Anyone who knows me knows that studying Ian Barbour and his books comparing science and religion rocked my Christian worldview. Not only did it rock it, but it crumbled around me. I felt disappointment with all the male pastors who never preached metaphors, similes, analogies, and paradigms from the pulpit or discussed them during a Sunday school class. And worse—they were passing this travesty onto our children. At the time, I was doing postgraduate studies in Theological Ethics with an emphasis on Environmental Justice through the University of South Africa while living in Islamabad, Pakistan. This was years before online studies took off in the United States.

Barbour wrote about how both science and religion use metaphors, similes, analogies, and paradigms to speak of and describe the ineffable. In physics, quantum mechanics takes on the fuzzy world of our physical universe. In religion, well, who really knows g-d? The patriarchy says it does. But if you create g-d in your own image—a male g-d reinforced and “revealed” by the male gender of our species—you can justify about anything, comparing yourself to this male g-d, your male g-d, how convenient.  And they are committing idolatry, creating g-d in their own image.

I’ve had well-meaning folks tell me, “Well, if God wants to use male pronouns in defining himself, who are we to argue?” Well, that means the two scriptures I mentioned in the opening paragraph are wrong—and then what else is “wrong?” All the verses that use male pronouns? Or the entire Christian bible? And

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

(Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV)

Sometime in the past few weeks, I received an email—I don’t even remember from whom.  But a word jumped out at me from the many: g-d. My first thought was, “It encompasses all metaphors without claiming any as the absolute truth!”

The perfect universal metaphor for this entity we name as Divinity, Ultimate Reality, or g-d. It doesn’t matter which religion you adhere to, or which metaphor you prefer. Many of you don’t care. You gave up believing in this oppressive male monarch who lives in the sky a long time ago. I did and left churches in Jakarta, Indonesia; Islamabad, Pakistan (see Note 1); Cuernavaca, Mexico; and Nebraska, USA. And Barbour sealed it for me. Barbour lists other words that are relevant to a large percentage of the world’s population. I’ve included a couple in the beginning of this blog. And here is more: g-d as liberator; as suffering servant; father; vine; light; potter; water; voice; bread of life—it’s not difficult to find more.

I say to the many who have felt excluded, their voices silenced and not celebrated throughout history. “Leave this male g-d and it’s male spokesmen who tell you what to think, when you can speak and if your speech is ‘acceptable,’ how you can dress, what you can and cannot do with your life, how you define your sexuality, and how you can be involved in your church: ‘You have the gift of hospitality and working in the nursery.” And, of course, the giving of your money so you can prop up this male institution.

If any of these denominations saw a decline in finances or a marked decrease in people giving up their time through voluntary contributions, they might contemplate a policy change. I encourage you to think about the role you can play in creating a religion that won’t have seekers running for the nearest door.

If we are created in the image of our creator (and even if we aren’t), we contain the imprint of the cosmos in our DNA. We are made of stardust. We are one with the galaxies. And we limit ourselves to a male g-d, because the patriarchy tells us so.

Sources:

Note 1: In Islamabad, we had a choice. A British vicar led the second church we visited, and as often as he could, changed the words from patriarchal idolatry to inclusive language, honoring other ways when speaking of g-d.

1. McFague, Sallie. Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982, 1987.
2. The atoms/subatomic construct cannot be directly observed, but based on theories we’ve developed amazing technology, such as this computer I’m typing on, my cell phone, and information available at my fingertips due to the Internet.
3. Barbour, Ian. Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues. New York: HarperCollins, 1997. Or any other books on science and religion by Barbour.
4. Books on science and religion by John Polkinghorne.
5. Terryl Warnock, a blogger for MoonLit Press, penned a book review for my book, To Travel Well, Travel Light. You can read it here: https://blanketfort.blog/wordsbyterryl/to-travel-well-travel-light

https://39n.a5f.myftpupload.com/-by-rev-mary-coday-edwards-ma

About the Author: Award-winning author Rev. Mary Coday Edwards is a Spiritual Growth Facilitator and People House Minister, and author of To Travel Well, Travel Light. An Adventure Memoir of Living Abroad and Letting Go of Life’s Trappings: Material Possessions, Cultural Blinders, and a Patriarchal Christian Worldview. A lifelong student of spirituality, Mary spent almost 20 years living, working, and sojourning abroad in Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Latin America before finding her spiritual connection at People House and completing its Ministerial Program. Past studies include postgraduate studies from the University of South Africa in Theological Ethics/Ecological Justice, where she focused on the spiritual and physical interconnectedness of all things. With her MA in Environmental Studies from Boston University, abroad she worked and wrote on environmental sustainability issues at both global and local levels. In addition to working in refugee repatriation, she was an editor for international, English print, daily newspapers in Indonesia and Mexico.

