TH581 Eco-Art and Creation Spirituality
Topic outline
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Instructor: Rev. Margie Schneider, D. Min.
oneheart2019@aol.comAt the beginning of this course, please e-mail the instructor to introduce yourself. If you have any questions while taking this course, please use this e-mail address to ask them or to set up a Zoom or phone meeting with the instructor. You are invited to request such a meeting whenever you feel it is necessary.
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TH580 Creation Spirituality is a requirement for this course.
Additional Prerequisite:
A deep desire to approach this course with an open mind and heart is necessary, which would mean that a non-judgmental attitude towards the material covered is also necessary. Without the ability to do this you will not derive much of the richness that is within the teachings of Creation Spirituality as well as in nature itself. Therefore, understand that there may be things expressed you may not be familiar with, or even agree with, but you must be willing to allow these expressions to come through in yourself as you may be surprised at what may result in the process. -
This course explores, and awakens, one’s natural creativity, through the participation in seven Eco-Art activities, performed within nature, and seen through the eyes of Creation Spirituality, and its Four Paths. This can bring about an inner healing once the authentic self surfaces. This, in turn, can bring about a newly discovered deep, and lasting, set of values, once a deep sense of sacredness, and oneness, with all things is developed. This, in turn, can result in a passionate desire to address the sacred connection one should have with the Earth, all her creatures, and especially with the Creator, through a new and deep desire to care for it. It is simply about realizing that if all of what we have is a gift from the Creator, then it is our obligation to live a life that protects, and reveres, all that exists, which can also bring about a more joyful and peaceful life.
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Schneider, M. (2020). Eco-Art & Creation Spirituality: How Locating Your Creativity Through a Practice of Eco-Art Activities, Within Nature, combined with a Knowledge of the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, can Result in a Deeper Spiritual Connection with Yourself, with Nature, and, Most Importantly, with the Creator
Note: The Eco-Art & Creation Spirituality text will be available through the instructor via a PDF File, at the onset of the course, which you can either have printed, in its entirety, or just copy a chapter a week. It is being done in this way so you can include each of the chapters in a notebook you will be creating that will also contain your nature art and your reflective responses to the questions in the text. Also, it is being done in this way as this work has not been published or shared with anyone who is not taking this course.
Fox, M. (2004). Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet. NY: Penguin House. (This text is available on Amazon or any other media site.)
Fox, M. (2000). Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Presented in Four Paths, Twenty-Six Themes, and Two Questions. NY: Putnum.
Note: The reading of the text Original Blessing should have been completed when you took TH580 Creation Spirituality which is a requirement for this course. However, you will be reflecting back on it when you are completing Assignment #4.
Other Required Materials:
A sketchbook and any color medium you choose to use to complete the art activities (examples of such mediums would be colored pencils, crayons, paints, markers, etc.)
A notebook of your choice is required, as well as some dividers for organizing/separating each chapter, as well as notebook paper for journaling your thoughts and writing down responses to the reflective questions located at the end of each chapter of the Eco-Art & Creation Spirituality text. This will also provide a place for the art you have created that applies to each nature activity. In this way you will have created a type of journal that you can go back to and reflect upon and share with others once the course is over.
Suggested Readings & Supplemental Bibliography:
In the Bibliography located at the end of the Eco-Art & Creation Spirituality text you will find numerous books that were utilized in creating this book which you might find to be an interesting read when it comes to gaining more knowledge about Creation Spirituality. -
- To locate your creative nature, as well as a desire to utilize it in your life in a more positive way.
- To learn to think, feel, & relate, like nature’s wisdom works, through a deep and new appreciation of its beauty.
- To develop an authentic, and more loving, connection not only with nature, but also with yourself, and with the Creator.
- To develop a deep sense of the sacred, and oneness, with all things.
- To develop a deep and lasting set of values that are inclusive of all the Earth, which can result in a lasting sense of happiness and contentment.
- To develop a passion to protect, and defend, the rights of all creatures and of the Earth
- Through the learning objectives already mentioned (#1-7) you should, at the end of this course, have developed the ability, and desire, to articulate to other people the impact of this experience, and how it now plays an important role in your work and life, so they, too, might gain the same understanding of how important it is to love, respect, and care for nature. You will do this through sharing the notebook/journal you had created while taking the course, through group conversations, workshops you might create, or by living your life through example.
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Assignments: There are FOUR ASSIGNMENTS to be completed for this course (see #s 1-4 below). Three of the assignments are papers which are to be submitted to gmuclass.org. Each paper needs to be at least 8-10 pages long, double-spaced and each will be worth 25% of your grade.
