A spiritual warrior takes care of his or her body and soul in order to be strong.
Dr. Lyla June Johnston, musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages.
And a spiritual warrior knows what he or she stands for, refines it, and finds allies for the resistance.
A spiritual warrior develops “moral imagination” as the powerful resource it is to outwit the reptilian brain that often dominates in those greedy and hungry without end for power for power’s sake.
A spiritual warrior does not roll over and play dead; or throw up his/her hands in surrender; or adopt an “eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die” philosophy.
A spiritual warrior heeds the wisdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who observed that action springs not from thought but from a readiness for responsibility…Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
A spiritual warrior takes one’s responsibility seriously—but not lugubriously—and stays connected to the Via Positiva drinking from its resources regularly. Such resources—gratitude, beauty, reverence, awe, wonder, a sense of the sacred–nurture one’s reason for being, carrying on and resisting.
Angel Studios.
Thus a spiritual warrior takes on the camel persona (see my Antichrist book), pausing often at the water hole, the oasis, the Via Positiva, to fill one’s hump for the Via Negativa journey—the caravan trek through the desert of nothingness.
A spiritual warrior deepens his/her Yes (or mysticism).
A spiritual warrior deepens his/her No (or prophetic side).
A spiritual warrior stays connected to the new creation story from science about cosmogenesis that offers a unified vision of the universe and humanity’s place in it.
Spiritual warriors find allies who together nourish themselves in solidarity on the joy and wonder and responsibility found therein, namely that we are part of a cosmic history of 13.8 billion years and two trillion galaxies and hundreds of billions of stars that has invited us here. For a purpose.
Spiritual warriors know that purpose is common Joy and Justice which rain grace on our caravan (along with struggle and tribulation).
Creating common rituals, ceremonies, liturgies to give thanks and awaken that Joy and Imagination and Courage for Justice is integral to the spiritual warriors’ survival and nourishment along that journey.
The Cosmic Mass is a fine example of such nourishing rituals as I have witnessed and participated in for at least 28 years. We need many more Cosmic Masses at this time in history to build and nurture the spiritual warrior in us all.
The spiritual warrior recognizes the wisdom spoken by Thomas Berry: The human venture depends absolutely on this quality of awe and reverence and joy in the Earth and all that lives and grows upon the Earth….In the end the universe can only be explained in terms of celebration. It is all an exuberant expression of existence itself.
See Matthew Fox, Christian Mystics, pp. 353, 365.
And Matthew Fox, “Conclusion: Be a Camel and Escape the Allurement of the Antichrist,” in Fox, Trump and the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, pp. 85-91.
And Fox, Prayer: A: Radical Response to Life (former title: On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style).
And Fox, “Spiritual Warriors,” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 77-104.
And Fox, “Spiritual Warriorhood,” in Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, pp. 404-422.
Banner Image: Energy warrior. Photo by Xuan Nguyen on Unsplash.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you have a “readiness for responsibility” that Bonhoeffer calls for? And an awareness of “an exuberant expression of existence itself” that, with celebration, alone explains the universe? And a desire to celebrate, thank and drink in the doxa and glory of the universe and a commitment to sustaining Mother Earth.
Recommended Reading
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
As Matthew Fox notes, when an aging Albert Einstein was asked if he had any regrets, he replied, “I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life.” The 365 writings in Christian Mystics represent a wide-ranging sampling of these readings for modern-day seekers of all faiths — or no faith. The visionaries quoted range from Julian of Norwich to Martin Luther King, Jr., from Thomas Merton to Dorothee Soelle and Thomas Berry.
“Our world is in crisis, and we need road maps that can ground us in wisdom, inspire us to action, and help us gather our talents in service of compassion and justice. This revolutionary book does just that. Matthew Fox takes some of the most profound spiritual teachings of the West and translates them into practical daily mediations. Study and practice these teachings. Take what’s in this book and teach it to the youth because the new generation cannot afford to suffer the spirit and ethical illiteracy of the past.” — Adam Bucko, spiritual activist and co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation for Homeless Youth.
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election
Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using the term “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine.
For immediate access to Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book with 10 full-color prints from Amazon HERE.
To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE.
To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE.
Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download.
Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
How do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? Fox defines prayer as a radical response to life that includes our “Yes” to life (mysticism) and our “No” to forces that combat life (prophecy). How do we define adult prayer? And how—if at all—do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, Prayer introduces a mystical/prophetic spirituality and a mature conception of how to pray. Called a “classic” when it first appeared, it lays out the difference between the creation spirituality tradition and the fall/redemption tradition that has so dominated Western theology since Augustine. A practical and theoretical book, it lays the groundwork for Fox’s later works.
“One of the finest books I have read on contemporary spirituality.” – Rabbi Sholom A. Singer
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
One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
5 thoughts on “On Becoming a Spiritual Warrior in a Time of Apocalypse”
“We Are Not To Be ‘of the World’ Fixers”
Everyone should be encouraged to participate in ‘disengaged contemplation’. Otherwise, we will be intent in engaging only on what we currently know and use the same labels and discriminatory thoughts on everything as we believe them to be. In order to enter into the Mystery and into the Mind and Sacred Heart of Christ, we have to ‘disengage and detach’ from our ‘of the world’ thinking, paradigms, behaviours and warrior labels.
We are ‘not of the world’ as Jesus and His Kingdom is ‘not of the world’. We, with our past and sense perceptions guiding us right now, need to transform from that and spend our time in ‘not of the world’ meditation, contemplation and ‘just be’ according to ‘the Word’, in the deep and slowly revealed Mystery.
We are not to ‘engage and entangle ourselves’ in being ‘of the world’ fixers. We need to let God and the ‘blueprint of existence’ do its job. We have yet to conceive, and in turn birth, that of which we are truly capable of. – BB.
The warriors Matthew is talking about stand up to injustice, cruelty, greed, bullies, lies, prejudice, patriarchal oppression and authoritarian violence to people animals, and the earth. Your view seems to be like what many people said to, or thought about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which was stick to the “spiritual”, just preach the gospel, disengage from the world. He was told you cannot change injustice, you can only preach the gospel and change hearts. Churches were segregated, sermons to turn hearts from racial prejudice were not being preached in the majority of white churches. So if King had listened to any of that don’t be of the world stuff, nothing would have changed, there would still be no civil rights for African Americans. To be engaged in in standing up to injustice and cruelty is the opposite of being worldly. If Bonhieffer had followed your interpretation he would have been silent, and silence in the face of evil is about as worldly as you can get.
Yes! With Faith, Hope, Love, Together… guided and strengthened by Our SOURCE~CREATOR’S SPIRIT of DIVINE LOVE~WISDOM~Truth~Peace~Justice~Healing~Transformation~Creativity~Beauty~Joy~
Compassion~DIVERSE LOVING ONENESS within, through, among Us in the Sacred Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT….
Thank you for the glorious song, “All Nations Rise”! Regarding Bonhoeffer, I have been doing some studying through a series of podcasts, Rise of Bonhoeffer, and reading, “Letters and Papers from Prison”. According to experts (I am not one), the movie sensationalized some of his life. He was a spiritual warrior, for sure, but he was only tangentially involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler and never once tried to justify it theologically or to himself; he was a man soaked in God and centered in Christ and fully expected to be condemned at the final Judgment.
Keep on, Brother. Now more than ever. Love endures and solidarity provides hope.