It is good, in times of struggle and darkness, the dark night of society and soul and democracy that we find ourselves in, to reconnect to the big picture. That is to say, to the cosmic story from both science and Scripture: that we are blessed to be alive in this vast and amazing cosmos and to be able to reflect on it and on ourselves and our possible role in it.
For me, this is the primary meaning of the term I have coined, Original Blessing. The universe is an original blessing, and so too are the beings within it—from the two trillion galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars, to our very good home that we call our Mother Earth and all the creatures on it, humans included.
It is a blessing because it is good (blessing is the theological word for goodness after all). Rabbi Heschel summarizes it succinctly when he says, “Just to be is a blessing, just to live is holy.”
My book, Original Blessing, that appeared 32 years ago, sort of blew the roof off the top of the Vatican, which at that time was much more committed to the idea of “original sin” than that of original blessing. They overreacted and, in doing so, exposed their commitment to a concept that is not found in the Scriptures as such but is found wherever patriarchy or pessimism reign.
In their fury, they forgot their own lineage, as when Thomas Aquinas talks about “original goodness” and “original freshness.” And Hildegard about how love ruled the world from the beginning.*
Original Blessing is an affront to patriarchal and pessimistic ideologies everywhere, to those who think that enemies and hatred necessarily rule the world. It does not deny that evil exists and that humans have a propensity to indulge in it, but it reminds us that goodness comes first. As Genesis, chapter one declares, creation is “good” and even, with humans on board, “very good.”
Recently, my attention was drawn to two persons thinking along these same lines in our day. One is Aaron Stern, co-founder and president of the Academy of the Love of Learning, who offers in a recent “Notes from the Founder,” a powerful story triggered by a poem called “Safety Net” by Rosemerry Wahtola Trammer. In it, she talks about “how big the net of lovers” is and how this net of lovers catches us all when we fall.
Her poem triggered the following reflections from Aaron: “I found this poem to be a salve and an important reminder that there must be more that I can do as I walk through my day, to help strengthen this safety net.”
And then he shared a story from his childhood. Though my household was chaotic, even violent at times, I was able to lose myself easily in what I loved most—music. I spent hour upon hour at my piano, playing one note after the next. As I shaped what I played, each musical decision, each choice, each action was a tendering, filled with love—my love of music—made with kind intent and the greatest of care.
He found original blessing in music, in himself, and in his love and relationship to music. He continues: It was there, in this caring and kindness of intent, even as my external world swirled around me, that I discovered within me what I can only describe as the presence of innate goodness. Not in the sense of “good versus bad,” but a wellspring of goodness, naturally occurring, inexhaustible, always present, always there. It was somehow who I was.
And he tells us that “this discovery accompanied me through the course of my life, a touchstone, a reminder of what I’m made of….” I strongly recommend you go to the full poem and essay, HERE.
To be continued.
*Matthew Fox, Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century, p. xiii
Banner Image: “Morning Light.” Photo by Jachan DeVol on Unsplash
Queries for Contemplation
Do you have experiences of innate goodness or original blessing with music and art and friendships and more things you love? Do you call on them even in the midst of dark nights of soul and society? And do they open up the innate goodness in yourself?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
In the Beginning There Was Joy: A Cosmic Celebration for Kids of All Ages
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the World
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond
4 thoughts on “Original Blessing & “Innate Goodness” as Medicine During Dark Nights”
I am a mystic, like Moses, Plotinus, Eckhart, Sufis, and more, with Jesus as supreme exemplar.
I live within this mysticism; it is my immenseness. And within these un-bounded limits are my particular loves. I play within these boundaries, cry within them, and work with them.
I’m not a “glorious” mystic, but I am here for my loved ones, and I’ve left a record of this mysticism for anyone who wants it; it’s in the archives of this post. This is THE mysticism of the Mystics.
Yes… Yes… Yes… Faith in the Divine Flow of LOVE, Healing, Creativity, Beauty, Joy, and Loving Diverse ONENESS within, through, and among Us in All Ongoing Creation in the Sacred Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT…
When the darkness of the tRump administration surrounds me, I take refuge in the beauty of the world around me. Thank you for the “Beautiful Creation” video–most of the locations I’ve never seen. Living in Central Arizona, every once in a while, my body tells me that I must “Go north,” and I know I need to drive to northern Arizona and stay there for a bit—to Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, or some other high desert. There is a hogan we have stayed in twice and camping we have enjoyed. Recently, I was able to drive the San Juan Skyway past Durango, Silverton, and Ouray, to Crested Butte, Colorado. Did it open up my innate goodness. It fed my soul. It certainly opened up the innate goodness of God.
Yes! I also feel the original blessing of music, and the positive beauty of flowers and gardens, also. My dad played the piano and I sang, and almost every afternoon when I was home we would play and sing for an hour or so, and all those songs were full of love and beauty, so I always find love and beauty in music now, too. It is a real treat to love the songs, the melodies, the instrument itself, (I play guitar also) and shared joy in making music! What IS is so much greater than what might be imagined, and so Original Blessing feels like the true expression of God’s love of creation. THANK YOU!