Matthew Fox ... "catholic with a small c" Wednesday, August 1st, 2001

Last night a giant came to St. Joan of Arc church in the slim compact frame of Matthew Fox. He looked like the pictures we've seen over the years: a shock of white hair, a face marked by the years and the struggles and lined by laughter. He stood behind the podium, animated, expressive, arms and hands moving and shaping the emotions behind the words he spoke, words that came from his experience as a theologian, a progressive thinker, a catalyst for change -- and some would say, a misunderstood and maligned prophet. Ronnie Angelus says: "There are three things that make my life work: Talking to my daughter who opens vistas to me and makes me laugh; being in the circle of the Divas, my writing group, who shout "go girl" and give me standing ovations with their smiles and tears; sitting next to Mary and Claude Paradis during Sunday Mass at St. Joan of Arc, which is as close to pure goodness as I will know in this lifetime." Matthew Fox is the Co-chair of the Master of Liberal Arts in Creation Spirituality at Naropa University at Oakland California. The curriculum is designed to "expand the artist, mystic and activist in yourself; deepen your connection to earth, cosmos and spirit and learn with your heart, mind, body and soul." The faculty of Naropa is described as individuals "representing hundred of years of experience, wisdom and knowledge from diverse circles of cultural, ethnic and spiritual traditions." And that is the belief system he spoke from -- a champion of all these spiritual traditions and likens them to the many wells from one river. That is also the title of his new book, "One River, Many Wells" and the basis for his dialog with his audience last night. Let Joann Potts take you to the church of St. Joan of Arc on the evening of August first and tell you what we heard and saw.

It was a surprisingly happy, animated and lively gathering of people that slowly paraded into the air-conditioned space provided for them on a recent hot and humid midweek August evening. The anticipation of joining the excitement of greeting, listening and learning from the well known author, theologian and educator, Matthew Fox, made the sound almost deafening as people greeted each other with laughter hugs and smiles.

Who is this man with a following akin to a rock star -- albeit noting a predominance of mature bodies and graying locks among the fans? Ronnie Angelus' visual description, given above, would be enough to entice but there is much, much more. My intention here is not to note every word of this evening's talk, for that will be given to you via audio available on the website, but rather to convey the essence of what I and others gleaned from the evening. It was a surprise to hear the different "takes" on his conversation with us.

It seemed that Matthew Fox touched on almost every aspect of his teachings as contained in his many writings. His talk overall had us spellbound by his simple, direct and precise speech manner. A teacher to the core, his words making so much sense that one would wonder why anyone would find in them anything other than TRUTH.

As one gentleman said to me, Matthew Fox mentioned names and philosophies like only a learned scholar could. I felt this was not meant to impress us but did lend credence to his richness of knowledge, depth of his background and careful research. He spoke words from the writings and lips of the Dalai Lama, Ghandi, Meister Eckhard and Mandella along with St. Agustine, Aquinas and of course, Jesus. In fact, his beautiful description of Jesus' philosophy as contained not in the expected "Sermon on the Mount," but instead, "The Canticle of the Sun," which embodies the need to cherish and protect all creatures of the earth including stewardship of the earth itself.

Audible moans of distress were heard from the audience when Matthew Fox stated that, like the dinosaurs before us, we humans are not a sustainable species. He said that continuing on this same path of destruction we would most likely not be brought to an end by a meteor falling, as happened to the dinosaurs, but rather by self-destruction by excessiveness and abuse, thus ultimately destroying the planet we live on.

Matthew Fox wanted us to understand that "each person is a new face of God! He gave us much hope in telling us we are on the edge of great change -- that of becoming the complete human or rational brain.

He spoke of our three brains:

• The Reptilian brain, which we must leash -- all solitude plus violence
• The Mammalian brain -- which is about bonding, birthing and compassion within the tribe
• The Human or Rational brain -- that must be stretched to encompass all of humankind into one community.

He spoke of food:
Food is a necessary and important "drug" which we ingest three times a day. We must choose well. Our children are over "sugared" and over "Ritalin" drugged. He told of his own experiences of changing his food choices that vastly improved his health.

He spoke of the difference between warriors and soldiers:
"Never give a gun to a young man who has not learned to dance." The warrior dances and knows the difference between celebrating and rioting. Be the warrior who sticks around and is intelligent and brave and opens all the closets of the future. We must face our fears -- our "shadows."

He spoke of the new cosmology, the new ecumenism, and the new blended world:
They all call us to be above and beyond our individual heritage. Our own pastor, George Wertin described the people and the spirit of St. Joan's this way, "We are not merely Catholic we are more than Catholic."

We all belong to many communities. All these many varying "wells" Matthew Fox speaks of; the Ecumenism well, the Jewish well, the Christian well, the goddess well -- all these wells and more flow into one river. This one river leads to the Divine, the ultimate goal, one experience that encompasses all human diversity. The Dalia Lama advises us that happiness and wisdom come from a healthy relationship with our own religion. Matthew Fox's latest book, "One River, Many Wells" speaks of Creation, Divinity, Ourselves and The Future - and, much more.

He told us he felt there is something about Minnesotans and their openness to the Native American culture that makes us more "spiritual" than in many other places. He told us that we St. Joan people have our own special saint - St. Joan of Arc (a warrior herself) -- to lead, encourage and help us to keep the soul alive here and remain on the "cutting edge." We must let go of old anger from what he called religious wounds and say good-bye to the religious child in us. Jesus’ answer was love. Peace comes from souls when they realize their oneness with the universe, as do Native Americans when they look up at the starry night sky and see the campfires of their ancestors and are comforted by that connection. All of our "ancestors" are from the stars. We are a part of that cosmic miracle. We have 14 billion years of history behind us. We can surely see that we are a part of an on going cosmic experience. We can't blame everything on our parents. They, like we, and all before and after us, are merely gifted midwives called to divinity by the second coming of Christ, which is ongoing. We ARE the second coming of Christ that happens over and over.

Joann Potts is a retired music and English teacher and 30 year member of St. Joans. She enjoys working with Anna Vagle each week. She is "in charge" of doing those slides you see at church each Sunday and for preparing the music sheets for the musicians. JoAnn and her husband Jim will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 2001 and are proud of their family of five children and eight grandchildren. Her hobbies include singing, playing her digital piano, writing her memoirs, reading, writing poetry, entertaining friends, visiting the North Shore and ballroom dancing with Jim.

Thank you Matthew Fox, for wanting to come to St. Joan's. May God bless your great work and may your God-given connection with the universe continue to strengthen you as you continue on our joint cosmic path. You are truly what Rabbi Shalomi wrote about you, "…he lets the spirit of holiness breathe on us."

A complete listing of Matthew Fox's books and tapes are available at LinkBaton

Janice LaMere is a self-professed (and sometimes publicly acknowledged) girl-geek. She does computer technical support and training, and is a writer, college student, mother of three and grandmother of two. She likes to read, learn, listen to music, walk with her dog (Lady Isabella Augusta, AKA Auggie Doggie) and watch old movies. She can be found on the Internet atwww.janissima.com, or email to lamere@janissima.com.

Fred Vagle, with his wife Anna Mae, is a long time SJA'er most famous as a musician, but recently in charge of audio/video hightlights of Sunday Mass on this website.