Occupy Spirituality

This post is a sponsored book review that is part of the Patheos Book Club.

I am a longtime fan of Matthew Fox, and have posted extensively in the past about his book Original Blessing, so when I saw that he had released a new book with the provocative title of Occupy Spirituality — alluding to the Occupy Wall Street movement — I was excited to get a hold of it. The format of the book, a dialogue between the 37-year-old advocate for homeless youth Adam Bucko and the 70-year-old radical theologian Matthew Fox — imbues the book with the energy of these two spiritual activists exploring their complementary approaches to living an abundant, centered, transformative life.

I define religion as about an institutionalized community, and spirituality as about firsthand religious experience, and both authors are clearly grounded in an “Occupy Spirituality” of authentic, real experiences that emerges from working to change this world for the better. As Fox says, quoting the eco-philosopher David Orr, “hope is a verb with the sleeves rolled up” (6).

This book will both equip you to occupy your own spirituality (to go deeper into your firsthand experience with God or the Universe) and inspire you to go out into the world in the spirit of the Occupy Wall Street movement. As the subtitle says, this book outlines a “A Radical Vision for a New Generation.”

Visit Patheos’ Book Club website for more free reviews and resources related to this book. 

The Rev. Dr. Carl Gregg is a trained spiritual director, a D.Min. graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary, and the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick, Maryland. Follow him on Facebook (facebook.com/carlgregg) and Twitter (@carlgregg). 

Learn more about Unitarian Universalism:
http://www.uua.org/beliefs/principles