I’m going to guess that a lot of us get stuck in the rage stage of faith deconstruction. It is a trauma response. Without recognizing it, we are grieving the loss of our former faith, friends, and family. The anger masks the overwhelming and often debilitating feeling of loss.

I once heard author Parker Palmer share a story about a three-year-old girl from Seattle. Her parents had recently brought her newborn brother home from the hospital, and she was so excited about…