We are remembering the prophetic voice and loving person that Peter Gabel was.
In his book, Another Way of Seeing: Essays on Transforming Law, Politics and Culture, Gabel argues that all human beings seek a desire for authentic mutual recognition, but this desire is often squelched in a culture that preaches fear of the other.
This fear in turn gets passed on from generation to generation and we become “withdrawn selves,” who perceive the other as a threat rather than as the source of our completion as social beings. A kind of shadow or enemy.
It follows that certain politicians build on this fear of the other and take us even further down dark roads of hatred and division. The result is a socially separated world. This helps to explain the ‘silos’ that our media and politics so often finds itself in today.
He calls for a new kind of “spiritual activism” that speaks to this universal interpersonal longing for community and believes that this can transform law, politics, public policy and culture when a new social movement is constructed on it. Though a lawyer by profession, he urges us to “think with our hearts.”
Michael Lerner comments on Peter’s most recent book, The Desire for Mutual Recognition: Social Movements and the Dissolution of the False Self, which builds on Another Way of Seeing. He writes how Gabel calls for those who seek liberation to “move past liberalism, Marxism, and deconstruction” and instead bring “a respiritualization of every aspect of our world [that] can move us beyond the alienation that characterizes so much of human interactions” and that penetrates institutions in which we feel stuck.
I endorsed the book this way: Peter Gable is a God-wrestler and has been one for years and decades. In this important and needed book he brings his passion for justice and healing of our world along with his well-honed analytical skills to bear on the pressing issue of our time: How to let go of the ‘false self’ and the ‘false we’ that poisons our political discourse and stifles our social imagination. Gabel offers a roadmap to Dr. King’s dream of a “beloved community.”
This summer, Peter wrote me a note praising me for a daily meditation I wrote on the “spark of the soul.” He wrote: Excellent meditations on the spark of the soul, the Holy Spirit that manifests everywhere if we can pause to be aware of it!…Peter. He was a practitioner in what I call deep ecumenism, not afraid to learn from traditions other than his own.
See Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time.
And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion.
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, pp. 189-195.
To read a transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: Peter Gabel and his partner Lisa Jaicks. Photo originally posted to Peter’s website.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you agree with Gabel’s calling for a society that moves beyond fear and division and individuals who move beyond the “false self” and the “false we” to find our common ground?
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
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time
While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others.
“Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward
7 thoughts on “Peter Gabel: His Writings, Part III”
Matthew, Today we are remembering the prophetic voice of Peter Gabel. In his book, Another Way of Seeing: Essays on Transforming Law, Politics and Culture, Gabel argues that all human beings seek a desire for authentic mutual recognition, but this desire is often squelched in a culture that preaches fear of the other. It follows that certain politicians build on this fear of the other and take us even further down dark roads of hatred and division. He calls for a new kind of “spiritual activism” that can transform law, politics, public policy and culture when a new social movement is constructed on it. Gabel urges us to “think with our hearts.” Rabbi Michael Lerner writes how Gabel calls for those who seek liberation to “move past liberalism, Marxism, and deconstruction” and instead bring “a respiritualization of every aspect of our world,” and that penetrates institutions in which we feel stuck. Peter wrote me a note praising me for a daily meditation I wrote on the “spark of the soul.” He wrote: “Excellent meditations on the spark of the soul, the Holy Spirit that manifests everywhere if we can pause to be aware of it!…Peter.” And on top of everything else Peter was a practitioner of what I call deep ecumenism. And I personally agree with Peter that society needs to move beyond fear and division and individuals need to move beyond the “false self” and the “false we” to find our common ground…
What is this common ground that will help us move beyond fear, division and the false self, the false we and how do we find this? Peter Gabel has sought, learnt and taught us that love, compassion and mercy is the common ground… a way of living from the heart; to be the key that opens the door beyond fear, division and the false self, the false we. How we find this key, is through acknowledging and responding to the spirit of Tikkun, which is the soul’s longing desire for healing, wholeness and oneness. All religions and spiritual pathways speak of these same universal truths. We are all wounded souls on the journey seeking the unfoldment, the evolvement and the emergence of the spirit of Tikkun that dwells within our own hearts. We are all in the process of being consciously awakened to the light and truth of this spiritual reality, which exposes all that lies hidden in the shadows of our souls; all of our wounds which are rooted in fear, and the false illusions and deceptive devisive delusions of believing ourselves to be seperated from who we truly are, each other and the all and the everything of creation. Healing this deep soul woundedness is the Great commission given each one of us to do, through the heart of love, compassion and mercy; directed towards ourselves, each other and all of creation.
Peter Gabel’s, a modern spiritual prophet, spiritual message for our times is in the Perennial Spiritual Wisdom Tradition of all mystics around the world. Another modern spiritual mystic and teacher who also recently passed to the other side of the veil is Thich Nhat Hahn. I am presently reading his book — “Interbeing: The 14 Mindfulness Trainings of Engaged Buddhism.” The universal spiritual message for humanity that has always appealed to me by the mystics of all major spiritual traditions has been the Loving~Wisdom Spirit Present uniquely and personally in our hearts (spark of the soul) that interconnects All of us and ongoing eternal co-Creation-Evolution in our Creator’s Diverse Loving Oneness….
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All that I have read above in comments is summarized for me in the words, “Love casts out all fear”.
So we pray to be loving persons daily in all our interactions with one another and learn to see our sister and brother as a child of God to be respected and accepted as they are this day, at this time…letting the Holy Spirit change their hearts of fear to love. How often it is not so much what we say to others but how we listen and accept others that brings a loving connection. Often that requires a lot of letting go on our part and letting be, trusting in God who is working in this person to be come LOVE.
Thank you Brigid for your word of reminder: “So we pray to be loving persons daily in all our interactions with one another and learn to see our sister and brother as a child of God to be respected and accepted as they are this day, at this time…” Amen.
I love the concept of spiritual activism. We need to let go of all the “isms” and labels that just keep making divisions deeper and deeper. The search for common ground requires that I give up my cherished understandings and open myself to listen to those with whom I disagree. So many are impelled by fear, and politicians do everything possible to play on and exaggerate and make up new fears to control people and hold on to power. Listening without being judgmental is absolutely essential, in my opinion, as a first step.
With gratitude for daily Wisdom, Matthew; you have been my spiritual mentor for years,
With love, light, and grace for many more DM’s.