By the sweat of his brow, man shall eat. Thus, unless he reaps, he does not eat. Unless he sows he does not reap. Unless he learns, he does not earn. One of the things he must learn is that he reaps what he sows. Thus, to get a good harvest man must sow good seeds on good soil and give his crop good care.
And yet, there are things in nature that simply happen even without man’s laboring for them. The desert for all its aridity and dryness blooms in beauty and bounty totally unattended by man. Life flourishes in the most unexpected places, specially those untouched by man. In fact, the beauty and bounty in nature are often marred and destroyed by man’s profligacy, like when he sows pollution man reaps destruction.
Any spirituality for our times will need as its necessary component a deep love and understanding of nature and the environment. This is Creation Spirituality.
And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’
Matthew 13:1-9