For many women, the journey toward spiritual identity is paved with questions they were never encouraged to ask. For others, it’s an internal conflict that quietly lingers beneath the surface—an intuitive knowing that something about the religious structure they were raised in doesn’t fully align with what they feel inside. This tension between inherited beliefs and inner truth is where elderpreneur Marva Bush has spent her life’s work over the past decades.
As a guest on the SOB: Style of Business The Podcast, hosted by Keetria, Marva offers an illuminated and deeply personal perspective on the often-misunderstood transition from religiosity to spirituality. Her wisdom is rooted not only in research and teaching but in lived experiences that began when she was just seven years old. Now, after guiding women since the 1960s, she continues to create space for those ready to reclaim their authenticity and spiritual independence.
This feature explores Marva’s story, the intersections of religion and spirituality, and why so many people—especially Black women—are seeking a different kind of connection with God, the universe, and ultimately themselves.
A Childhood Full of Questions
Marva’s spiritual journey didn’t begin in adulthood—it started in the front yard of her childhood home at age seven.
Growing up, she was immersed in multiple religious traditions simultaneously. Her grandmother attended a Methodist church, her aunt was deeply committed to the Kojic denomination, and five days a week she sat in Catholic mass at school. By the age of twelve, after attending three different spiritual environments that each insisted their way was the only truth, Marva began to sense that something didn’t add up.
“All three said their way was the way,” she explains. “But they were all saying the same thing. That’s when I realized something was off.”
This early realization planted the seeds of discernment that would later define her work.
But even earlier, at the age of seven, she had what she describes as her first spiritual encounter—an experience so profound that words could never fully express it. While lying on the grass thinking about eternity (a concept she had recently heard in Bible study), a being appeared and lifted her to a high precipice. With a single gesture, he showed her what eternity looked like.
It wasn’t a vision she could translate into language. Instead, it was something she could only know.
When she ran inside to tell her mother, her mother responded with a simple but pivotal affirmation:
“Marva, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But if you say it happened, I believe you.”
That moment gave Marva the validation she needed to trust her inner world—something many children are never granted. It empowered her to question, observe, and eventually reconcile the contradictions she found in religious doctrine.
The Evolution From Religion to Religiosity
Throughout her early adult years, especially in her thirties, Marva explored Christianity deeply. She became ordained, certified, and baptized, and fully immersed herself in church culture.
But she noticed a concerning pattern—not in religion itself, but in religiosity.
Religiosity, she explains, is the rigid, fear-based, rule-driven version of religion that prioritizes dogma over connection.
“In religiosity, we’re working to be saved to keep from going to hell.
In spirituality, we’ve been to hell already—and we got through it.”
Her concerns weren’t rooted in judgment but in observation. She questioned why doctrines emphasized fear rather than empowerment. Why women—who give birth to life—were written out of divine imagery. Why sermons repeated the same themes without depth or progression. Why church leadership often excluded younger generations.
Most importantly, she questioned the logic of a God who “loves His children,” yet would create them in sin and threaten them with eternal punishment.
“What parent does that? It made no sense to me.”
As the years went on, she also witnessed the growing phenomenon of “church hurt”—stories of judgment, exclusion, hypocrisy, and in some cases, inappropriate behavior from leaders. These wounds pushed many away from structured religion altogether.
And yet, she emphasizes that spirituality isn’t a rebellion; it’s a remembering.
Why So Many Women—Especially Black Women—Are Turning Toward Spirituality
Marva works primarily with Black women who find themselves trapped between loyalty to their religious upbringing and their desire for spiritual freedom.
She observes that many Black women feel an internal disconnect: they sense spiritual truth inside themselves but feel obligated to conform to family and cultural expectations. Religion is often generational; spirituality is personal.
The shift, Marva says, is happening now because more people are choosing authenticity over approval.
“People are saying, ‘I still love you, but this path is for me.’”
This liberation is not about rejecting God, but about finding God within oneself.
Creativity and Spirituality: A Natural Attraction
Marva believes creatives are naturally drawn to spirituality—not because spirituality makes them creative, but because creativity requires openness, intuition, and fluidity. Those same qualities are awakened when someone steps outside the “circle” of strict dogma and begins exploring their own inner landscape.
“When you step outside the circle, you see things you couldn’t see in the circle. You change. You stop fitting.”
Creative individuals—artists, writers, thinkers, visionaries—often feel limited by environments that discourage questioning. Spirituality, however, invites exploration. It fosters imagination, sensitivity, and intuitive understanding, which aligns beautifully with the creative mind.
The Ocean of Spirituality vs. the Pool of Religion
One of Marva’s most powerful analogies explains the difference between religiosity and spirituality:
In religiosity, you’re swimming in a pool with walls. No matter how far you swim, you will eventually touch the sides. There are boundaries, expectations, and rules that keep you contained.
But spirituality?
“Spirituality is the ocean. You jump in—and there are no sides.”
The openness can feel overwhelming at first. Many resist this freedom because it comes with responsibility. In spirituality, you are not being instructed—you are being guided from within. You create your path in partnership with the divine.
This freedom is expansive, but unfamiliar, which is why many people need support navigating it.
Finding the Intersection: Spirituality Hidden Within Religion
Despite the contrast, Marva believes spirituality and religion intersect more than people realize. In fact, spirituality is already embedded within religious texts—especially the Bible—once you know how to see it.
She describes Jesus not as a religious figure, but as a spiritual teacher and metaphysician.
Jesus taught:
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Universal law
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Cause and effect
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The power of intention
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The creative nature of thought
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The importance of love, compassion, and consciousness
These are spiritual principles, not religious ones.
One of her most eye-opening statements is that many Christians are not actually following Jesus—they’re following Paul.
“Jesus specifically said not to make him into a god.
We’re not Christians—we’re Paulinians.”
This distinction encourages listeners to examine whom they’re really following and whether their spiritual life reflects their true beliefs or simply tradition.
The Heart of Her Work
Today, Marva helps women navigate the transition from externalized religion to internalized spirituality. She uses Biblical teachings to help them understand spiritual law rather than religious law.
She teaches that:
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God is not outside of you
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You are not broken or born in sin
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You carry divine intelligence within
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Everything you need is already inside you
This inner-knowing model encourages self-trust, empowerment, and personal responsibility.
“All the God I need is inside me.
All the answers I need are inside me.
The seed is inside me.”
Spirituality, she says, is not about looking outward—it’s about awakening what already exists within.
Conclusion: A Return to the Self
Marva Bush’s journey is not simply a critique of religion—it’s a call to self-awareness. It’s an invitation to explore the deepest aspects of one’s soul without fear. Her story illustrates what’s possible when you trust the validity of your experiences, even when others don’t understand them.
In a world full of noise, distraction, and inherited beliefs, spirituality calls us back to authenticity. Back to intuition. Back to alignment. And back to ourselves.
Through her work, Marva helps women reclaim that power, rewrite their narratives, and step boldly into spiritual freedom—where the ocean is vast, open, and waiting.
