‘Zeal comes from an intense experience of the beauty of things,’ says Aquinas. Julian: Charged with the quality of reverence and loving awe, we turn ourselves with all our might toward action.

From Matthew Fox, Jan 20, 2021 along with

The good news that wellness will triumph, goodness will arise, and truth will redeem the falsehoods to which humans are prone. Julian of Norwich concludes: “Charged with the quality of reverence and loving awe, we turn ourselves with all our might toward action.”

Yesterday Matthew Fox shared:

I abide by David Orr’s definition of hope: “Hope is a verb with the sleeves rolled up.”  Hope is proportionate to our willingness to go to work to solve problems.  Diversity and creativity are key to problem solving and therefore to hope overcoming despair.  Psychologist Otto Rank teaches that “pessimism comes from the repression of creativity.”  Where creativity rises, pessimism (and despair) diminish. 

…To speak of goodness is to speak of love, and vice versa. It is a way of seeing the world, for beyond love lies goodness.  Joy is integral to hope, for “a person who is joyful has greater hope,” observes Thomas Aquinas.  Practicing the via positiva is an important way to keeping hope alive.  Goodness, as Julian insists, can be found everywhere in nature. And where it is missing in human nature, it is our task to make it right again, to bring it alive in ourselves and others.

Julian counsels us to face our despair and feelings of helplessness. She encourages us to roll up our sleeves and get to work—to do both our inner work and our outer work, our spiritual work and our political work, our mystical and our prophetic work.