“Ruah” is a Hebrew word found in the book of Genesis meaning literally “a wind of God.” It refers to the powerful creative spirit that shaped the formless void at the beginning of the creation of the world. The Ruah continues to sweep over and within the unfolding of the cosmos today.

Ruah is also the name chosen by a community of people who are committed to exploring a creation-centred spirituality. A creation-centred approach assumes that the whole of the cosmos is created in blessing and that all created beings are called to share that blessing.

At the beginning of the new millenium we see that a proportionately small group of human beings has attempted to hoard the blessing. It has become clear that justice must be extended not just within the human realm, but beyond it to all created beings and to Earth herself. So a creation-centred spirituality must include a theology of liberation that challenges us into right relationship with all other creatures.

At Ruah, our journey is framed by the question articulated by cultural historian, mystic and monk, Thomas Berry: “How will we reinvent the human and move into the only process that matters--our authentic maturation as a species?” Only by understanding ourselves within the unfolding cosmos as a whole can we begin to discover the meaning and the blessing of ordinary things.

This understanding is rooted in pre-Biblical belief and is consistent with the mystics of many faith traditions. At Ruah, while we draw primarily from the wellsprings of the Jewish and Christian traditions of our members, we honor and celebrate the wisdom expressed in the writings, the art, the poetry and the music of other faith traditions.

Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh has expressed it well: Through the practice of deep looking and deep listening, we become free, able to see the beauty and value in our own and others’ tradition. Yet, to get to the point of seeing the beauty and value in others’ traditions, one must look and listen deeply into one’s own.