Dorothy Stang & the Lion Power of a Spiritual Warrior

In yesterday’s DM I promised to develop the archetype of the spiritual warrior whose inner strength is required to speak truth to power and interfere with selfishness, greed, and apathy that play such a role in denial of Climate Change.

Let us consider, for example, this teaching from the Zohar, a Jewish medieval mystical work that instructs us:

Now since a person’s real work in this world
is the work of the Blessed Holy One,
he or she must be as strong as a lion on every side
so that the Other Side will not overpower him or her
or be able to seduce him or her.

Notice the phrase, our “real work in this world.”  There is work and there is real work.  The latter is what counts.  Perhaps this hints at the distinction I make in my book on The Reinvention of Work between a “job,” which is what we do for a paycheck, and “work,” which is what we are on the Earth to accomplish.  Our vocation therefore.  It may be our work as citizens, as (honest) politicians, as parents, grandparents, artists, teachers, healers and first responders, as mechanics, etc. 

What is being said is that our “real work” is that of the Blessed Holy One, i.e. we are the hands and mind of God, the Compassionate and Holy One.  We are here to do the divine work on Earth in this time and place. 

BUT to do this work takes strength—the strength of the lion.  “Being strong as a lion on every side” means we hold an inner strength inside us around truth and beauty and constancy that mark qualities of the divine and mirror the goodness of the divine.  How are we doing?

We cannot implement these virtues and powers without a lion’s strength.

Many young people today seek something to live for, something to give their lives for.  The illusory goals of shopping and making money will not cut it with most people of conscience, young or old.  There must be something more to life than the trivializing of it that consumer capitalism sells ad nauseam.

A good example of a spiritual warrior with a heart of a lioness was Sister Dorothy Stang who served the peasant farmers and the Amazon rainforest and who paid for it with her life.  She died a martyr 20 years ago this March, laying down her life defending the forest. “We cannot live without it,” she declared.. 

This weekend her brother Tom Stang was present in Rome for a ceremony in honor of present-day martyrs and presented to the group sponsoring it a vial of her blood and the soil she died on mixed together.  Sister Dorothy was chosen as the first American woman in a new “Memorial for Modern Martyrs.”

Sister Dorothy was from a large family in Ohio and her martyrdom is a reminder of the courage we all carry within us.  The spiritual warrior dwells within us all.  She was a student in our Creation Spirituality program which impacted her considerably—including introducing her to Hildegard of Bingen with whom she created a powerful bond.  She honors the sacredness of creation by her sacrifice.*

* Cindy Wooden, “U.S. sister killed in the Amazon honored at Rome ‘new martyrs’ shrine,'” Catholic Star Herald via Catholic News Service, January 13, 2025.

See Matthew Fox, Confessions of a Post-denominational Priest, pp. 341-343, 433, 448.

Matthew Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, pp. 404f.

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

And Fox, The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time.

And Fox, Hildegard of Bingen, a Saint For Our Times: Unleashing Her Power for the 21^st Century.

Banner Image: Sister Dorothy Stang, Memorial, photo by Roberto de Vasconcelos on WikiMedia Commons.

Queries for Contemplation

Are you “strong as a lion on every side” and do you recognize your work as the Work of the Blessed Holy One?  And do you recognize the lion and spiritual warrior in Sister Dorothy Stang’s work and martyrdom?

Recommended Reading

Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition)

Matthew Fox’s stirring autobiography, Confessions, reveals his personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring added perspective in light of the author’s continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in church, society and the environment.
“The unfolding story of this irrepressible spiritual revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the heart — must reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self

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

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.
“I am reading Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth by Matt Fox.  He is one that fills my heart and mind for new life in spite of so much that is violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang.

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

Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century

Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.
“This book gives strong, sterling, and unvarnished evidence that everything – everything – we ourselves become will affect what women after us may also become….This is a truly marvelous, useful, profound, and creative book.” ~~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism.