Greater Love than This: Navalny, Sister Dorothy, MLK, Jesus
We have been honoring the life, teachings and martyrdom of Sister Dorothy Stang, gunned down 19 years ago by powerful forces of greed and hatred bent on destroying the Amazon rainforest and peasant farmers.
Now the world has learned of the death of Alexei Navalny, Russian prisoner of conscience and leader of the opposition to Putin. We know how he spoke out against the oligarchy now ruling Russia, releasing videos of their mansions, etc., how he was seriously poisoned, then saved in a German hospital, and nevertheless returned to Russia to carry on his fight.
He was warned how dangerous that would be—even as Sister Dorothy was advised that returning to Brazil would be a dangerous move for a leader as visible as her. But she replied that she loved the forest and the peasants she was working with, and could not turn her back on them. Navalny said one must make sacrifices if one believes in one’s values strongly enough.
An excerpt from the Academy Award winning documentary “Navalny,” showing his final message to his country and the world. Video by Madman Films. (The full documentary is currently airing on Max (formerly HBO).
Both Sister Dorothy and Alexei Navalny “loved something more than the fear of death” as MLK, Jr. put it, describing his decision to march for equality in spite of death threats. Both Navalny and Sr. Dot paid the ultimate price for their love.
Jesus said, “greater love than this no person has, than to lay down their life for their friends.” Navalny’s friends for which he laid down his life, were his fellow Russian citizens seeking to live freely. Sr. Dorothy’s were the peasants and the rainforest.
His is a love story. So too is Sister Dorothy’s. So too was MLK’s and, with a similar ending, so too is the story of Jesus.
A friend of Navalny, now living in exile from Putin’s Russia, said that he and many had hoped he would be the “George Washington” of modern-day Russia. “But now he is the Martin Luther King, Jr. of Russia instead.”
Meanwhile, the American Congress under Speaker Mike Johnson, beholden to a presidential candidate who admires Putin, is bestowing a gift on Putin the murderer: No funding for Ukraine resisting Putin’s war to swallow up their fledgling democracy.
Will American politicians stand up to Putin? Will they learn anything from the sacrifice of Navalny?
See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.
And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
And Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: Alexei Navalny (center front) marching in Russia’s anti-corruption protests in 2017. Photo by Evgeny Feldman. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
What parallels do you see between Sister Dorothy’s story and that of Alexis Navalny’s?
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality
Selected with an Introduction by Charles Burack
To encapsulate the life and work of Matthew Fox would be a daunting task for any save his colleague Dr. Charles Burack, who had the full cooperation of his subject. Fox has devoted 50 years to developing and teaching the tradition of Creation Spirituality and in doing so has reinvented forms of education and worship. His more than 40 books, translated into 78 languages, are inclusive of today’s science and world spiritual traditions and have awakened millions to the much neglected earth-based mystical tradition of the West. Essential Writings begins by exploring the influences on Fox’s life and spirituality, then presents selections from all Fox’s major works in 10 sections.
“The critical insights, the creative connections, the centrality of Matthew Fox’s writings and teaching are second to none for the radical renewal of Christianity.” ~~ Richard Rohr, OFM.