Prayer: A Radical Response to Life

by Matthew Fox

Overview

Here is a new edition of one of Matthew Fox's most powerful early books, another in a series of the classic works by the maverick priest and theologian being reissued by Tarcher/Putnam.

Prayer was written by Fox when he was a radical young priest fresh from the experience of the sixties and Vatican II. Originally published in 1972, it is one of the first works to herald the revolution of liberal theology that was just beginning to sweep the nation.

Originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, the book now has a more accessible title and appearance and is as vital today as when it first appeared.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585420988
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/04/2001
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Matthew Fox is well-known for having revived the tradition of Creation Spirituality and for being a compelling voice for ecological and socially progressive causes. He is the author of 35 books, including Original Blessing, which has sold more than a quarter million copies. He is the recipient of the Courage of Conscience Award given by the Peace Abbey of Sherborn, Massachusetts. Other recipients have included the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Ernesto Cardenal, and Rosa Parks. He lives in California, where he has founded the University of Creation Spirituality, and is codirector of the Naropa Institute in Oakland.

Table of Contents

Prayer Preface to the 2001 Edition
Chapter 1: What Prayer Is Not
Prayer is not saying prayers
Prayer is not withdrawal from one's culture
Prayer is not acquiescence to a culture
Prayer is not causing God to change by our petitions
Prayer is not talking to God
Prayer is not liturgy
Prayer is not an exceptional experience
Chapter 2: Life and Its Mysteries: The Stuff of Prayer
Is "life" too vague?
Mystery versus problem
Mysteries in our lives
Chapter 3: Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
Prayer as response
Israelite prayer as response to life
Jesus' prayer as response to life
Prayer as response to life, not God
Prayer as response to life, not culture
Prayer as a radical response
Chapter 4: Prayer as Radical Psychologically: Mysticism (Becoming Rooted)
Prayer, the process of responding to life
Mysticism, a matrix for prayer
Chapter 5: Prayer as Radical Socially: Prophecy (Uprooting)
The socially radical as prophecy
Social prayer as a wrestling with the enemies of life
Justice, the prophet's goal
Signs of the true prophet
Chapter 6: Developing Our Capacities for Mysticism and Prophecy
Experience of life
Developing our capacities for mysticism
Developing our capacities for prophecy
The artist as a spiritual guru
Music and spirituality
Postscript: A Fresh Look at the Trinity