Week of 1/13-18/2025: These Times Call for Spiritual Warriorhood

January 13, 2025: Spiritual Warriorhood, Deep Ecumenism & Battles Ahead
We explore Deep Ecumenism because, given the trials and tribulations that humanity is facing, we need the wisdom that Deep Ecumenism can summon. The most important questions is: “If science alone is not enough to rescue our species and Mother Earth, what more is required?” In a recent DM, we referred to environmental scientist Gus Speth, who said that the biggest problems right now (greed, apathy, etc.) are problems only spirituality can solve. As Matthew reminds us: It takes spiritual warriorhood to accomplish our survival and interfere with the deep wounding of Mother Nature in our time. 

January 14, 2025: Dorothy Stang & the Lion Power of a Spiritual Warrior
In the ancient text of the Zohar, we find this: 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. Sister Dorothy Stang is a powerful example of a spiritual warrior with the strength of a lion. Unfortunately, her strength did not prevent her from dying a martyr, while defending the Amazon rainforest and the humble people who live there. Still, she is a reminder of the courage that we all carry within us. And she surely did the work of the Blessed Holy One.

January 15, 2025: Spiritual Warrior vs. Soldier
A Vietnam veteran, a Native American named Broken Walk, who volunteered to go to war at seventeen, told this story. There’s a difference between being a soldier and being a warrior. Don’t ever get these two confused. When I was in the army, I was a soldier. I was a puppet doing whatever anybody told me to do, even if it meant going against what my heart told me was right. I didn’t know nothing about being a warrior until I hit the street and marched alongside my brothers for something I really believed in…. Tibetan teacher Chogyam Trungpa talks about the “sad and tender heart of the warrior.” The warrior, unlike the soldier, is a lover.  A warrior is in touch with his or her heart, loving not only his kin, but the world and God.

January 16, 2025: More Instructions on How to Be a Warrior
Hafiz elaborates on how a warrior prepares for battle when he instructs us to know ourselves and cleanse our wounds from the past. Knowledge of self and compassion toward self is presumed in the warrior—consider Jesus’ teaching: “Love others as you love yourself.” Hafiz says: The warrior wisely sits in a circle with other men, gathering the strength to unmask himself, then sits, giving, like a great illumined planet on the Earth. Sitting in a circle signifies sitting eye to eye, as equals, learning to receive as well as give. Generosity is learned in circles where one can sees another’s pain as well as beauty. It takes honesty and vulnerability to sit in a circle to see and be seen. 

January 17, 2025: Spiritual Warriors All Around Us and Within Us
So far this week we’ve explored wisdom from mystical Judaism, Sufism, Native America, Mohammed, and Jesus. Hildegard of Bingen also time and again called on her sisters to become more “manly” and more virtuous, to develop that strong side of themselves as she clearly did in her prophetic vocation to stand up to emperors, popes, abbots, bishops and archbishops. Fortunately, there are many examples of spiritual warriors alive and active in the world today. One is an indigenous man who had been a water protector at Standing Rock in 2016. Later he worked as a stuntman and did voiceovers, finally, after years of struggle, establishing a home form himself in Altadena, California. Sadly, he witnessed the destruction of almost his entire beloved community in the Eaton Fire. Though he is now homeless, he established a Go Fund Me, not for himself, but for those in his neighborhood. (See the video, below.)

January 18, 2025: A Report from Rome: The Ceremony for Spiritual Warrior Sr. Dot
Matthew received a letter from Sister Dorothy Stang’s brother, Tom. He wrote about the ceremony in Rome to honor modern-day martyrs, including his sister, our friend, Sr. Dot. He said that the ceremony occurred in the Basilica of San Bartolomeo the Apostle. Sister Mary and Sister Kathy Harmon had the honor of placing Dot’s relics on the altar. Tom was moved that Dot’s relics would be in the same basilica as those of Archbishop Romero. Concluded Tom: So I am returning home from the eternal City knowing that my sister has become well established in the Pantheon of Saints and Martyrs in Rome giving glory to God.

Banner image: “A delegation of Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho chiefs in Denver, Colorado in September 28, 1864.” These men were spiritual warriors because they fought for their people while trying to avoid conflict and warfare. Wikimedia Commons.

Recommended Reading

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.

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.

Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Listug

In the midst of global fire, earthquake and flood – as species are going extinct every day and national and global economies totter – the planet doesn’t need another church or religion. What it needs is a new Order, grounded in the Wisdom traditions of both East and West, including science and indigenous. An Order of the Sacred Earth united in one sacred vow: “I promise to be the best lover and defender of the Earth that I can be.”
Co-authored by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Berit Listug, with a forward by David Korten, this collection of essays by 21 spiritual visionaries including Brian Swimme, Mirabai Starr, Theodore Richards, and Kristal Parks marks the founding of the diverse and inclusive Order of the Sacred Earth, a community now evolving around the world.
“The Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way.”  ~~ Joanna Macy, environmental activist and author of Active Hope.