This week we talk to Matthew Fox about The Four Paths to God

Matthew Fox is an American priest and theologian. Formerly a member of the Dominican Order within the Roman Catholic Church, he became a member of the Episcopal Church following his expulsion from the order in 1993.

Fox was an early and influential exponent of a movement that came to be known as Creation Spirituality. The movement draws inspiration from the mystical philosophies of such medieval Catholic visionaries as Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas Aquinas, Saint Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, and Meister Eckhart as well as the wisdom traditions of Christian scriptures.

Creation Spirituality is also strongly aligned with ecological and environmental movements of the late 20th century and embraces numerous spiritual traditions around the world.

Fox has written 30 books that have sold millions of copies. His latest book is called A Way to God: Thomas Merton's Creation Spirituality Journey

 In This Interview, Matthew Fox and I Discuss...

• The One You Feed parable
• Feeding "the love of life" vs the "love of death"
• How fear can drive compassion out
• Embracing the difficult
• Silence and solitude
• Balancing engaging with the world vs retreating from it
• Battling our narcissistic tendencies
• Learning to let go and let be
• Developing a "portable solitude" that we can take with us
• His Four Paths to God- Via Positiva, Via Negativa, Via Creativa, Via Transformativa
• Creativity as a path towards God
• Getting "off the cushion" and into the world
• Via Positiva
• Awe and astonishment as a path to deeper spirituality
• Nature as part of the Via Positiva
• Via Negativa
• Facing suffering and grieving as part of the Via Negativa
• Via Transformativa
• Keeping our attention on being compassionate
• The "glittering Niagra of Trivia" that is our culture and media
• Thomas Merton's transition to mysticism
• Was Thomas Merton assassinated by our government?
• Technology as the main problem of our time
• How technology will not redeem us
• Being expelled from the Dominican Order
• Supporting homosexuality

   

A grandfather is talking with his grandson and he says there are two wolves inside of us which are always at war with each other. 

One of them is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery and love. The other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed, hatred and fear.

The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?”

The grandfather quietly replies, the one you feed

The Tale of Two Wolves is often attributed to the Cherokee indians but there seems to be no real proof of this. It has also been attributed to evangelical preacher Billy Graham and Irish Playwright George Bernard Shaw. It appears no one knows for sure but this does not diminish the power of the parable.

This parable goes by many names including:

The Tale of Two Wolves

The Parable of the Two Wolves

Two Wolves

Which Wolf Do You Feed

Which Wolf are You Feeding

Which Wolf Will You Feed

It also often features different animals, mainly two dogs.