The Motherhood of God and the Power of Compassion

Following is an excerpt from Matthew Fox’s homily on Mother’s Day at Unity Inspired Living church, Brentwood, CA.  For the whole talk, see LINK.

Julian of Norwich, a 14th-century mystic who lived at the time of the Great Plague (which killed more than one third of the people in Europe) wrote extensively about the Motherhood of God. Despite her circumstances, her writings are grounded in joy, hope, and gratitude, without ignoring the shadows, the darkness, and the struggles of life.

Julian wrote: “God feels great delight to be our father, and God feels great delight to be our mother”. Then she says: “Compassion belongs to the motherhood and tender grace. Compassion protects, increases our sensitivity, gives life and heals.” All of this is indeed at the heart of motherhood, whether we talk about the motherhood of humans, or other mammals, or the motherhood of the Divine.

Another teaching of Julian is this: “A mother’s service is nearest, readiest and surest”. I believe that Julian was a mother and that she lost her child in the plague. But Julian did not spend her life wallowing in grief. Rather she constructed her viewpoint, her whole philosophy of life, from compassion and joy.

She also says — and this is quite unique — “Jesus is our true mother.” Thus, she does not restrict motherhood to the feminine. It is the heart of the feminine, but the human soul, however gendered, carries compassion, motherhood. “Jesus is our true mother, in whom we are endlessly carried.” She says that we are living in the womb of the Christ; the universe is the womb of God.

In both Arabic and Hebrew the word for “compassion” comes from the word for “womb”. So compassion is the feminine capacity for interdependence. What is more interdependent than mother and fetus?

Today, we can recognize that all religions extol compassion. The Dalai Lama says: “We can do away with all religions, but we cannot do away with compassion. Compassion is my religion.” That’s the Buddhist view of the world, but is also Jesus’ view of the world: “Be you compassionate as your creator in heaven is compassionate” (Luke 6:36). For Jesus, who was a Jew, “Compassion” was the secret name of God. He just let the secret out.

One of the marks of today’s postmodern science is the renaming of our interconnectivity—it is one of the “laws” or the “habits” of the universe that everything is interconnected. The mystics have been saying this for centuries, but now we have science saying it. Interdependence translates as compassion.

Meister Eckhart says: “Whatever happens to another, whether it be a joy or a sorrow, happens to me.” So celebration is compassion, because it is the sharing of the joy, based on interdependence: “Your joy is mine, and my joy is yours! Let’s celebrate!”  But, also, your suffering is mine and mine is yours. So let’s gather and grieve together. That is compassion as well. And if we can prevent the suffering, let’s work together on that. That’s also compassion.

Eckhart also reminds us that “compassion means justice.”  Working for justice is working for compassion.

To me it is thrilling that science and mysticism are on the same page, finally. The world needs compassion today more than ever. We need to re-learn what it means to be compassionate of oneself and train the young to be compassionate of themselves and others. We need to build structures that bring compassion in the world. The defence of democracy to which we are called today is itself a work of compassion, an effort to bring the maternal into the societal context. 

All humans are called to become a reminder of the Divine One whose very name is Compassion.

See Matthew Fox, “Service and Compassion (Including Justice and Celebration)” in Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, pp. 377-403.

And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.

And Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond, pp. 45-58, 101-103.

And Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality, pp. 250-306.

And Fox, Passion For Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart, pp. 417-545.

And Fox, Sheer Joy: Conversation with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality, pp. 383-516.

And Fox, Meditations with Meister Eckhart, pp. 89-131. 

Banner Image: Several generations of women holding hands in support. Photo by Filipp Romanovski on Unsplash

Queries for Contemplation

How do you feel called to practice compassion and call forth the divine feminine in your work and citizenship today?

Related Readings by Matthew Fox

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

A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice

In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register

Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond

Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book.
“What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.”  –Caroline Myss
Now also available as an audiobook HERE.

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

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.  

Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality

Matthew Fox renders Thomas Aquinas accessible by interviewing him and thus descholasticizing him.  He also translated many of his works such as Biblical commentaries never before in English (or Italian or German of French).  He  gives Aquinas a forum so that he can be heard in our own time. He presents Thomas Aquinas entirely in his own words, but in a form designed to allow late 20th-century minds and hearts to hear him in a fresh way. 
“The teaching of Aquinas comes through will a fullness and an insight that has never been present in English before and [with] a vital message for the world today.” ~ Fr. Bede Griffiths (Afterword).
Foreword by Rupert Sheldrake

Meditations with Meister Eckhart: A Centering Book

A centering book by Matthew Fox. This book of simple but rich meditations exemplifies the deep yet playful creation-centered spirituality of Meister Eckhart, Meister Eckhart was a 13th-century Dominican preacher who was a mystic, prophet, feminist, activist, defender of the poor, and advocate of creation-centered spirituality, who was condemned shortly after he died.
“These quiet presentations of spirituality are remarkable for their immediacy and clarity.” –Publishers Weekly.