Some spiritual teachers have a way of making my heart sing! One such wisdom-speaker is Sister Elizabeth Johnson CSJ. In her latest book, Come, Have Breakfast, Meditations on God and the Earth ¹, Johnson enlarges on a teaching I have heard her speak of before: the symbol of God functions. As she puts it, a symbol of God:
“lodges deeply within the psyche and powerfully molds the identity and values of a faith community and its members, shaping their commitments, their actions, and their hopes.” ²
I take this to mean that my image of God shapes how I love and who I love, and what I love is what I will become.
So, I find myself asking the question,
“Is my symbol of God big enough, bold enough, and true enough for the times I am living in?”
If my “symbol functions” what is being revealed about my commitments, actions, and hopes? Who is my God? It is a good question.
I recall an image of God that lived ‘in the bowels of the unconscious’ (both personal and collective) which depicted God as absentmindedly filing her nails while casting a less than heartfelt “I-love-you-Sandy” over her shoulder at me from time to time; no eye contact, little concern, and no real engagement. I thought to myself, if this is love, why bother? This image is sadly cartoonish, yes, but also deeply ‘functioning.’ I remember feeling forsaken, duped, and confused. It was a dark time.
So, in these dangerous times, who is our God and who are we? In this time of unprecedented climate catastrophe and ecological demise, what symbol of God is functioning? In this time of unprecedented knowledge about the wonder-ladened cosmos, is our image of God big enough? Will the God of the Christian Nationalist save us? Or is the God of Jesus, the Christ, a more hopeful image? For sure in these times God wants to be very large and very loving! And it takes an omnipotent God to love us all the way through the cross and beyond. Our mission—should we accept it—is to learn to love in freedom and act now for social and ecological justice. It seems that God’s kin-dom always compels our participation.
So, here is Elizabeth Johnson’s functioning symbol of God borne of her experience to date. When I first read it, my “heart burned within me”—a trusted sign from God for me to pay attention.
To know/experience “the living God as passionate lover and savior of the Earth and all its creatures, including human beings, in the community of life.”
It is true of course that when we say something about who we think God is, we also are saying something about ourselves. Johnson encourages us with these words:
with a different God, the people of God would be a different people. ³
The symbol of God functions. We can be different. What image makes your heart sing for the sake of the whole world, and the very cosmos itself?
¹ Johnson, Elizabeth A. Come, Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2024.
² Ibid., xv.
³ Ibid., xvi.
Sandra Stewart is a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in Winnipeg. Originally from Windsor, ON she has spent most of her religious life in Manitoba but has also served in France, Senegal and Papua New Guinea. She holds a Masters degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago, majoring in spiritual accompaniment from the Institute for Spiritual Leadership.
Presently she serves as a spiritual director, a facilitator of Centering Prayer workshops, and an advocate for social and environmental justice.
Sandra currently serves on her community’s province leadership team in Canada.
