In a cultural moment such as ours where therapeutic language has been popularized by pop-psychology and widely spread by social media, the topic of coping mechanisms is one that many of us have at shallow understanding of. Last week we stressed the importance of examining our families of origin to understand the powerful capacity they have to shape us for ill and for good. Often, it is during this work of excavation that we are able to develop a deeper awareness of the ways that we sought to navigate the pain and complexity of the world.

While there are myriad ways that we can cope, our conversation this week explores the four dominant categories of behavior that we introduced last week, and which characterize our attempts to deal with pain, disappointment and the anxieties of life: Blame, Shame, Control and Escape. Sharing from our own personal stories we reflect on the theological roots of coping mechanisms, examining how the first two chapters of Genesis paints a powerful picture of our human propensities and God’s response. Realizing that each culture tends to elevate or baptize certain expressions of our coping mechanism and uphold them as virtues we wrestle with the implications of that and ask the provocative question: can spirituality and religion become an unhealthy way of coping?