"Creation Spirituality honors what is. What was created by God is sacred. Spirit lies in understanding the deepest workings of nature." Beneath these simple phrases lies the mysticism of Earth's major religions. Dreams, rituals, life cycles, sexuality, nature worship, and even science fit nicely under the Creation Spirituality umbrella.
The idea of honoring is critical. We don't honor a child by abusing him or her. We don't honor our dreams by ignoring them. We don't honor our environment by polluting it. We don't honor sexuality by either denial or promiscuity. We don't honor the disasters that unexpectedly and painfully and naturally occur by holding on to what is lost. Instead we treat children as teachers. We allow dreams to show us sides of ourselves we have not consciously accepted. We find ways to co-evolve with our fellow creatures. We respect our bodies and celebrate the mystery and power of passion. We let go of what is lost and build anew in the space left behind.
Art is a good way of getting at the deeper essence of things. Creation Spirituality honors the artist in all of us. Art is creation. Art has the power to heal, to give insights, to inspire ways of being and actions which would otherwise seem impossible.
We celebrate Creation Spirituality when we wonder at the mysteries of science, when we let spirit move us in dance, and we ask questions of monsters in our dreams. Creation Spirituality does not tell us what to think or believe about Jesus, Muhammad, Abraham Lincoln or Matthew Fox. It does not prescribe a set of rules. Nor does it focus on overcoming Original Sin or the devil. Creation Spirituality does not say which sacred texts are truth, allegory, or fiction. There is still plenty of room for the various religions, cultural traditions, and modern organizations to gather us and guide us.
Creation Spirituality does, however, suggest going from wherever one is now to new levels of awareness and action. This makes some people and some of the more staid institutions very uncomfortable.
I personally look for Creation Spirituality close to home, at work, in my daily life. If I'm spending eight hours a day in a bureaucracy then there must be a spiritually nurturing way to do that work. I take walks to remind myself that we come from the same Earth and that we are all in this together. My view is that ultimately we will be most fulfilled when we find ways of integrating our special interests with the events and people and places of our daily lives. How does Tantra yoga apply to a business transaction? How does Native American spirituality and a child custody dispute relate? How can small town politics be transformed into dancing?
No need to rush. This is a life's work.¥
Definition of Creation Spirituality by Rosemary Radford Reuther from Jan. 1990 CS magazine
My own personal Creation Spirituality testimony