St. Paul instructed us to “fight the good fight.” Clearly, a major fight ensues today at the hands of our government, busy invading city after city with armed and masked and mostly untrained forces. The murdering of citizens; the ripping away of citizens’ rights; the arrest of journalists for doing their jobs; the First Amendment be damned; etc., etc.
What are some ways to stay grounded in the fight? One way is to pay attention to good news alongside the sad and dangerous news. This includes being present to our own breath—which is still ours to breathe—breathe deeply and thankfully.
Take walks into nature when possible, interact with friends and loved ones of the four-legged as well as two-legged variety. Seek out beauty and be with it. In short, ground oneself in the Via Positiva of existence itself, in the beauty and gratuity of living on this planet, taking in its wonders and gifts and miracles that arouse awe and wonder and a sense of the sacred in us.
Consider the goodness in those people who bear witness to the good and beautiful and justice that humans are capable of. Remember the Buddhist monks on a 2,300-mile pilgrimage, the last four months marching from Houston to Washington, D.C. , with one object in mind: Peace.
The response to that grace-filled pilgrimage has been amazing and something to behold in itself. Many people who have showed up to embrace them along the way have cried and wept.
Thousands of people in Minneapolis, the scene of the assault on American democracy, have shown up in sub-zero weather daily to protest non-violently the violence being done to their neighbors by ICE invading homes, arresting anyone they choose, including children, and spreading terror.
Look for allies on a regular basis. Rachel Maddow on Monday nights on MSNOW offers scenes of people from all over the country, in small towns and large cities, resisting the terror raging in Minnesota.
It is important to know one is not alone in feeling one’s own moral outrage and that thousands upon thousands of others are taking to the streets to let Congress, the judiciary, and politicians know. Resistance is everywhere.
John of the Cross, about whom I have just finished a book to be published in the Fall, found himself at the end of his rope when he was locked up in a “dungeon” (his word) by his fellow Carmelite brothers. His crime? He was trying to reform the order under the tutelage of his Carmelite sister, Teresa of Avila. On escaping from prison, he wrote a short poem called “Dark Night” that was a song and prayer of liberation and gratitude.
But how did he survive his nine months in torture and darkness while in the prison itself? By writing a long poem he called the “Canticle” in imitation of the “Canticle of the Song of Songs” in the Hebrew Bible. Both his Canticle and the Biblical Canticle are love poems–he found his sustenance by writing about the quest for God, his Beloved.
His poetry, now recognized as among the greatest in Spanish literature, was his art as meditation, his healing, his empowering. He endured by remembering the beauty of existence–indeed, it culminates in his recognition and remembrance that
My Beloved is the mountains
the lonely wooded valleys
the strange and distant islands
the rivers sounding echoes above
the whispering breezes tickling the skin with love.
He is the quiet and tranquil night
the stillness that precedes the coming dawn
the silent music,
the sounding solitude
the meal that refreshes and arouses love.
Be like John and keep biophilia and the Via Positiva alive. In today’s video, I cite psychologist Erich Fromm, who teaches that the Holocaust was born of leaders affected by “malignant narcissism.” He also concluded that “necrophilia grows when biophilia is stunted.” Drink at the wells of biophilia.
Be like the camel who drinks and stores water from an oasis before marching across the desert. Return often to the oases of the Via Positiva while feeling the depths of the Via Negativa and carrying on the fight of the Via Transformativa in the most creative ways possible.
Banner Image: “Do Justice, Love Kindness” – a memorial to Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Photo by Chad Davis on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
How are you taking good care of yourself and grounding yourself deeply as you carry on the good fight on behalf of democracy and resist its demise?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ
Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
9 thoughts on “Bearing Up While Fighting the Good Fight”
Matthew, did John of the Cross know about the horrors of the Conquista?
I don’t think he knew about the horrors as I don’t think they were promulgated then. The Inquisition was censoring and guarding lots that was going on both within and outside Spain. However, he knew about the reality of the “new world” so called and his reference to “strange islands” may be referencing those lands. Also, near the end of his life, his order voted to send him there to get rid of him and he was open to going. But he got sick and died before he was exiled.
I was disappointed to read your outlook on ICE and the mission. I just finished reading your book on Julian for the second time. I think it’s possible that Rachel M is Infiltrated by dark entities and I personally can’t watch her. You are picking sides which immediately injects you into duality. My thing is invoking my I AM Presence and also praying and invoking I AM for All Humanity. I bless you and thank you for your amazing contribution to me personally and so many others. To me there is No fighting in Peace efforts. There is just the cross.
Rev Brian, respectfully, after reading your comment I started wondering whether Jesus, when he kicked the merchants out of the temple, was “infiltrated by dark entities” and immediately “injected into duality”… Does that meant that, at the time, you may not have been able to watch him either ?
Thank you Matthew and DM team for today’s DM. I do my daily contemplative prayer and inspired by the millions of spiritual warriors serving Truth Peace Justice and Compassion around the world in their hearts and communities, and resisting fascism, oppression, and injustice wherever it is found with its lies and ignorance.
I think that one thing we absolutely need to do is to stop demonizing those who are perpetuating the sadism and cruelty, whether it is those in the administration or those who support it. I think that part of self care is to be able to resist following into the trap of hatred or “othering”, because that is just to mimic what those we most despise are doing. It is one thing to tell the truth about the intentional destruction of democracy and the tactics and strategies of fascism, and it is another to de-humanize those who are implementing the process. To try to understand and to feel compassion for these people, who clearly do not know what real love, peace, and joy are, is a huge challenge. Why else would the need for forgiveness have been mentioned so many times in the New Testament? Forgiveness releases me from the bondage of hate and fear, but it does not condone cruel and sadistic behavior. It does free up energy for creative approaches to bearing the unbearable and becoming a light for others.
Dear Fr. Matt,
Thank you for the ideas for refreshing the soul and maintaining resilience. I love the use of deep breathing, which is accessible anywhere. And all the ways the Via Positiva can help us. God bless you and thank you! I look forward to your book on St. John of the Cross!
I begin my day with chanting, meditation, and reading spiritual sources. I keep informed by reading the NYTimes and other quality news reports, but try to stop reading or listening to the news before 1PM; I don’t always succeed. To see the humor in our situation, I often read Anne Lamott’s Substack articles and/or end the day with Stephen Colbert. Almost daily, I do Green Tara and Vajrasatva mantras and send the merit out to all sentient beings. I chant with John Philip Newell’s chants on YouTube. (They are easy to find.) I meditate twice a week online with meditationchapel.org. I serve as a “peacekeeper” at pro-democracy rallies. I walk. I meet with friends. I write. I seek venues for my writing. I attend retreats. I spend time each night with my partner, streaming episodes we like. For Lent, I am giving up Facebook. It takes a great deal of work to stay sane and trusting in these treacherous times.
Breathe