Jesus on Democracy à la Meister Eckhart, continued

Eckhart celebrates the theme of the “royal ‘person” as found in the Scriptures.  The royal person in Israel was responsible for justice and keeping the community together. 

Eckhart insists we are all royal persons.  We share in the dignity and nobility of royalty—but also in the responsibility for justice, compassion and keeping community together.

This forms the substratum for democracy: That no one has the right to lord over others. That we are in this together.  That all abide by the same laws (provided, as Aquinas insisted, that the laws are for the common good and not made for a few).  Government of, by and for the people, therefore.

We all share in this dignity.  By our divine origin as images of God and as co-creatures with the Spirit, we ourselves are already nobles, aristocrats and of royal blood.  

“Our Lord teaches us in these words how royal people have been created in their nature.”  In us, “God’s image shines and gives off light.”  Eckhart surely has the psalmist’s hymn to creation in mind:

You have made them little less than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.   (Ps. 8:5f)

The psalmist—and Eckhart and much in the Scriptures—see all humans as kings.  The Yahwist tradition “presents human beings as kings” throughout the Bible, points out biblical scholar Helen Kenik. 

In the last analysis, since only God is king, this is another way of talking about our godliness and divinity.  Here lies the bedrock to democracy: The dignity and divinity of each person from birth.  

Obviously, this is more an aspiration than a completed reality but that is the whole point of advancing history and evolution in the direction of fulfilling a truer democracy. 

Moving from forbidding women to vote and from slaves as non-citizens and non-humans, from Jim Crow laws and from de facto segregation and redlining to prevent people of color from owning property, from Chinese Exclusion Laws that deny citizenship to Asians, from genocide of indigenous peoples and locking up their children in state or church schools is democracy happening. 

These hard-won efforts often achieved through “good trouble” make democracy work.  The struggle is still very much with us today in the face of MAGA onslaughts. 

One works—and prays—at continuing to make progress in democracy.

Adapted from Matthew Fox, “’Sermon’ Thirty-Six: Everyone an Aristocrat, Everyone a Royal Person,” in Fox, Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart, pp. 510-530.

See Helen Kenik, “Toward a Biblical Basis for Creation Theology,” in Matthew Fox, ed., Western Spirituality: Historical Roots, Ecumenical Routes, pp. 27-75.

And Fox, “Meister Eckhart and Karl Marx: The Mystic as Political Theologian,” in Fox, Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life, pp. 165-198.

And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.

Banner Image: Baltimore Ceasefire Peace Walk March by communities calling for an end to gun violence, 8/6/2017. Photo by Elvert Barnes on Flickr. 8/6/2017.

Queries for Contemplation

Do you recognize God’s image in people “shining and giving off light”?  How does that relate to forming and preserving a healthy democracy?

Recommended Reading

Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart

Matthew Fox’s comprehensive translation of Meister Eckhart’s sermons is a meeting of true prophets across centuries, resulting in a spirituality for the new millennium. The holiness of creation, the divine life in each person and the divine power of our creativity, our call to do justice and practice compassion–these are among Eckhart’s themes, brilliantly interpreted and explained for today’s reader.
“The most important book on mysticism in 500 years.”  — Madonna Kolbenschlag, author of Kissing Sleeping Beauty Goodbye.  

Western Spirituality: Historical Roots, Ecumenical Routes

In this book, Fox gathers scholars from various cultures and traditions such as Helen Kenik, Jon Sobrino, Nicolas Berdyaev, Rosemary Ruether, M. D. Chenu, Mary Jose Hobday, Ronald Miller, Monika Hellwig, James Kenney, Justin O’Brien and others to approach creation spirituality from many traditions and many angles. 
“An exciting and important book…a pleasant alternative to the oppressive burden of the fall/redemption tradition.” ~ New Review of Books and Religion 

Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life

In one of his foundational works, Fox engages with some of history’s greatest mystics, philosophers, and prophets in profound and hard-hitting essays on such varied topics as Eco-Spirituality, AIDS, homosexuality, spiritual feminism, environmental revolution, Native American spirituality, Christian mysticism, Art and Spirituality, Art as Meditation, Interfaith or Deep Ecumenism and more.

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.