Please know that your final grade will also reflect your participation in the readings and activities, your timely submissions of your chapter/activity work to me on a weekly basis, and the completion of the 4 papers which should include your responses to the questions listed after each assignment. In grading, I will be looking for things like whether you deeply reflected on the readings and activities by taking the time to truly read and understand the material, and whether through your activities, were you able to connect deeply with yourself, with nature, and with God, emotionally and/or spirituality, and this will be shown through your thoughtful responses, art, etc.
Note: It order to complete this course within a 9–10-week time frame, as well as derive from the richness it has to offer, it is suggested that you read Chapters 1 & 2 the first week, then proceed to complete at least one chapter a week containing the activities (Chapters #3-9). Once you have accomplished this you can go ahead and read the concluding chapter (Chapter #10). -
Read the Eco-Art & Creation Spirituality text slowly and deliberately. In other words, do not rush through it but take each chapter/activity separately and slowly and spend time with it by first reading the material within that chapter, then performing the nature activity, and finally spending time with the reflective questions at the end of each chapter and jotting down your responses. It is important to begin this course by first reading Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 before starting the activities sections. Once you have completed each activity, you are required to e-mail me a weekly response describing your experience with the material and activity within that chapter. This e-mail should include your responses to the reflective questions contained within that chapter as well as a photo or copy of the activity you have also completed. Be sure to keep your notes from each chapter as you will be required to submit a final paper at the end of this course containing an overall summary of your experiences.
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After you have finished reading the book Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet write a paper which will include responses to the following questions:
What sections of this book impacted you the most and how?
Did this impact you intellectually, emotionally or spirituality, where you began to sense new energies welling up within you, or perhaps you have discovered a creative expression within you which you were unaware of before now, or maybe you have developed a deep desire towards changing your life or seeking out a new work that could benefit others or the Earth as a whole?
In other words, describe in detail how what you have read in this book can influence you in the future. -
Because the TH580 Creation Spirituality course - along with reading the book Original Blessing - was a prerequisite for this course, please summarize as to how, and if, what you have learned in that course came to life through your experience in this course. Perhaps you could go back to the paper you had written when you had taken TH580 and take time to read and reflect on what you expressed there, and then write in this paper how you feel about it now that this course is over. What has changed for you emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually?
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At the end of the course, you are required to write and submit a paper which contains a reflection of your overall experience with the Eco-Art & Creation Spirituality text as well as the activities contained there.
This paper should include a description of how this course has changed the way you look at yourself, at nature, and with the One who created it all. How has taking this course impacted on your view, your connection with nature, and with your relationship with God and, if so, how?
If not, please describe why you think that is. Also include anything that may have surprised you about yourself. Was there a particular part of the text that stood out the most for you and why do you think that was?
Was there a particular activity that you enjoyed the most or what you found the most difficult to do and explain why you think that was? Describe how and if what you have learned you could apply to your life and then go on to explain how you would go about doing that. For example, would you change the way you are living and, if so, how would you go about changing it?
Will this be through a new commitment to the Earth and to those who dwell upon her and, if so, how would you go about fulfilling that commitment?
Most importantly, describe how taking this course has changed your relationship with God. Using your journal thoughts and responses to the reflective questions in the text can be of great benefit to you in writing this paper.
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Important: Save your paper with a file name you will recognize, using the course number and your name. Next, upload your file to the course page. Your instructor will automatically be notified of your submission.
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Rev. Margie has a Bachelor of Arts, as well as a Master of Religion, and a Master of Divinity Degree from Liberty University. She has also received a Doctor of Humane Religious Studies from Emerson Theological Institute, as well as a Doctor of Ministry from Global Ministries University. She is an ordained Interfaith Minister with a Focus on Ecospirituality, as well as an ordained Animal Chaplain and Animal Bereavement Facilitator. Through her own spiritual experience of performing activities in nature, and teaching these classes herself, she was awarded a Certification as an Eco-Art Therapist from Project Nature Connect. Drawing upon this expertise and combining it with her studies in Creation Spirituality at GMU, she received her doctorate, which focuses on Creation Spirituality and Environmental Justice. Due to these experiences, Rev. Margie was moved to write two children’s books on the subject. She also composed a Creation Spirituality poem which was published in the GreenSpirit UK Magazine, in a Creation Spirituality Newsletter, and in a book entitled Anthology of Poems for GreenSpirits. In addition, she has written the text for this course, which invites the reader to engage in nature-related activities as approached through the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality. She is also the facilitator for TH580 Creation Spirituality Course at GMU. Rev. Margie regards it as her mission to share with others what she has learned so that they, too, might come to understand their own natural connection to the Earth.