Review

Title: Finding Mother God: Poems to Heal the World
Author: Carol Lynn Pearson
Publisher: Gibbs Smith
Genre: Poetry
Year Published: 2020
Number of Pages: 147
Binding: Hard
ISBN: 978-1423656685
Price: 16.99

Reviewed by Heather Harris Bergevin for the Association for Mormon Letters

Without Carol Lynn Pearson’s fountain of words, I never would have had the early realization that a) Mormons can write poetry that is actually poignant and doesn’t have to rhyme, and b) maybe, just maybe, this meant that I, a Southern Mormon girl whose poetry did not at all rhyme, nor have singsong beat patterns like the things used in Sunday school lessons, could still have a valuable voice in my community. It was a shocking thought for me as a pre-teen, and still is, as I do, indeed, have a voice in our community and do, indeed, still write poetry that is woefully (mostly) without rhymes at the end of lines. It goes without saying, of course, that I’m thrilled to read Pearson’s new book of poetry, Finding Mother God: Poems to Heal The World, about her search for, and finding of, Heavenly Mother.

Let’s get this out of the way, first– the LDS church is a heteronormative religion, and has specific, heteronormative doctrine in regards to Divinity, even the Divinity which we, as LDS folks, fight for permission to speak of, acknowledge and study. If heteronormative culture in relation to God is a complication in your theological practices, this book might not be for you, although there are conceptual theories included discussing God as thought, as well as mention of the Pope’s conceptualization that God is without gender. There are also a couple of poems which are written as if from the point of view of another race or culture, including one from the perspective of an African American slave, and that of a Buddhist woman. I will allow those who are of those races and cultures to speak towards those things, and will be interested in hearing their thoughts of those pieces.

In my house, we love speaking and thinking about Heavenly Mother, and incorporate thought and discussion of Her into our daily lives. So, Finding Mother is right down our alley. I enjoyed the piece incorporating Descartes into Mother’s love for us. I love the mentions of all of Her names, from Sophia, to Shekiniah, to the Venus of Willendorf. Pearson speaks of the fear of God not existing, of the Fear of not knowing if she resembles her Mother, and of the realizations that She does, indeed, exist and that we resemble Mother. These are all familiar to my own work and ponderings on paper, too, and are like hugs in print form.

I particularly love “Jesus Remembered,” which is supposing that Christ was given counsel by His Mother to take especial care for those who were like Her, and that as He did, She was proud of His honoring Her words. The premise that Mother did not shrink from the Cross, but stayed strengthening Him through the night until the cock’s crowing, made me weep. But, it is in “Position” where I hear Pearson’s voice most familiar and fullest:

If “A” looks up to “B’”
then by nature of the physical universe
“B” must look down on “A”

rather like two birds
positioned one on a tree
and one on the ground.

Or so thought Marjorie
who had always wanted to marry
a man she could look up to

but wondered where that would
place her if she did.

Imagine her astonishment when she
met Michael and found that together
they stood physics on its head.

You could never draw this on paper
for it defied design

but year after year they lived
a strange arrangement that by
all known laws could not occur:

She looked up to him
and he looked up to her.

Pearson’s voice includes notes invoking Hestia in her plea to our female representatives to “not forget the hearth.” She frustrates (as do many of us) at all of the hidden locations of divine women, whether mortal or immortal. I’m pretty sure her poem “First Thought of Me” is about my conception as a poet, too:

Ah! Yes! She’s Splendid!
Odd, but splendid!

If you, too, love poetry, are odd (but splendid), and love to think about the nature of our Parent Gods, this is a lovely addition to your bookshelf. Happy Reading-HB