Christmas: 2022, Doxa and Moxa

To our readers: Usually on Sunday we offer an “index” of the meditations of the previous week.  But this Sunday being Christmas, the index will appear tomorrow instead.

For me, the real strength of the Jesus story including the story of his birth resides in its archetypal power, a power akin to what Nancy Abrams calls aspiration.  (Nancy is Jewish and not Christian I might add.)  For Nancy, aspiration is the best name for God we have at this time in history.  

Christmas is bathed in aspiration, that is why it inspires.

What is the aspiration of Christmas?  An invitation to see the world anew, as a place where doxa or glory reigns in existence itself—“the glory of the Lord fills the whole world” sings the psalmist.  There is glory emanating from every creature in the universe (physicists tell us there are photons or light waves in every atom in the universe).  

The first word spoken to the poor shepherds by the angels on a cold winter night is: “Glory,” doxa in Greek, the language in which the Gospels were written.  (See the wonderfully simple painting by M. C. Richards in this DM.)

As I point out in my first book on the Cosmic Christ, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, whenever you see “glory” or doxa in the Bible you are dealing with cosmic wisdom or the cosmic Christ.  It is a true entrance into that new way of seeing, that the Cosmic Christ (or Buddha Nature/Image of God), the light in all things, is beaming its radiance, light or glory from within all things.

The creation story in John’s Gospel speaks this way also, that the Logos or word of God, the energy that birthed the universe as fireball 138 billion years ago brings forth light still to a dark world, enlivening it and lighting it up including bringing enlightenment to humans who otherwise often choose to dwell in the darkness. 

The darkness of injustice, oppression, power-over, cruelty, war, lies, domination, the reptilian brain out of control, matricide toward Mother Earth, of patriarchy therefore, of dualism, pessimism, depression and despair.

“The Word was God” and it was “a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower….The Word was “the true light that enlightens all people and was coming into the world.”  Indeed, the story goes, “the Word was made flesh, and lived among us, and we saw its glory, full of grace and truth.”

My Christmas prayer for all peoples is this: 

May we celebrate and birth the doxa (glory of the Cosmic Christ we give birth to) and the moxa (my word for the moxie of the historical prophetic Jesus) today and everyday.

In other words, may the mystic in each of us and the prophet in each of us be born anew this Christmas day.

See Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ 

See Matthew Fox and Bishop Marc Andrus, Stations of the Cosmic Christ, pp. 64-69. 

Also Matthew Fox, Stations of the Cosmic Christ Meditation Cards

To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.

Banner Image: “Doxa” by M.C. Richards (first in a series, gifted to Matthew Fox)

Queries for Contemplation

How do you birth doxa and moxa this Christmas season?

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.

Stations of the Cosmic Christ
By Matthew Fox and Bishop Marc Andrus.

This is a book of meditations on the Cosmic Christ, accompanying the images of 16 wonderful clay tablets by Javier Ullrrich Lemus and M.C. Richards. Together, these images and meditations go far beyond the traditional Stations of the Cross to inspire a spirit awakening and understanding of the cosmic Christ Consciousness, Buddha consciousness, and consciousness of the image of God in all beings, so needed in our times.
“A divinely inspired book that must be read by every human being devoted to spiritual and global survival. It is cosmically brilliant.” — Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit

Stations of the Cosmic Christ Meditation Cards and Guide Booklet

Beautiful full-color cards from Stations of the Cosmic Christ to aid in your meditations on the Cosmic Christ, featuring the images of 16 wonderful clay tablets by Javier Ullrrich Lemus and M.C. Richards. Step beyond the traditional Stations of the Cross and experience a spirit awakening and understanding of the cosmic Christ Consciousness, Buddha consciousness, and consciousness of the image of God in all beings, so needed in our times. Includes an instruction booklet containing suggestions on how to use the cards.