The late John Lewis spoke of the “good trouble” we are all called to make. Such trouble is, in the language of creation spirituality, the work of the prophet in all of us, the work of the Via Transformativa, that fills out our spiritual journeys of the Positiva, Negativa and Creativa.
Gloria Steinem was such a maker of good trouble, a prophet who, following the definition of Rabbi Abraham Heschel, “interferes.” She chose to interfere with patriarchy and her tools were writing, editing, public speaking and deep listening.
She it is who said, “the truth will make you free, but first it will piss you off.”
All prophets know first-hand what she is talking about. Moral outrage—being pissed off—is often the first step in responding to our vocation as prophet. The prophet is a practitioner of “No!” just as the mystic in us is the practitioner of “Yes!” Gloria celebrated both in her life and work. She gathered and organized others to make it easier and more natural for everyone.
Gloria defines a feminist as “anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” She very much admired Russian novelists because “there is a mystical quality in their writing They don’t put a ceiling on human experience.” She called empathy, “the most radical of human emotions.” She called out racism and sexism as “crimes that I call Superiority crimes.”
Besides reading her Ms. Magazine, our paths crossed on several occasions. When I was first invited to speak at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in St. Paul, they told me Gloria Steinem had recently talked there. I happily accepted their invitation, impressed by a Catholic parish that had the openness to invite Gloria and listen to her talk on abortion.
My younger sister, Tricia, confesses to Gloria being a “major influencer” in her life—as she was for so many women (and men) of our generation—waking us up to women’s oppression. Tricia launched Wisconsin Women magazine under Gloria’s inspiration.
My friend Aaron Stern, president of the Academy of the Love of Learning, shared a deep friendship with Gloria. Together they traveled to a town in India that was notorious for raising girls to become prostitutes and supported a movement to end that. Gloria wrote a Foreword to Aaron’s forthcoming memoir, to which I am writing an Afterword.
With Aaron’s invitation, Gloria responded to my book, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond, which came out during COVID. She wrote: Suppose you had a wise woman friend who was a scholar—and also the survivor of a plague many times longer and more lethal than the one we are going through now. Wouldn’t you want to know what she has to say? Thanks to Matthew Fox, we can find a friend in Julian of Norwich, exactly the mental, emotional, and spiritual vaccine we need now.
This past week has been a red-letter week for enriching the field of our ancestors or what Christians call “the communion of saints.” We have lost Dolly Parton, Wendell Berry, and now Gloria Steinem.
Each of them made their own contribution to healing self and others and in doing so, shone and will continue to shine in assisting us to learn what it means to be human. Each did it in their own way, and with a sense of humor and not taking themselves too seriously. With courage and grace, as well as grit.
Meister Eckhart says, “a healing life is a good life.” Each of these ancestors lived such a life, fighting. Each for justice–for women, for Earth and her creatures, and other oppressed peoples. Each were people of heart who spoke truth to power. Holy is their name and remembrance.
Banner Image: Gloria Steinem raises a power fist upon receiving a Golden Bra award @ the BUST Magazine 20th anniversary party, 2013. Photo by Greg Chow on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What role did Gloria Steinem play in raising your consciousness and informing your spiritual journey (if any)? Do you see likenesses in the gifts Gloria, Dolly Parton and Wendell Berry left behind?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God…Including the Unnameable God pp. 91-101.
The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors To Awaken the Sacred Masculine
Confessions: The Making of a Post-denominational Priest
The Pope’s War: How Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved
A Way To God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey, pp. 143-164
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance, pp. 11-34, 56f
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality
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6 thoughts on “Gloria Steinem, a Maker of Good Trouble, Joins the Ancestors”
Thank you for honoring the recent passing and lives of three great American souls and humanitarians who represent and inspire All of Us as Children of God in the work of daily justice, truth, and compassion for evolving Humanity and Beautiful Sacred Mother/Her living creatures/Graceful abundance, including All physical/non-physical spiritual dimensions/Beings of Our Loving Diverse Oneness, in the Sacred Process of the Eternal Present Moment…
I do not have a lot of direct experience with Gloria, Wendell, or Dolly. But when I was a boy in the early 1970s, my mother, who majored in math, worked as a computer programmer at NASA, at a time when women didn’t really do that. She got divorced in 1976, along with millions of other women. I’d guess that Gloria’s work heavily influenced her life choices.
I have no experience with Wendell, and little awareness of his work. Although I’d like to learn more about him and his work because of these daily meditations.
My experience with Dolly has more to do with her acceptance of LGBTQ folks, and her campy presence in the gay community. I’ve only recently become aware of all the other amazing stuff she did.
All of these folks engaged deeply in life, marching to their own beat and doing “good”. They serve as an example for the rest of us to follow our hearts and to cause good trouble.
Just a mild correction; St. Joan of Arc is in Minneapolis not St.Paul. And indeed we enjoyed having both Gloria and Matthew at St. Joan’s.
Thank you Matthew for your insights into three beautiful souls. We are standing on the shoulders of giants. I LOVE how Gloria’s story of starting Ms. magazine include the unknown, the serendipitous. May we have the same courage to reach for our dreams without any certainty of ‘success’.
And two more ancestors we lost recently as well: Dr. Larry Dossey and Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen–both such amazing Healers as well.
Hi Matthew,
Thanks for remembering these People of the Heart!
They should have an online resting place, a Pantheon of People of the Heart.
Pantheon of People would contain important advocates and martyrs throughout history.
Can OSE take the lead on creating this Pantheon? Realizing that no one is perfect, and they are not religious saints.
Robert Raven