Creation spirituality is of course, by its very name, about the sacredness of the universe and nature, about the divine presence within nature. Our experience of the divine in nature leads to our loving and preserving the goodness of the earth. Thomas Aquinas called the “first and primary meaning of ‘redemption’ as to preserve things in the good.” Are we busy preserving the goodness of things? And fighting Climate Change?
Eco-prophet and “Geologian” Thomas Berry, along with his cosmologist friend Brian Swimme, celebrated the new creation story from today’s science and saw it as a “new sacred story” that could help save the planet especially because “ecology is functional cosmology.” (Berry)
Berry had this to say about creation spirituality.
Matthew Fox speaks of his teaching as creation spirituality, it seems to me, because he feels the need to understand the deep experience of the human soul within the sacred dimension of the universe itself. . . . That Matt has consistently used the word Creation in identifying his work indicates the cosmic orientation of his thinking. By the term creation spirituality he turns the Western mind away from its exclusive redemption fixation to the more primordial experience available for the Western soul in the universe itself.
Indeed, the episodes of redemption itself in their historical enactment had something terribly wild about them. Wildest of all, of course, is the creation of the universe. As Saint Thomas indicates consistently throughout his writings, the objective of the divine in creating is the grandeur of the entire universe community. The human, however sublime, is only a single component of that community. Nor can the human exist or function in any way apart from this larger community.
The divine presence is primarily in the comprehensive community of existence. Any communication made to a component of the universe is ultimately for the sake of the universe just as the artist selects the color and form of a painting in relation to the composition of the whole. As Thomas tells us, ‘The whole universe together participates in and manifests the divine more than any single being whatsoever.’ He tells us also that the Order of the Universe is the ultimate and noblest perfection in things.
Adapted from Charles Burack, Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality, p. 212.
And Matthew Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas, pp. 45-52.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: Contemplation on the water. Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash
Queries for Contemplation
What does the word “Creation” mean to you? Do you agree with Aquinas that “the whole universe together participates in and manifests the divine more than any single being whatsoever”? What follows from that?
Recommended Reading

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.

The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
14 thoughts on “Thomas Berry on Creation Spirituality & Our Sacred Earth”
Matthew, Today your question for us in our Queries for Contemplation: “What does the word “Creation” mean to you? To this you reply, “Creation spirituality is of course, by its very name, about the sacredness of the universe and nature, about the divine presence within nature”–and me, following Creation Spirituality, find myself seeing nature as sacred. Berry had this to say about creation spirituality. “Matthew Fox speaks of his teaching as creation spirituality, it seems to me, because he feels the need to understand the deep experience of the human soul within the sacred dimension of the universe itself. . . .”
Then you ask us: “Do you agree with Aquinas that ‘the whole universe together participates in and manifests the divine more than any single being whatsoever’?” Yes, because the whole is more than the sum of its parts !!!
Finally you ask: “What follows from that?” As you have taught students in Creation Spirituality for years, we need now more students who are trained in Creation Spirituality. This is being done through Creation Spirituality Communities and perhaps sometime you could introduce the DM community to what they can provide as resources…
Thank you Matthew.
The awesomeness of Creation can be seen in today’s DM video. How stunning that we humans can ‘zoom out’ to the farthest reaches of the universe and ‘zoom back’ to earth in a few minutes! We are both embedded and transcendent participants in the wonder of all that is. This video should be on the curriculum of every institution, secular or religious, that educates our young. Their classroom day should open, not with a word/prayer or a song/anthem, but a view of their place in time and space.
What a wonderful idea. It would not be partisan or from a single religious viewpoint. It would just put things in perspective.
What the word creation means to me, is how Aquinas defined it, as participating and manifesting the Divine… in my case, through my humanity. The word creation, means to me, participating and manifesting, with conscious awareness that inherent goodness and the beauty of this, already seeded and sealed not only within myself… but also within others and the all and the everything of creation.
What follows from this is… first seeing this inherent goodness and the beauty of this, within myself, others and the all and the everything of creation. What followes from this then, is a willingness to participate in, with and for this, through relationship… which is to nurture, tend to, care for and encourage the unfolding of this within myself, others and the all and the everything. What follows from this is, all of us evolving together… so that even greater measures of that inherent goodness and the beauty of this, manifests itself… which is the co-creation of our true Divine nature emerging out of, with, for and through our humanity. Creation Spirituality teaches us this journey of the soul.
Jeanette, You write today: “What the word creation means to me, is how Aquinas defined it, as participating and manifesting the Divine… in my case, through my humanity. The word creation, means to me, participating and manifesting, with conscious awareness that inherent goodness and the beauty of this..” Then you say that it is seeded and sealed in all of us and in all of creation. Thank you for this !!!
Matthew, I first encountered you and your witness at a Journey Into Wholeness conference, around the turn of the century. Your creativity and wisdom has been reverberating with me, and in turn with my encounters, ever since. Thank you for your life gift of wisdom and generosity. I fall in love with your gifting as I begin each morning. Such a wonderful way to begin my day of hunting and gathering for beauty and falling in love again and again.
Wade, Thank you for your comment. I too remember my first encounter with Matthew prior to the turn of the century. And as you say: “Your creativity and wisdom has been reverberating with me, and in turn with my encounters, ever since.” And I too feel the same. Thank you so much for being a part of our Daily Meditations Creation Spirituality community !!!
The video in today’s DM, “From the human microcosm to the multiverse,” is amazing! It’s mind boggling! The Transcendence, mystery, Beauty, and ongoing Creation of our Source~Creator is so humbling and beyond words… Yet in our human microcosm and conscious eternal souls, we humbly express our gratitude that we’re also a special Sacred part of God’s ongoing, multidiverse and Immanent Creation… within (personally), through (Living), among (panentheism), and ‘around’ (multiverse) us in the Creative Loving Oneness Presence of our Mother~Father Creator….
🔥❤️🙏
Damian, I too can relate to your enthusiasm over the video today entitled, “From the human microcosm to the multiverse!”
The universe is a green dragon, best not piss him off! 🤪 🐉
Amen!
I have long worshiped “Creator.”
Creation is the whole work of Creator, who speaks to us, the created, through one another. Speaks to me through trees, water, waves, sand, fiddler crabs, deer, dogs, birds, and (sometimes) other people—and speaks to these others through me.
My life is devoted to perfecting conservation–through preservation efforts, through growing gardens, through making art to inspire others, through confining spending, which enriches the Destroyers, to necessities insofar as possible in today’s world, and in striving for constant awareness of the importance of these efforts.
Olive, Thank you for your comment, and may God bless you for all that you do”– for you say, “My life is devoted to perfecting conservation–through preservation efforts… and in striving for constant awareness of the importance of these efforts!”
I was moved by the video, “Zoom out from earth”, and was struck by the farthest images … the first time I have seen the concept of multiverses shown graphically. Unfortunately, the video is no loner available due to a copyright concern. Does anyone know where I could find a ‘legal’ site to view it again? I have found many copies but none include the multiverse segment.