Finding Mother God: Poems to Heal the World (edição 2020)

I’m probably the last person who should be reviewing Mormon feminist poetry, but maybe that being said, I am the best person to review the material. In all anthologies, there are good and bad poems, and I found one that I especially liked. I’m glad I read it. I’m always supportive of strong female voices expressing themselves. ( )

This is a deeply meditative collection of poems, some recent and some decades old, which challenges the patriarchal dogma of Christianity. A recurring theme is the issue surrounding male pronouns in reference to God. In many religious texts, God is he/him/father/son. But it is also written that God is above gender...so why must God be ascribed to the masculine? In her introductory Author's Note, Carol Lynn Pearson references Catholic theologian Mary Daly, who said "If God is male, the male is god." This collection serves to reintroduce the feminine back into the Christian theology, while also allowing the poet to examine aspects of her own life. Reunification of the two halves of God - masculine/feminine - to allow Christianity to be a more inclusive, meaningful, and hopeful religious body. This work is approachable to anyone of any faith tradition, or no faith tradition at all, but would be especially relevant for those who feel that Christianity has disavowed them, suppressed/repressed them, or ignored them entirely. ( )

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If I were to ask you to guess which American poet was the first to write a book of poems entirely about the feminine divine, I imagine plenty of you could guess Carol Lynn Pearson. But no. Her first such book didn't appear until 2020 even though she was the vanguard.

If you haven't read Carol Lynn's poems before, they're like longer versions of the poems Rachel Hunt Steenblik or Rupi Kaur write, both in terms of tone and language (and, for Hunt Steenblik, subject matter and heritage). If you like them, read Carol Lynn who was doing it first. If you don't, it's less pressing. Find a few of her best-known works online, then switch to her prose.

None of which is meant to take away from her career accomplishments or the accomplishment of this book specifically. Carol Lynn is one of America's least known important poets and that's true whether you or me or any person likes her poems or not. Her work is important.

I would say, additionally, that this is a must buy volume for anyone interested in the feminine divine, regardless of your tastes.

This handsome compact volume of poems devoted to the feminine Divine
appeal to the heart and thought, feeling and mind.

There are poems that will provoke a smile and others a frown.
Some will comfort and others bring you down.

All the author’s poems are worth your reading
if you are open to where her words are leading.

(Please do not fear, her poetry is far better than mine
for her inspiration is the all-loving feminine Divine.) ( )

Loved the theology behind this book. Mother God is glad to be found. ( )