Matthew Fox is the author of 28 books and has been a pioneering teacher and scholar in the revival of Western mysticism, especially the work of Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and Thomas Aquinas. He is a visiting scholar with the Academy for the Love of Learning and can be reached through his website www.matthewfox.org. Fox is also one of S&P's Living Spiritual Teachers.
In his introduction to this impressive anthology of quotations from Christianity's greatest mystics over the past two thousand years, he laments the fact that both fundamentalists and academics seem to be blocked on this spiritual path. In addition, one has to look hard to find a major or significant emphasis on mysticism in seminaries. They are all, in Fox's eyes, missing out on the wisdom, compassion, heart, and feminine spirit of this tradition. He observes:
"Deep down, each one of us is a mystic. When we tap into that energy we become alive again and we give birth. From the creativity that we release is born the prophetic vision and work that we all aspire to realize as our gift to the world. We want to serve in whatever capacity we can. Getting in touch with the mystic inside is the beginning of our deep service."
Christian Mystics contains quotations from 32 mystics (including Julian of Norwich, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Thomas Berry, Bede Griffiths, Howard Thurman, Dorothee Soelle, and Oscar Romero) along with the author's commentaries on such fertile topics as the wedding of spirit and matter, the sacredness of the earth, deep ecumenism, the omnipresence of God, darkness and shadow, beauty and joy, ecological justice, creativity, meditation, awe, gratitude, letting go, healing, and celebration. Here is a sample of one page in the book:
"God is voluptuous and delicious."
— Meister Eckhart
"This saying, like many by Meister Eckhart, is quite surprising. We often forget the Maker of pleasure must know something about pleasure and herself. The voluptuousness of an orange, of a rose, of a beautiful piece of music, of a sunset, of a tantalizing meal, of the human body — the delicious symphony provided by our senses of taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing — does not go unnoticed by the Creator of all voluptuousness."
