like many others trying to reinvent education, he was tortured by WASC, the accrediting body that eventually shut New College down).
To be continued
See Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time.
And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: “Lady Justice” by visual artist Kim Vanderheiden, removing the traditional blindfold and sword to offer a more compassionate icon. Learn more HERE.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you yearn for a “politics of meaning” and law that connects heart and mind and spirituality?
Recommended Reading
The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood For Our Time
Thomas Aquinas said, “To live well is to work well,” and in this bold call for the revitalization of daily work, Fox shares his vision of a world where our personal and professional lives are celebrated in harmony–a world where the self is not sacrificed for a job but is sanctified by authentic “soul work.”
“Fox approaches the level of poetry in describing the reciprocity that must be present between one’s inner and outer work…[A]n important road map to social change.” ~~ National Catholic Reporter
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register
5 thoughts on “In Memoriam: Peter Gabel, Part II”
Matthew, Today you share with us that many people tuned in online from around the country to Peter Gabel’s memorial service last week, yourself included. And you introduced us to Peter in yesterday’s DM. You tell us that you learned so much from the sharing at Peter’s memorial service thanks to Rabbi Michael Lerner’s sharing and that of many others. You say that Peter’s service opened with a song that had these words: “Return again to the land of our soul; to the land of what we are; to the land where we are; to be born and return again.” The Big Return–and speaking of ReTURN–;you tell us that the service ended with one of Yours and my favorite songs adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes (ch. 3): “Turn, turn, turn. There is a reason, turn, turn, turn,” etc. Peter’s new book sounds very interesting and important: The Desire for Mutual Recognition: Social Movements and the Dissolution of the False Self. One final thing: When Peter spoke on the concept of Tikkun Olam, that is “to heal and repair the world,” to me those were just Hebrew words, in a sense, of the via transformativa.
What I sense in Peter Gabel is the sacred balance of the archetypal essence and presence of Mordecai and Ester and their politics of courage vs compromise… that inner wrestling that takes place within one’s true souls sense of self and the solidarity of the head and the heart, the sacred masculine and feminine aspects, collaborating and creatively working together. The evolutionary journey of courage emerging, is knowing who you are on a soul/sense of self level, consciously aware of what you have been called and chosen to actively become and be; as an emissary of the light of love, compassion and mercy. The devolving pathway of compromise is choosing to relinquish and deny one’s true soul heritage and the inherent beauty and goodness of this original blessing; in exchange for the false illusion of the self, defined as personal advancement of power, under the foreign means of domination; rooted in egocentric fear. The providence of the many of the crissises, which this world finds itself in the midst of, is that this activity is meant to consciously shaken and awaken humanity from its lethargy of compromise and to evolve the consciousness of humanity to turn and move towards their true soul/sense of self; in order that collectively and courageously we may choose to make the radical changes we must make; in solidarity, responding with both our minds and our hearts, manifesting the star seeded light of love, compassion and mercy inherent within.
In each moment we have a choice . If we tried to emulate Peter,, we too could be part of making the world more compassionate, just and caring. Why not choose love in every interaction every day ? It costs nothing.
Yes! Thank you Matthew and your DM team for including the YouTube videos of Peter Gabel’s teachings on various Glossary terms from his book, “The Desire for Mutual Recognition.” It does seem to be an important psychospiritual book about Social Justice and the spiritual relationship between personal and social transformation. Peter Gabel was indeed a modern prophet! Peter’s spirituality emphasizes our Soul’s personal and social transformation/evolution nourished and guided by God’s Spirit of Divine Love~Wisdom, Loving Diverse Oneness, co-Creation~Evolution in our Multidimensional Cosmos….
🔥💜🌎🙏
One minor correction: Pete Seeger wrote the lyrics to Turn, Turn, Turn