Carol Lynn Pearson

The existence of God was the central theme of western philosophy for centuries. Less examined has been the gender of God, the patriarchal assumption prevailing with very little question. In her poetry collection, Finding Mother God, Carol Lynn Pearson takes on this issue. While not the first to do so, Pearson confronts the challenge to the maleness of God and the absence of maternal interpretations in the God narrative in a way that is poetic and firmly grounded in her view.

The subtitle of Finding Mother God is, “Poems to Heal the World.” That is a lofty statement, and I approached reading this collection expecting it to measure up. I cannot go that far, yet I must concede that this collection had a profound effect on me. The mere fact of confronting this issue was heightened, in my experience, by the craft of the actual poems and the thought that went into them.

While Pearson skillfully keeps to her overarching theme, she ensures that each poem stands on its own and could easily be read outside the context of the collection. Two of her poems moved me the most. One, entitled “Ask the Pope or an Atheist,” She points out that in the debate about the existence of God, “Even without existing/God wears a suit and tie.” The other, “Our Mother in the Movies,” takes the reader on a journey through Disney movies, pointing out that in them, so many mothers are killed or absent. Then in parallel form, she holds up the saviors, Maria, in the Sound of Music (not Disney), and Mary Poppins. We are soaring high—like the kite in the latter film—until we crash to the ground with the realization that, in the end, Captain von Trapp and Mister Banks save the day. Thus, proving her point that the contribution of women to the God narrative—or the female aspect of God—is incidental, regardless of its importance.
The rest of the collection is equally profound. The poems are wry and unabashed. They never stray form Pearson’s central theme, as they put a slightly different spin on it each time.

I can accept Pearson’s incredibly thoughtful and well-written push against the patriarchal view of God and her decision to hold up that mirror to our faces. I applaud her point and celebrate her writing. For me, in this ongoing debate, the next logical step would be to examine why God—or the concept of God—is still binary.

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