Week of 11/17-23/2024: Exploring Healthy Masculinity

November 18, 2024: Donald Reeves, Friend, Spiritual/Religious Pioneer and Prophet
Matthew tells us about his remarkable friend, a vicar in London, who was unafraid to shake things up and whom Margaret Thatcher once called “a very dangerous man.”  In his obituary, the conservative Daily Telegraph called him a deeply caring priest who gave endless time to individuals in trouble, and reserved his fiercest public utterances to criticism of the injustices that cause suffering.* He was dedicated to making the Church relevant to all, and so offered “dialogue sermons,” a daily market and cafe, body prayer, and excellent talks on Creation Spirituality. More traditional parishioners fled the church but were replaced by a vibrant, younger, more activist crowd that was interfaith and welcoming to all, including the homeless who came to get out of the cold.  

November 19, 2024: Donald Reeves, Peace-Building, Bach’s Music & Repairing Democracy
Continuing to honor the life of Donald Reeves, we reflect on “Soul of Europe,” an organization Donald founded with his partner, painter and author Peter Pelz. It was a Muslim-Christian collaboration to address the problems in war-torn Bosnia. His radical vision included inviting Muslim survivors of a killing camp to work with Bosnian Serbs on building a memorial for those murdered there. His peacemaking was inspired by Nelson Mandela who said, “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” Donald also loved music. About Bach he said: Peace building is in Bach’s music.  There is an enormous ache, a great longing for union with God, for union with the whole of creation where heaven and earth can meet.

November 20, 2024: Alternatives to Patriarchy and Strongmen and Male Low Esteem
Matthew had the privilege of appearing recently on the She SAID Talks to speak with Jan Jorgensen and Anasuya Issacs about both the sacred masculine and the divine feminine. In light of the recent election and the apparent leaning of young men toward trump, the women wanted Matthew to speak about his book The Hidden Spirituality of Men. Matthew spoke of how men have suffered in the modern era when science taught us that the universe was mechanistic, not, as we now know, very much alive, as a new star is born every 15 seconds! A celebration of Father Sky may signal a return to healthy ritual. And that, Otto Rank teaches, always connects psyche to cosmos. 

November 21, 2024: Practices for Recovering an Authentic Masculinity
Matthew reflects on how, if we are to move on from patriarchy—a move that is absolutely essential if we are to survive as a species—to an understanding of a healthy masculinity, it would be important to highlight the practices that make that evolutionary leap possible. Here are a few of them: 1) Take a camping trip or simply find a place where you have a clear view of the starry sky. Lie down and drink it in. What are you learning, seeing, feeling, connecting with? 2) Google the pictures and stories being fed us daily from the Webb Telescope.  Meditate on their meaning and their beauty. 3) Learn about Brian Swimme’s work, including his film Journey of the Universe. 4) Explore ancient cosmology and creation stories from various cultures. How do they relate to today’s cosmology story from science? 5) Cultivate awe.

November 22, 2024: A Sign of the Times: Moving from Unhealthy to Healthy Masculinity
Unhealthy masculinity has been on full display in the form of trump and the MAGA “cult of toughness and hypermasculinity.” Thom Hartmann spoke to this reality following the election telling us that hateful Trump supporters are out calling for “rape squads.” He cited a tweet by “open Nazi Nick Fuentes” (whom Trump invited over for dinner) telling girls and women, “your body, my choice. Forever.” There is another way. Conservative journalist David French celebrates Admiral William McRaven, former Navy Seal and designer of the team who killed Osama bin Laden. In a commencement speech he said: You must have compassion. You must ache for the poor and disenfranchised. You must feel for the vulnerable. You must weep for the ill and infirm. You must pray for those who are without hope. You must be kind to those less fortunate. French said, “That’s the message America’s men need to hear.”

November 23, 2024: What makes a “Real Man”?
Because young men turned out to vote for trump, we continue to reflect on both unhealthy and healthy masculinity. In the conclusion of his book on the sacred masculine was a section called “False Masculinity: Real Men Eat Beef.” There is no doubt that the ad about men eating beef was created by those who raise cattle. But the truth is too much beef can kill you. And the methane released by cattle is a major factor in global warming. Plus, the amount of water and soil required to grow cattle is enormous. Actually, “real men” care about the Earth and want to take care of themselves so they can be present for others. They also: meditate, treat women with respect, care about children, celebrate Father Sky, overcome the temptations of greed and corrupting power, commit to justice, and are not afraid of “the dark night of the soul.”

*Donald Reeves, radical Rector of St. James’s, Piccadilly, called “a dangerous man” by Mrs. Thatcher, The Telegraph, November 15, 2024.

Banner image: Man celebrating the sacred sky. Photo by Nicholas Bullett on Unsplash

Recommended Reading

The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine

To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental relationship with nature,  to the Spiritual Warrior….These timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to connect to their deepest selves and to reinvent the world.
“Every man on this planet should read this book — not to mention every woman who wants to understand the struggles, often unconscious, that shape the men they know.” — Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of The Left Hand of God

The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages

The second book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series, The Return of Father Sky helps boys and girls to celebrate a new relationship with the masculine by way of Father Sky, whose return excites joy and wonder and possibility that enlarge the soul to welcome others and all creation. Written in a rhyming Dr. Seuss-like style, this full-color, beautifully illustrated book, written by world- renowned theologian Matthew Fox weaves together modern science and classic spirituality in a whimsical, entertaining format to illustrate important truths to readers aged 4 and up. With artwork curated from illustrators around the world, this book expresses the joy and wonder of all peoples and cultures, planting seeds of respect, cooperation and hope to work together for the healing of our planet.

Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality

Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story