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"Matthew Fox might well be the most creative,the most comprehensive, surely the most challenging religious-spiritual teacher in America. He has the scholarship, the imagination, the courage, the writing skill to fulfill this role at a time when the more official Christian theological traditions are having difficulty in establishing any vital contact with either the spiritual possibilities of the present or with their own most creative spiritual traditions of the past....He has, it seems, created a new mythic context for leading us out of our contemporary religious and spiritual confusion into a new clarity of mind and peace of soul, by affirming rather than abandoning any of our traditional beliefs." Thomas Berry, (author of The Great Work and The Dream of the Earth) Of Matthew's The Hidden Spirituality of Men"A wake-up call to shake us free from the old stereotypes of masculinity, this book is good news - and essential reading for men and those living in a world with men.Fox at his most enlivening and insightful, describes, arouses, and liberates archetypal forms of male spirituality so desperately needed in these leaden times.Joanna Macy (author of World As Lover, World As Self)"Matthew knows what the spirit's life is all about and what is asked of it at this time.He opens the treasures of the Great Traditions and retrieves for us the relevant inspiring sources, but between the lines he lets the spirit of holiness breathe on us."Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi "Matt Fox is a pilgrim who seeks a path int the church of tomorrow.Countless numbers will be happy to follow his lead."The Right Reverend John Shelby Sponng
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Dear Friends,Cultivating Connections is honored to have Matthew Fox as our guest for this special celebration marking 20 years of "cultivating connections". We are especially appreciative that he would donate his time for our fundraiser event on Friday.I hope you will join us for either or both of these events as we prepare to enter our second twenty years of cultivating connections! Click Here for Tickets.With commitment for a better world, Mark
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Friday, February 18, 7:30 pm
The Divine Feminine and the Sacred Masculine: The Scared Marriage Resurrected
A Talk with Matthew Fox
Suggested Donation $10 to $50 (self determined)
at Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church
The Goddess has been returning to Western consciousness for decades through the women's movement, Goddess rediscoveries, and more. This presentation explores some of the rich and hopeful implications of this reemergence with special emphasis on the return of the Black Madonna.
The times also call for a resurrection of the "sacred masculine" so that the Goddess may have a proper consort. Much of what passes for masculinity in our culture and religion is anything but sacred. It is toxic, and this toxicity affects not only men but also women in their roles as mothers, sisters, spouses, and human beings.
As such this lecture (drawn in part from Matthew's book, "The Hidden Spirituality of Men") also explores the positive examples offered by such ancient archetypes of the sacred masculine as Father Sky, the Green Man, the Spiritual Warrior, Hunter-Gatherer, and the Grandfatherly Heart.
This event is a fundraiser for Cultivating Connections.
The cost for attending is self determined starting at $10 per person.
5:30 pm Cultivating Connections Fundraiser Reception with Matthew Fox(Donations start at $75 and include premium seating for the 7:30 pm presentation)
Click Here for Tickets
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Saturday, February 19, 9:30 am - 1:00 pm
Wisdom of the Mystics
A Workshop with Matthew Fox
Cost $45
at First Unitarian Church
In this workshop we will draw on the wisdom of some of the greatest Western and Eastern mystics from Jesus to Eckhart, from Hildegard to Thomas Merton, from Rabbi Heshel to Rumi to address questions such as:
· Where is God?
· What are the ways to experience God?
· What results from these experiences?
We will also consider themes such as the sacredness of creation, the dark night of the soul, the ways we can bring wonder alive again and the nature and practice of compassion and justice-making. We will utilize the fourfold path of the Via Positiva (awe and wonder), the Via Negativa (silence and darkness and suffering and letting go), the Via Creativa (creativity) and the Via Transformativa (compassion) to help shed light on the various mystic/activists we are exploring.
Click Here for Tickets
This event is made possible by the following cosponsors
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20 Years of Cultivating Connections
I first brought Matthew Fox to Louisville in May of 1991 for a talk and workshop after having seen him speak in Ohio. The weekend was a big success with attendance reaching over 700 participants and connections being made that last to this day.
Soon after, we began offering twice monthly gathers as Creation Spirituality of Louisville. In 1994 we changed our name to Cultivating Connections and took on the publication of the Creation Spirituality Connectors Newsletter as well as the coordination of local and regional Creation Spirituality gatherings.
We continued to explore and promote Matthew's work including hosting the University of Creation Spirituality's 2000 East Meets West Summer Workshop in Midway, Kentucky and co-hosting the 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2007 EarthSpirit Rising Conferences in Kentucky and Ohio.
Matthew's teachings and writings lead directly to other influential teachers and authors many of whom we have brought to town under the Cultivating Connections banner including Bill Plotkin, Joanna Macy, John Seed, Brian Swimme, Russill Paul, David Korten and Julia Butterfly Hill.
In addition, Matthew's Techno Cosmic Mass was the primary inspiration for our quarterly Sacred Celebrations which are in their sixth year.
Other ongoing programs from Cultivating Connections include study groups, workshops and retreats on The Work that Reconnects, The Universe Story, and Sacred Stories as well as the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposiums.
- Mark Steiner
To See the Cultivating Connections Timeline Click Here
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About Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (b. 1940) is an internationally acclaimed theologian who was a member of the Dominican Order for 34 years. He is author of more than two dozen books that have been translated into 42 languages including Original Blessing; The Reinvention of Work; Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet; One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths; A Spirituality Named Compassion; The Coming of the Cosmic Christ; Prayer: A Radical Response to Life; A New Reformation; The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human; A New Reformation; The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors for Awakening the Sacred Masculine. His latest book, Christian Mystics: 365 Meditations" is scheduled for publication in early 2011.
Fox founded the Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality that operated for seven years at Mundelein College in Chicago and twelve years at Holy Names College in Oakland . For ten of those years at Holy Names College Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict), as chief Inquisitor and head of the Congregation of Doctrine and Faith, tried to shut the program down. Ratzinger silenced Fox for one year in 1988 and forced him to step down as director. Three years later he expelled Fox from the Order thus terminating the program at Holy Names College. Rather than disband his amazing and ecumenical faculty, Fox started his own University called University of Creation Spirituality where it thrived for nine years and closed in 2007.
Fox is a well received lecturer who has spoken at many professional and community gatherings on many continents and in many countries around the world. His books have received numerous awards and he is recipient of the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award as well as the Ghandi-King-Ikeda Award. Fox has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, Utne Reader, YES! Magazine and the Today Show. Fox believes that by "reinventing work, education and worship we can bring about a non-violent revolution on our planet" and has committed himself to this vision.
Visit his website
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Wisdom of the Mystics
Workshop Cosponsors
· Natural Awakenings
· Interfaith Paths To Peace
· First Unitarian Church
· Covenant Community Church
· The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living
· Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church
Green Sanctuary Committee
· The Thomas Merton Center
Unity of Louisville
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Registration/Tickets
Click Here for Tickets
Contact Mark Steiner 502-897-2721
cultvatingconnections@insightbb.com www.cultivatingconnections.org
Cultivating Connections 318 Primrose Drive
Louisville, Kentucky 40207
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