1 – Staying present to your current experience: basically, HOW is your NOW? Your NOW holds valuable information.

2 – A space where we experience Oneness with the Universe, Divine, Higher Consciousness, Gaia, Brahman, Ultimate Reality, Goddess/God, non-God, Light, Love (space limits the ways this concept is expressed), and

3 – Seeking a connection with something greater than ourselves and at the same time, seeking through self-knowledge to live a fully human and integrated life.

So, combining those three items, did you experience anything when you read that last phrase of No. 2, words I used to describe the ineffable, the unexplainable, the Mystery? Did any of those limiting words cause a reaction within you? In your body? Is one of your emotions screaming at the edge of your consciousness? Did you stop reading at that point? Or is one rising gently, peacefully? Did a past memory surface, pleasant or unpleasant? What did I leave out that feels important to your experience? Do you believe that some of those words/images are just flat out wrong?

I encourage you to bring your awareness to WHAT you may be rejecting and WHY.

No one can tell us exactly what—or who—this Ultimate Reality really IS. Mystics and poets down through the eons have described their own experiences and thus have given us intimations of what this Reality may look like, but at the end of the day, all these terms are metaphoric variations.

A metaphor is used when we don’t know what something is in order to give it some sort of meaning that we can connect the concept to.

Feminist Christian theologian Sallie McFague says that to think metaphorically “… means spotting a thread of similarity between two dissimilar objects, events, or whatever, one of which is better known that the other, and using the better-known one as a way of speaking about the lesser known (Note 1, p. 15).

Scholar Ian Barbour first studied science and then religion, eventually drawing comparisons and differences between the two, in particular how both used metaphors, models, and paradigms to explain the unseen (Note 2). Barbour says that “Religious language often uses imaginative metaphors, symbols, and parables, all of which express analogies” (Note 3, p. 119).   

Models & paradigms: Helpful, but not the same as Reality!

Some of these analogies evolve into models. For example, Western Christians are familiar with the metaphors of God as father, king/conqueror, to the point where the Divine is restricted to this patriarchal-defined reality, leaving analogical language behind. In parts of Latin America, the model of God as Liberator informs reality.

But the New Testament scriptures are replete with other metaphors, such as God as the woman seeking her coin. Although that is mentioned in the same Bible verse as the parable of the good shepherd, how many stained glass windows do you see depicting God as Woman seeking her lost coin? Or Jesus as a Mother Hen, gathering up her chicks under her wings (Note 4)? Neither of those metaphors even made it to model stage.

And this is not just true of Western Christianity; I’ve seen and experienced this pattern repeat itself all over the world. Every religion, every sect, for the most part, has definite ideas about Ultimate Reality, leaving little wiggle room— in other words, little room left for Mystery. It’s the mystics who shatter the walls of their respective boxes.

Barbour goes on to explain how a model can then crystalize into a paradigm. A paradigm, whether in science or religion, includes metaphysical assumptions and captures the imagination of its adherents. In the process, a paradigm defines reality, determines what sort of questions can be asked, and what sort of answers we’re looking for (Note 5).

Doubt frees us from illusions of having captured God in a creed.

We have inklings of this Otherness, but our words anthropomorphize this Otherness. When we say, “God is Love,” our human ideas, images, and definitions of love immediately surface. Whatever negative or positive attributes we associate with love are now imputed to the God we defined as love.

When we reject “God”, what we might really be rejecting is the metaphor, the model, or the paradigm presented to us as the only or primary version of Ultimate Reality.  Perhaps it was imposed upon us in our childhoods and it no longer fits our experience. Our world picture changes as we grow and change.

Spirituality conveys the idea of living peaceably with ourselves, with each other, and with our natural environment. The global battle for religious supremacy still rages among us. Thinking metaphorically versus in absolutes (OUR absolutes) about the Divine opens up a space of humility within us where we can cultivate kindness, gentleness, and compassion for our fellow travelers.  

Barbour says that, “Doubt frees us from illusions of having captured God in a creed” (Note 6).

So does thinking metaphorically.

Note 1: McFague, Sallie. Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982, 1987.

