This is a summary of the previous week’s daily meditations. Some are written by Matthew Fox (MF) and some are written by his colleague, Gianluigi Gugliermetto. (GG) You can click on any title to view the DM in its entirety. Also, remember that each Monday DM continues to include a video teaching by Matthew Fox. Thank you for your loyal readership.
August 17, 2026: The Prescient Painting of Hildegard of Bingen on the Antichrist (MF)
Hildegard of Bingen once painted a powerful painting of the Antichrist, which Matthew has shared with us many times. It continues to be amazingly prescient to the daily horror show we are living through at this chaotic time in human history. She very much emphasizes cosmic chaos in her depiction of evil. The Gospels talk about this chaos, too. For instance, at the time of Jesus’s death, Matthew says that “the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Luke also reports about the veil being torn in two and also said that the sun was eclipsed and darkness came over the land. (Luke 23:44) Evil is a cosmic event therefore, a rupture in the cosmos which is built on order. That is how Hildegard sees it also. Evil deeds unravel the cosmic order.
August 18, 2026: Some Wisdom from Arthur Brooks, a “Scientist of Happiness” (MF)
Arthur Brooks identifies as a “writer about the science of human happiness.” A college professor at Vanderbilt and lecturer at Harvard, he works closely with young people. He cites statistics, telling us that Depression has about tripled over the past 15 years for young adults, and anxiety has doubled. The question is why? He proposes that many people—especially young people—can no longer say that their life has meaning. He believes one reason is the amount of time spent on phones and screens. A key question he often asks is: when you near death, “How do you want to look back on your life?” He is sure one thing you wouldn’t say is “I sure wish I’d spent more time online….”
August 19, 2026: Further Wisdom From Arthur Brooks (MF)
Arthur Brooks says, “Every philosophical and religious tradition [is] supposed to help us find meaning in our lives.” This means, he insists, that we have to spend more time with the right side of our brains. And he warns us: “You can’t solve the right brain’s problems by getting more left-brain solutions.” Matthew says, this has everything to do with his passion for the mystics. The mystic in us heals—heals self and heals others. The mystics help us articulate our deep love experiences. The Four Paths of Creation Spirituality help with this: the Viae Positiva, Negativa, Creativa, and Transformativa.
August 20, 2026: Hildegard as Healer (GG)
Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 1179) is a kind of patron saint of Creation Spirituality for a number of good reasons, but especially because of her notion of viriditas (greenness). As the vital energy animating all creatures, viriditas can be lost as well as acquired. Veriditas is very much in sync with the Via Positiva of Creation Spirituality. Hildegard studied plants and their healing properties, but she didn’t focus only on herbology. Rather, she always looked at the whole individual—at the psychological makeup and the medical history. She is a precursor of holistic medicine in many of its aspects, such as: forest bathing, herbalism, sleep patterns harmonization, sound-healing, diet, and even crystal-healing.
August 21, 2026: Hildegard as a Theologian (GG)
Even though she was an abbess, not simply a nun, Hildegard of Bingen had to be very careful when she, as a woman, started claiming visions that connected her directly to God. As a theologian of the 12th century — and even more the only recognizable female theologian of her era — Hildegard could not confront the dogma of original sin directly. Either way, her theology of restoration and wholeness, starting from Augustinian premises, ends up in a very different place. One in which one’s continual care for one’s emotional and physical balance is not only not egocentric and not sinful, but is an instrument in God’s hands for reaching the full stature of our potential as human beings. This is God’s will, in Hildegard’s understanding.
August 22, 2026: Hildegard as a Psychologist (GG)
Hildegard was way ahead of her time. She was extremely holistic—not only a theologian and a healer but an artist, a musician, and a mystic. She believed that people can be divided into four groups. She considered these four humors of classical medicine connected with the four elements. Hence: black bile (spleen) is connected to the earth, cold foam (brain) with water, blood (heart) with air, and yellow bile (liver) with fire. The excessive production of one of the four humors leads to its dominance, thus to imbalance. She spoke extensively about melancholy, making scholars wonder whether she herself suffered from it. As a healer, mental health was really her end game, which she pursued through diet and herbal remedies, but also through lithotherapy and psychological attitudes.
Banner image: Hildegard of Bingen believed in the power of viriditas, or greening. Photo by Maria Dawson on Flickr
Related Reading by Matthew Fox
Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Time
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works: With Letters & Songs
,_RP-P-1888-A-12452.jpg){kind=link}