Creation and Spirituality - so what am I doing about it?

Doug Brownlow
22 hours ago
7 min read

“God saw all that he had made and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31)

The place God creates as His gift to Woman and Man (Gen 2:8). He makes all kinds of trees grow out of the ground… trees that are pleasing to the eye and good for food (Gen 2:9). The Lord gives it to them to work it and take care of it (Gen 2:15). And it is where the Lord walks in the cool of the evening (Gen 3:8).

This is a personal Reflection on our call to exercise “..power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small” (Genesis 1:24)

It seems we can’t escape hearing/seeing the signs of our world degrading. From extremist, through indifferent to rational responses, the signs are clear.

Even Rome has been crying out from the parapets over there in more recent years:

Check out Pope Saint John XXIII : Pacem in Terris (1963), Blessed Pope Paul VI: Octogesima Adveniens (1971), Pope Saint John Paul II: Redemptor Hominis (1979), Pope Benedict XVI: (Addresses 2007,2008) and Pope Francis: Laudato Si’ (2015), Laudate Deum (2023)

Pope Francis, in Laudato si’, [1] (2015, para 6) reminded us: [DB1]

“ With paternal concern, Benedict urged us [2] (2008 ) to realize that creation is harmed “where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves””.

And again …. .” (Laudate Deum, 2023, para 2),[3]

“Eight years have passed since I published the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, when I wanted to share with all of you, my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet, my heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home. Yet, with the passage of time, I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point”.

And here we are… so now what?

The Genesis story (Genesis 3:8) relates how Adam and Eve, after sharing the apple “walked in the garden in the cool of the evening” and “the Lord God called to the man and asked ‘where are you’?” Now this story is to account for the effect of sin and perhaps it’s relevant today for a similar reality? Does the Lord call each of us to walk with Him in the garden and take responsibility?

Do we see, sense, accept our responsibility as the dominant creature of Creation, to care for other life forms?

Do we understand that this demands our understanding and action to live with those life forms and maintain them through sustainable practices?

And as widespread as the deterioration of Creation is, we need to remind ourselves that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” (the Tao Te Ching)

Over the last 30 years we took, not our first, but a big step in our journey. We continued on our journey of salvation , “…waking up to that divine presence already within us and all around us” (John Scoble).

In 1993, while living The Gap, we house sat for friends who had recently moved into a quiet corner in the hills of Samford Valley. We’d wake up in the morning to the hills, the trees, the bird sounds, the breezes and felt drawn to the experience as a way of life. We felt drawn to explore the possibility of life beyond the suburbs. Both of us had always enjoyed time “amongst the gum trees” and the sense of peace that came over us and we’d sit quietly amongst it all. Over the next few months we’d drive out onto the edge of Brisbane, up to the Sunshine Coast, further into Samford Valley and even beyond Ipswich. We had no clear vision of what we were after other than land in a rural setting but very clear on what we did not want. At the same time other friends living in the Valley told us of a program of revegetation being offered by a local retired banana farmer. That introduced us to this and other initiatives involving the remediation of land that had been subjected to timber clearance, pasture improvement with exotic species and the introduction of a number of other exotic species, many declared as “weeds” that were emerging as dominant. In November of that year, almost by accident we came across a 2-hectare property that had been part of a 1990 subdivision and purchased by a middle-aged couple who realised they could not build and live there because one of the partners discovered they were allergic to the pollen of one of the exotic pasture grasses. After some investigation we commenced negotiations and made an offer they accepted. And so we became custodians of the land we called “Eden” because of the relationship we both felt we had formed with it. At the time we had no clear vision of what we would do other than rehabilitate the land. This was the big first step of our journey.

In 2024 we celebrated our 30 years as custodians of this once distressed piece of land we call “Eden”. We have captured some of those 30 years in the document “Celebrating 30 years of Life and Living at Eden”. Read it if you will…. It is the narrative of much of our journey to this day in “…the care of our common home” So if you want to, use this link to download the PDF file to browse through…. https://jmp.sh/forR6Y2x

Over the years as we continue to nurture and nourish our native plants and wildlife, we have hosted a number of field trips and speak at a range of garden clubs. To assist this we have prepared a range of Eden Fact Sheets which offer some view of what happens here. If you are interested, you can download the files here at https://jmp.sh/gWFxwU2w

On reflection as we engage in weeding, planting, cultivating native fruits and share Eden with others, we recall Jesus’ words: “..by their fruit you shall know them” (Matthew 7:19).

Creation and Spirituality.... So…. What am I doing about it?

When I see/hear the continuing flows of words and pictures through mass media, social media, community gatherings, advertising, public protests and even group discussions that speak of “Climate Change”, “Pollution”, “Scarce resources”, “Poverty”, “Starvation”, “Environmental Degradation”?

1. How do I respond within myself? My feelings? My awareness? My spirit?

2. Does this lead me to consider/take any action? If so, what?

3. If I’ve yet to make a move and wanted to, what might be my first “single step”?

About the Authors

Kath Brownlow is a proud West Australian woman and was the youngest in a family of 6 persons who were deeply committed to their Catholic faith. Dad was a carpenter, donating much of his time to constructing wooden toys and repairing desks for the local school. Playing sport, she had an active social life, enjoyed crafts and written expression. A beloved aunt ran a wheat and sheep farm where many happy holidays were spent. This was her introduction to country life and living. Her working ministry with young people began in Western Australia. She left Perth at 19 to meet relatives in the Eastern States and it was in Sydney that she met and married her first husband. Unfortunately he died in a fishing accident leaving her with 4 small children, 5,4,3 and 22 months. She returned to Perth for family support where she studied teaching, a dream she had long held. The family moved to Brisbane in 1977 to continue their spiritual journey. After many years as a single parent, Kath met Doug and they married in 1987. In Brisbane, she was drawn again to ministry works, studying counselling and volunteering her time with many different groups. Study called again, leading to the completion of a course in Spiritual Companioning. Life took on a different turn when Doug and I purchased a 2-hectare farm property we called “Eden”.

Doug Brownlow was born, the last of four boys, in the latter stages of the war to a family that learned to love and live off the land. He grew up on a large poultry farm on 8 hectares on the north western outskirts of Sydney near Parramatta. He loved open spaces, chooks, his pony and playing in the veggie garden. His parents converted the farm into a market garden after the war where he learnt some basics of cultivation. In the mid-fifties they purchased a 485-hectare property 145 kilometres north of Sydney and planted 700 apple trees while running beef cattle. Doug roamed the hills checking out the wildlife and to this day regrets he always carried his rifle. On leaving school in Sydney he joined the Marist brothers order and taught both at Maitland And Parramatta, specialising in geography, the topic of his Honors thesis. After 12 years he left the order in 1973 and moved as lay teacher into Sydney schools, where he was appointed principal of a girls college at Maroubra and later as a consultant to the Sydney Catholic Education head office in 1986. He was fully occupied with teaching and all aspects of education and had little to do with the land. In 1987, he moved to Brisbane to marry Kath and his world changed. While he worked both in management in the State government and at QUT as a lecturer, the world of Queensland always drew him to a level of appreciation of the landscape. Kath and Doug travelled Queensland and witnessed a great variety of ecosystems and his Geography genes came to the surface. In 1994, he and Kath purchased an old deserted 2-hectare farm property on the outskirts of Brisbane and so their journey into Eden began.