Note 2: The atoms subatomic construct cannot be directly observed, but based on theories we’ve developed amazing technology, such as this computer I’m typing on, my cell phone, and information available at my fingertips due to the internet.

Note 3: Barbour, Ian. Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.

Note 4: Luke 15:8-10; Matthew 23:37

Note 5: For more information on metaphors, models, and paradigms, see Barbour, Religion and Science; Barbour, Myths, Models, and Paradigms: A Comparative Study in Science & Religion; Harper & Row, 1974; and Kuhn, T.S., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions; University of Chicago Press, 1996 ed.

Note 6: Barbour, Myths, Models, and Paradigms: A Comparative Study in Science & Religion.

Award-winning author Rev. Mary Coday Edwards is a Spiritual Growth Facilitator and People House Minister, and author of To Travel Well, Travel Light. An Adventure Memoir of Living Abroad and Letting Go of Life’s Trappings: Material Possessions, Cultural Blinders, and a Patriarchal Christian Worldview. A lifelong student of spirituality, Mary spent almost 20 years living, working, and sojourning abroad in Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Latin America before finding her spiritual connection at People House and completing its Ministerial Program. Past studies include postgraduate studies from the University of South Africa in Theological Ethics/Ecological Justice, where she focused on the spiritual and physical interconnectedness of all things. With her MA in Environmental Studies from Boston University, abroad she worked and wrote on environmental sustainability issues at both global and local levels. In addition to working in refugee repatriation, she was an editor for international, English print, daily newspapers in Indonesia and Mexico.

Why had I not yet made that connection for myself? It felt right, this is exactly what I wanted but I hadn’t realized I had enrolled myself in a spiritual program! As I began to learn more about the roots of this field, I also began to understand the reason behind my naivete. To understand the Western therapeutic approach, it is important to look at both the professional and academic history of psychology, and the current relationship with religion in Western culture.

            Europe was the leader in the early days of psychology as a field of study and practice. When World War II ravaged much of Europe, both the practice and advancement of psychology was halted, leaving the United States to take the lead. During this time, the only people allowed to practice therapy in the West were medical doctors. We still see a widespread clinical and scientific impact on psychological practice in the West.

Further exacerbating the division of soul and psychological practice, was the translation of Sigmund Freud’s work from German to English. Freud, a psychological leader in Europe, had little regard for America and was not fluent in English. When his field froze in Europe, English translators were left to interpret nuanced psychological text from German to English. In much of Freud’s work he refers to the soul or the unknown but in English translations soul became the “mental apparatus.” What was once attributed to mystical or divine now became a function of the human brain. What was unknowable and expansive became human and limited in scope. 

            This set the stage for what I will refer to as the sterilization of Psyche, or Soul…

Fast forward to today, I am seeing a common thread of what many refer to as religious trauma in my private practice. Clients that choose me as a practitioner typically refer to themselves as spiritual rather than religious. It is important to define the difference between spirituality and religion as many use the two interchangeably. 

            Religion is a “set of practices or beliefs” that can be applied to spirituality or any life area. Daily toothbrushing would be a religious practice as it happens ritually. Spirituality is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.” Because religion is often a set of practices and beliefs applied to spirit and soul, many have rejected the religious practice and sometimes Soul will be thrown out with it. 

I find this particularly striking in the millennial generation and younger. Many in this generation have rejected the dogma that they saw or experienced in previous generation’s religious practice and/or reject organized religion as these practices have become more politically aligned and isolating. Many of my clients do not find themselves wholly aligned with any one religion and thus feel lost in spiritual exploration or practice. So where does psychology, the study of soul fit into this cultural and historical reality? I will explore this further in my next post. 

Elani has been working as a life coach since 2012. She began working in this field after completing personal self-development and mindset work that helped her work through her own eating disorder and anxiety issues. When she found herself feeling incomplete with the mindset approach she began working with a yoga and Daoist mentor in New York City and was fascinated by the way our psychology mirrored our physiology and vice versa. Elani would later bring this training into her graduate thesis work and as well as her work with therapy clients. Around this same time, Elani also began working with a spiritual mentor and iridologist. This study led to the inclusion of meditation in both her personal and professional practice.

