God in a Mushroom

Last updated on: October 10, 2015 at 10:51 pm by Denika Anderson

God in a Mushroom 2015-10-10T22:51:09-05:00 Denika Anderson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What can a mushroom teach us about God?

The building I work in has rows of peace lilies and palms growing indoors. It’s a beautiful part of the building, a conference center, full of natural light and open space. There’s a caretaker who, twice a week or so, tends to the plants, watering them, trimming away dead leaves, et cetera. One day, though, I noticed he missed a sizable mushroom:

At first, I didn’t think much of it, but as I walked away, it stuck with me. I came to the conclusion that it had to be symbolic of something. When I notice something strange, usually it turns out to be my brain trying to work something out. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my current struggle with my understanding of the Divine was, apparently, manifesting itself in an unexpected fungus.

I pondered it over the next couple weeks, and found that there are, in fact, several things that a mushroom (well, this particular one) can teach us about the Divine:

God is sneaky. Maybe subtle is a better word. Despite what some of the Scriptures say, I find that the Divine usually shows up unnoticed in ordinary places. We meet Her in the kindness of a stranger, in the beauty of a still morning, in a late night conversation over bad diner coffee. We have to really pay attention, really listen, or we just might miss Her.
God doesn’t always look like God. This is a fungus. Growing on a lily. That’s pretty much the reverse of what we would usually expect of the Divine. But, prostitutes and tax collectors, right? Sometimes She’s a fungus.
God grows from the bottom up. Forget descending from the clouds. God does not function in a trickle-down method. Look at the (metaphorical and literal) ground beneath your feet.
God will show up regardless of whether or not we invite Her. God does not need us to bring Her anywhere. She is, in fact, independent of us, so we can stop worrying about “bringing God to (fill in the blank).” In fact, we’re often doing the opposite–taking Her out of places because She doesn’t look like what we expect Her to look like.
God is persistent. Have you ever tried to get rid of any kind of fungus? I’ve been trying to get mildew off my bathroom window for MONTHS. That stuff doesn’t go away easy. She’ll keep showing up until we get the point. Which we haven’t yet, because points 1-4.
God is a lot bigger and more complex than She looks. Mushrooms mostly grow underground–what shows up on the surface is the reproductive part of the fungus. Consider that there is so much about the Divine that we have never and will never understand, and our attempts to define Her and box Her in are pretty pointless. Hence the abundance of metaphor in various Scriptures.

Yes, in case you’re wondering, I have in fact realized that I’m 500 words into a completely ridiculous argument that God is a mushroom. Weirder things have been said.

Did this divine fungus change my life? No. Not really. I mean, these are not new revelations. This has all been said before. But, perhaps, there’s one thing we can take away from the God-mushroom:

Pay attention to what you notice: You might just learn something.

Previous Post

October 8, 2015

Inevitable: the death of news as we know it

Next Post

October 12, 2015 Calling God "She" — It's Just Another Pronoun!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Atheism Authority Bible Cartoons Christian Year Christmas church church planting Civil Rights Community Contemplative Spirituality Culture emerging church Empire Eschatology Evangelism Events Gender Healing Humanism Islam Justice Kingdom Lent Movement Building Multi-Faith Music mysticism New Wave Emergence origins Personal Poetry politics Prayer Preaching Privilege Racism Religious naturalism Resurrection salvation SKEPTIMERGENT Theology Trauma Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many "types" of Psalms are often recognized (e.g., praise, lament, wisdom)?

Select your answer to see how you score.

One Five or more Fifty Ten only