Creation Spirituality: St. Francis Supersedes Original Sin With Original Blessing

All of creation is good, very good, because creation is the infinitely generous expression of the essence of God, or whatever name you give to the Ultimate Reality that cannot be named.

In observation of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi on October 4th I offer you St. Francis’ Peace Prayer.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Orthodox Christianity has traditionally placed a great deal of emphasis on the sinfulness of humanity and the need to be forgiven. St. Francis and the ensuing Franciscan spirituality offer a different emphasis aligned with the first chapters of Genesis in the Hebrew Testament. All of creation is good, very good, because creation is the infinitely generous expression of the essence of God, or whatever name you give to that which cannot be named.

Franciscans insist that God has two sacred books, Holy Scripture and Creation. Franciscans understand Jesus came into the world to reveal God’s love in and of, with and through all of creation which means Jesus points to original blessing, not to original sin. Original blessing is the essence of creation. This is the fundamental revelation of Incarnation, humanity and divinity are one, original blessing.

I believe Francis’ assertion that all of creation is blessing is the root of what the contemporary theologian Matthew Fox refers to as Creation Spirituality. According to Fox, who was a Dominican priest until he was expelled from the order in 1993 and became an Episcopal priest, Creation Spirituality is the spirituality of the future. It “integrates the wisdom of Eastern, Western and Indigenous traditions with the scientific understanding of the evolving universe and the passion of creativity.” This is an integral spirituality that affirms the thesis of “original blessing.” From the beginning we are all blessed. We are all good. This supersedes the ancient Church fathers’ concept of “original sin.”

Although Creation Spirituality contradicts the orthodox Christian emphasis on sin and sinfulness, Fox unswervingly avers that Creation Spirituality is profoundly Biblical. I refer to Eugene Peterson’s “Message” version of two Psalms in support of Fox.

From Psalm 19, God’s glory is on tour in the skies. God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning. Professor Night lectures each evening. (Ps 19.1–2) We experience the universe with awe. When we look at James Webb Telescope images of deep space it cannot escape us that we are less than a blip on the cosmic screen of all that is and simultaneously we are utterly essential because here we are, sensing, noticing, experiencing awe and wonder while evolving in body, mind and spirit in the good company of our ever expanding universe.

From Psalm 24, God claims earth and everything in it. God claims world and all who live in it. Wake up you sleepyhead city. Wake up you sleepyhead people. King-Glory is ready to enter. (Ps 24.1, 7–8) If God is God and God is Ultimate Reality of All Creation, then we are meant to experience God in all things and all things in God. Theologically this is called panentheism. The Ultimate Reality that defies all names is neither the God out there of theism nor the “no god” of atheism. God is a word for all that is and all that is not. God is all in all.

Creation Spirituality is not pollyannish. It affirms that from the beginning Creation expresses darkness and light, joy and suffering, awe and uncertainty. And, at the heart of all of it is the goodness and blessing of the infinite generosity of the Ultimate Reality that is the source and substance of Creation.

Creation Spirituality insists we must keep our eyes on the present moment, refusing to be seduced by cries to “return to the good ‘ol days” or cling to the nostalgic way things were, ways that privilege the few at the expense of any aspect of Creation. Creation Spirituality insists we breath the breathe of blessing, including applying wisdom born of science, into every nook and niche of all that is. Creation Spirituality insists we grow beyond greed to generosity and take responsibility for our participation in Creation. Creation Spirituality insists every thing and every body is sacred because all that is created is an outward and visible gateway to that which is invisible, the essence of Creation that some call God.

• Fox, Matthew, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality (Santa Fe: Bear and Company, 1983), 12–16.

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