In 2016, Elani realized she had a great deal to learn about human psychology after witnessing a psychotic episode in a close family member. This experience caused her to seek out her own therapist and through that journey Elani chose to return to school for a masters. She completed her degree in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2021. Pacifica is a graduate school based in the depth psychological approach and this orientation informs Elani’s work with both therapy and coaching clients. She is currently working with individuals, families and couples in Colorado. You can read more about depth work and Elani by visiting her website at ElaniNicole.com. She also offers a complimentary consultation to anyone interested in the potential of working with her and you can book that using this link: https://elani-engelken.clientsecure.me/

Exposed writing is both terrifying and exciting.  It’s not typically my cup of tea, so I have been surprised at just how much I’m enjoying it.  There’s a part of me that feels like my time is already stretched too thin and I should stay in my lane.  Another part of me wakes up and feels so alive again, being able to engage with my passion.  A deeper drive resides within me around discussing religion through a psychological lens.  There’s a rich story of who I am, based comparatively on who I once was.  My passion was once my poison.  

Notably, sharing so personally reignites painful religious memories.  I grew up in a fundamentalist religious bubble.  Writing gives me an artistic voice to share what I’ve learned and give it some value, rather than hiding the pain.  Expression and creativity seem to bring back that spark for life. I’ve noticed when I go through low points, I’m inactive in those areas.  Maybe that’s also a key to balance; as is sarcasm and chocolate.  

Growing up, my engagement with religion felt like living in hell. I needed to adhere to the doctrine of salvation and lead a pure life to get my eternal reward.  It was mostly fear driven. As a kid, our church hosted “Hell House” during Halloween. There were several rooms acting out spiritual warfare. We displayed theatrical productions of evil demons collaborating with homosexuals, addicts, and other Biblical outcasts.  Demons danced in delight around an operating table, while Satan stood over a young girl’s head during a staged abortion. At my private Christian school, we were shown videos programming students to view the secular world as dangerous.  It was “us versus them.” We were trained in intolerance.  

Translating these memories through my current therapeutic lens of psychological abuse brings up tremendous grief.  Through a mother’s lens, I recognize how casting demons out of young children and provoking fear of God to create obedience was cruel. 

I didn’t understand why I struggled with self hate.  It makes more sense to me under the circumstances now.  That raging inner critic thought it was “loving me” by punishing me, but it was also pushing away any compassion I could offer myself. 

The part of religion I dearly miss is the community and that deep sense of belonging.  It’s frightening to step out of what’s comfortable and safe.   But sometimes, that is what it takes. I realize others who have left their harmful religion or cult have felt isolated too.  I’d like to quickly specify a difference between religion and spirituality.  Religion is a specific set of organized beliefs and practices.  You can be religious, but not spiritual; or spiritual, but not religious.  Spirituality involves connecting, or re-connecting with oneself.  Engagement will be different for each of us.  Spirituality allows for adaptation. 

Losing religion can extinguish any sort of desire to re-engage with faith at times.  But that faith can be reimagined to become more personalized and powerful as we evolve too.  Maybe we surrender.  Admitting we hold only a few pieces of this puzzle, we can enjoy “going with the flow.”  Since everything constantly changes and experiences are fleeting, flexibility is essential.  To me, it’s how we hold the balance within the seasons; how we exercise the adaptable parts of ourselves in accordance with the sun or storm.  

Mixing counseling and shamanism is a fun recipe!  In a recent energy healing class, the instructor shared that she achieved spiritual enlightenment through meditation.  My spiritual growth often looks like brutal lessons driven by a MAC truck before another personal recalibration occurs (and being a four on the Enneagram reveals my dance with the dark side may be a little more flirtatious). 

There are perks of rebuilding after trauma.  It’s incredibly healing to reclaim that personal power.  After being captive, coming home to yourself feels foreign at first.  Post-traumatic growth can include several layers of healing. It also unlocks a magnitude of freedom, which could never have been experienced without the storm. 

Walking away from harmful root conditioning affords you a new lease on life. You start to recognize you’ve always been the author of your life and grab your pen back.  Everyone will have a different answer, so investigate who YOU are. Invest in your own unique awakening.  

Don’t allow anyone else to author your pages.

Laura is a mental health therapist who runs a private practice in Evergreen, Colorado and claims to be the #2 tree hugger in the city. Laura’s specialty is focusing on rebuilding after trauma, and gaining self-acceptance through an Internal Family Systems model (bridging clinical counseling with ancient spiritual wisdom.) She graduated with her masters degree from Regis University with honors, and is finishing a four year shamanic apprenticeship. To contact her for a session, visit her website www.AwakenedLotusCounseling.com or text 303-747-3467.