I have insisted already that those who feel called to resist nonviolently the violent and dehumanizing socio-political atmosphere of today, which is both epitomized and instigated by Donald Trump, need to find their tribe. It is simply impossible to engage in such resistance alone and survive.
The Order of the Sacred Earth, born of one of Matthew Fox’s dreams and led by his two co-founders, Skylar Wilson and Jennifer Listug, offers such a possibility. To become a member of the OSE, one has to utter only one vow:
I promise to be the best lover and the best defender of the Earth that I can be.
It’s a simple vow, just as it is tremendously serious.
Its origins are easily traced to the coupled mystic and prophet, constituting the nucleus of the kind of personality that Creation Spirituality intends to foster in the world. Lovers who are not sentimental, and fighters who are not violent, or rather nonviolent to their core.
Easy to say. But a lot changes when one gets ready to utter a vow. As all premodern cultures knew well, uttering a vow before the divinity implies engaging all your being. There is no coming back from a vow.
Stories about people being struck down by God because they disobeyed their vows hit modern people as cruel and bizarre, but in fact, they underline that when you take a vow in complete freedom and awareness, you become one thing with the vow itself, and betraying such a vow equals betraying yourself.
A vow can be pronounced — I believe — only after you have felt the call to be that kind of person that the vow describes. You cannot simply choose this or that vow, as you do in a grocery store. You ought to be called, and your vow is your “yes” response.
In everyday life, then, your vow becomes a powerful tool. It allows you to focus on what really matters. In time, you become less distracted and less prone to wasting your time. And meeting regularly with other people who have uttered the same vow can be extremely valuable.
For the past several years, the Order of the Sacred Earth has held monthly online meetings for its members. In a recent conversation, Skylar told me that the most important function of such meetings, at this time, is that of “container of the grief” that participants feel about the present situation. But people also share their stories of resistance and success, which are just as helpful.
The archetype of the lover/fighter calls to be embodied today by as many people as possible, as this is the only path to wholeness for human society. It seems to me that OSE can represent a haven to many such people today, but especially to those of us who — for any reason — do not have a local group they can meet regularly in person.
I am convinced that, even though the OSE began a few years ago, it is now that it can reveal its full potential. Among the praises it received at the time of its founding, I would like to underline the following. Richard Rohr: We cannot stand isolated and expect to make any real difference. Joanna Macy: The OSE offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way. Andrew Harvey: A magnificent step forward for humanity!
The appeal printed on the back cover of the OSE book is also very telling: We can become part of something larger than ourselves and our combative histories — part of something that is alive, vital, nourishing, and a return to community.
You can find more about the Order of the Sacred Earth on their website: www.orderofthesacredearth.org
Banner Image: Guided by a vow: People’s Climate March 2017 in Washington DC. Ordained members of the Earth Holder Sangha wearing brown robes carry a banner and practice mindful walking on the sidewalk near Senate Park. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
How do you feel about making a vow? Have you done anything like that as part of your spiritual practice?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
6 thoughts on “The Order of the Sacred Earth”
Thank you for making us aware of the Order of the Sacred Earth of which I feel I have been a member for a long time without knowing it, so similar is the formulation of the OSE vow (“I promise to be the best lover and the best defender of the Earth that I can be.”) to Empedocles’ vow of fidelity to the Earth (in Hölderlin’s The Death of Empedocles, 1st version, scene 4) which I took years ago: “Openly my heart [. . .] gave itself unto the earnest earth, the suffering one and oft in holy night I swore to her, unto death to love with fearless faith the fateful one and not to scorn a single one of all her mysteries.” Thinking of it, “Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris” is a reminder that even the most callous enemies of the Earth will eventually surrender to the Mother and, so to speak, become “too late members.”
Sorry, my comment is about Matthew Fox’s work, books and teachings about the need for whole men and boys. Today’s blog by Michael Smerconish covered it and gave voice to three who have strong views on the subject, including books new and coming: Rahm Emanuel, Richard Reeves and another I forgot. Americans surveyed on the subject of boys and men in crisis or depressed into withdrawal split evenly on the question of whether the federal government should address this issue with programs. You might make a note on this for a future meditation.
Making a vow before Divinity is very important spiritually in saying yes and commitment to the spiritual values and membership in the spiritual organizations we may belong to like OSE. It gives us a sense of community and strength on Our spiritual journeys to remind us that that journey is both personal and communal with one another in the Sacredness of Our Unique Souls and Our LOVING DIVERSE ONENESS with Our SOURCE~CO-CREATOR’S PRESENT SPIRIT within and among Us in All of ongoing evolving LOVING SACRED CREATION COSMOS of All physical and nonphysical Spiritual Dimensions and Spiritual Beings…
I take vows very seriously, and I don’t sign up to do something unless I’m sure I can follow through. That being said, I too-often fail at follow-through. I failed at my marriage vows, and I too often miss online meetings of OSE. I fail often at meditating and chanting each morning. Thus, I am reluctant to sign up for anything at which I might fail. After attending a retreat on Iona, I’ve been considering joining the worldwide Iona Community, but until I feel I can be a devoted and consistent member, I will not do that. My own commitment to myself is to carve out time to write plays that might move the world forward in peace, community, and justice–and being “old,” I know I have limited energy for everything else. I believe I must use my main talents and set extraneous activities aside so I can use my God-given gifts–as I have taught my children to do. I suppose that is a vow I am keeping. Being in relationship also requires compromise, so that too, makes me reluctant to take vows that I might not be able to follow. We all make choices. May we each do what we do best to bring about the world God designed it to be. Amen.
Some vows must be broken. Suppose entering the army, I vow to serve the government of the country and then the government turns fascist. I must break my vow come lightening that may. A vow to the Earth is a safe vow for she will not betray. Beware the vows we make.
I have made two vows, first in marriage, second in ordination as an elder in the Presbyterian Church. I made the first very sincerely but probably did not honor very well because of my own woundedness, but we made it almost 40 years even though a lot of it was pretty rocky. The second is easier when I ignore the creedal and denominational aspects and just try to love and serve God and neighbor. I find commitment in general to be very challenging.