Week of 12/22-27/2025: Antidotes to Loneliness & a Deeper Look at Christmas

This is a weekly summary of the previous week’s Daily Meditations. As you know, Matthew’s colleague Gianluigi Gugliermetto (GG) has been writing three DMs each week to give Matthew time to work on several concurrent book projects. Unfortunately, GG needs to take some time off due to ill health, and so for the near future, Matthew will be doing all six weekday DMs. Please join us in sending prayers for GG’s quick recovery! Also, please note, we will continue to offer a video teaching by Matthew each Monday.

December 22, 2025: Loneliness, Part II: Ways Spirituality Combats Loneliness (MF)
One way to deal with loneliness is to realize that creation itself can be our companion. Animals, even trees, can be our friends. Meanwhile, it is important to note that not all cultures have a problem with loneliness. For instance, many years ago, an Australian theologian was giving a talk in Africa that was being translating into Swahili. When the speaker said: The number one spiritual problem in Sydney today is loneliness, the translator huddled with several other Africans, then came to the microphone, and said, “I am sorry, sir, but in our language there is no word for loneliness.” African spiritual teacher Malidoma Somé reminds us about the importance of ritual. This is one of the reasons Matthew remains so committed to the Cosmic Mass.

December 23, 2025: Loneliness: Bede Griffiths on Meditation, Ground, Cosmic Solidarity (MF)
There is a difference between loneliness and aloneness, or solitude. Meditation, which we often do alone, can help to ameliorate the impact of loneliness. Father Bede Griffiths teaches that in meditation we can become aware of the ground of our being, and also our solidarity with the universe, with the remotest star in outer space, and with the minutest particle in the atom. Many people today claim that they are “spiritual, not religious.” Matthew says that spirituality is a far bigger word than religion, spirituality invites all to connect to the ALL and to the ground and depth, including the unknown, apophatic divinity—to what is unseen as well as what is seen.

December 24, 2025: Father Bede, Berdyaev & A Fuller, Non-Sentimental Meaning to Christmas (MF)
Father Bede Griffiths speaks about how we “experience solidarity with every living thing” on Earth and can go “beyond all these outer forms” to “discover the Ground from which they all spring.” He adds, I can know the birth of all things from this Ground, their coming into being in the Word. “The Word made flesh and dwelt among us” summarizes the entire Christmas story. Meister Eckhart said: “Every creature is a word of God and a book about God.” All this spells the end of loneliness. It restores us to the cosmos and the cosmos to us. Russian Orthodox theologian Nicolas Berdyaev speaks to this truth when he writes: The central idea of the Eastern Fathers was that of  theosis, the divinization of all creatures, the transfiguration of the world, the idea of the cosmos and not the idea of personal salvation.

December 25, 2025: Glory, Doxa, Christmas and Continuous Incarnation (MF)
Theologian Dorothy Soelle talks in one of her poems about the “irresistible appeal” of Jesus. One does not have to be Christian to feel that appeal. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk, felt it as a child and wrote two significant books about Christ as an adult. And Christmas is about the glory, the doxa. As the Jewish Scriptures say, “the whole earth is filled with God’s glory.” The angels sang Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to people who enjoy his favor. (Lk 2.9, 14) The divine is very near and born among and within us. We are all participants daily in such an incarnation. It is continuous.

December 26, 2025: What do Christmas and 3I/ATLAS Have in Common? (MF)
Comet 3I/ATLAS passed Earth on December 19 and appears to be heading out of our solar system. Its immense speed suggests it has been traveling for perhaps 7 billion years, which makes it far older than our Earth, sun, and solar system. The Hubble and Webb Telescopes focused on it, as did telescopes in China, South Africa, Chile, Hawaii, Europe, and Russia. Everyone was eager to learn something new about the universe we live in. When the Source of the Universe decided to become a human being and live among us over 2000 years ago, He also attracted the attention of people far and wide. But it does not end with His birth. The story surprises even more with a statement about death not having the last word. This Visitor rises from the dead and promises resurrection for all. What if humans were to take this story seriously as the extraordinary extraterrestrial visitation it was?

December 27, 2025: The Multiple Dimensions to the Christmas Archetype (MF)
Perhaps one of the reasons the Christmas story so touches our hearts is because it is filled with archetypes and archetypal themes: Cosmic visitations from angels; the presence of the cosmos in the form of a very bright star; the role of motherhood—its trials and its promises; the power of evil empire-builders who will even kill babies to achieve their ends; the wisdom and courage of fathers (Joseph) to listen to dreams and act accordingly to protect their wife and newborn baby; the important role of the most humble in society (shepherds); the role of animals as witnesses to the divine; and how Christ is born in us as well as in Mary, etc.

Banner image: Viewing the Nativity within the context of a community. A display at The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is located on Queen Street in Singapore. Photo by Choo Yut Shing on Flickr.

Related Readings by Matthew Fox

The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance

The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages

Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations

Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart

Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality

Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet

Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth

The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human