If you grow up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is God a man, a woman, or both? It’s a complication we bump up against a lot, if only indirectly, in our religion where God is Heavenly Father, but is also one of a pair of Heavenly Parents. Some members don’t seem to notice the absence of the divine feminine in our collective dialogue and worship, while some feel it acutely and yearn for more. But as a church we don’t talk about it, so the wrestle with questions is often a private one. In this episode, Susan shares an essay exploring her thoughts and experiences at the intersection of God and gender, then Cynthia joins to add her own insights and ideas. It’s a conversation inviting each of us to examine the origins and development of our personal understanding of God.
Notes & Quotes:
The God of All of Us, by Susan M. Hinckley
Celebrating Our Divine Mother — A Conversation with McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding, Faith Matters Podcast, 5/7/22
Brian McLaren: Faith After Doubt, In Good Faith Podcast, Ep. 109, May 15, 2022
Rob Bell’s #SuperSoul Sunday, Oprah Winfrey
“Religion should be the structures, the prayer tables, the things that you do…it should be the symbols that cultivate there is more.” — Rob Bell
Joe Wright
Ladies, that you for being so brave for sharing your honest thoughts on Mormonism. The only way the church can improve is getting honest feedback from the members. Sincerely, Joe
Natalie Fjeldsted
This is a topic that we really need to talk about more. I’ve been wrestling with this concept of God and gender so much lately. Sometimes I gender God when I refer to or speak with Her/Him, and sometimes I say They. On the one side, I feel like gender matters. If it doesn’t, then what are we even doing here trying to dismantle this toxic patriarchy? If my gender as a woman doesn’t matter, then why does it matter if I seek more for women? I just struggle too much to let go of that. And I think of my LGBTQ+ siblings in God who express the same feelings that gender matters, and I think of everyone around the world who pictures in God in their image, rather than this white man we’ve painted in our church. So many of us (me included) crave and feel this need to see God in our own image, and it makes sense because our scripture says we are crated in God’s image. But on the other hand, so much of gender is a social construct. I remember my mother once asking me when I was a little girl what I liked about being a girl, and her question stumped me. Even then I couldn’t understand what was so great about “being a girl.” I knew what I liked about myself, but specifically about being a girl, I couldn’t think of anything. And if so much of gender is just a social construct, then what does God’s gender matter? Wouldn’t giving God a gender just be assigning social constructs and limitations to a supreme being? However, even thinking that, I really struggle to just let go of gender altogether. I think often of what Elizabeth Gilbert suggested in Eat, Pray, Love, about how maybe God is just the divine within each of us, and the voice of God is really just our higher selves speaking to us, stretching us to become more like that higher self. I’m not sure… But I can’t stop thinking about the identity of God, especially since this church teaches that the whole reason I’m here is to become like God. If that’s my destiny, to become as God is, then who is God?
Katherine
Do you publish your writings anywhere? I really loved Susan’s essay she shared in this episode. I felt like it put words to do much of what I’ve been grappling with in my relationship to God(s) and I’d love to read it again.
Susan Hinckley
The essay is available on our website. There’s a link in the show notes for the episode.