As you know, the Season of Creation begins today, September 1, 2021 and concludes on October 4, 2021, the Feast of Francis of Assisi.
The Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset once said: “Tell me the landscape in which you live and I will tell you who you are.” Here we find a beautiful expression of the deep and fundamental connection that exists between place and human identity. But how in fact does place shape identity? How is it that our deepest emotions and values, including those that we consider to be part of our spiritual life, come to be so closely tied to the places we inhabit? What do we lose—in relation to our identity, our sense of meaning, even our sense of God—when these places are lost or degraded? Is it still possible to cultivate a sense of wholeness and integrity in relation to the places we inhabit? The Season of Creation hopes to address these themes. View an introductory video describing the Season of Creation: