Liminal Spaces Archive
A Winter Solstice Meditation
Have you ever noticed how many mysterious things happen in the dark? Wondrous things like sex, sleep, and the rising of the stars.
Advent: Divinity is in Your DNA
During Advent, we are told to watch and wait for the coming of the Christ. But what if we are looking in the wrong direction?
Give Us Barabbas, No Wait, Rittenhouse!
Every empire from Egypt to America exists for the benefit of some at the expense of others. The privileged class is protected, the serving class is abused. White supremacy is the real religion of the American Empire.
Jesus and Social Justice: Why Salvation is Both Personal and Collective
I’ve often wondered why Jesus had such a special place in his heart for outsiders, those individuals whose sexual, racial, economic, or gender differences forced them to the margins.
Election Day Special Issue with CNN’s Kirsten Powers
According to CNN’s Kirsten Powers, the United States is headed toward a constitutional crisis. Led primarily by white evangelicals and their cult-like worship of former President Donald Trump, American democracy is on the verge of collapse. How do we move forward?
Sophia Became Flesh: The Subversive Wisdom of God
Conventional evangelicalism is what most of us grew up believing. If you are deconstructing your faith, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s what everyone in your small Southern town assumed to be true. It’s the worn-out, taken-for-granted beliefs that have become so ubiquitous to be normative.
Deconstructing Jesus: Saving Jesus From the Church
The Jesus of evangelical Christianity is almost unrecognizable when compared to the historical Jesus.
Wandering in the Wilderness: When Faith Deconstruction Feels Like Getting Lost
Whether you’re just starting on the faith deconstruction journey or have been at this a while, it can feel like a kind of spiritual wilderness, a no man’s land filled with uncertainty…
A Soft Spot for Suffering? Embracing the Practice of Tonglen
I climbed the rocky outcropping behind my neighborhood and sat looking at my small town below. Off in the distance, I could see a cluster of copper-colored buildings…
Choose to Love Yourself
“To the degree that we can have compassion for ourselves, we will also have compassion for others.” — Pema Chodron
It’s only Tuesday, and it’s already been a week 🥵…
Do You Know Your True Self?
British musician Alex James said he celebrated his 20th birthday with drugs, his 30th with alcohol, and his 40th with food. Last week, I (Gary Alan) celebrated my 50th with…
The Gospel of Deconstruction
In 1945, an Egyptian peasant ventured into the desert in search of fertilizer, finding instead a rather large pottery jar. Hoping it contained treasure, he broke it open to find…
You Are Not Alone
Recently, I (Gary Alan) had to come to terms with the fact that my anxiety levels were off the charts. Not only was I easily triggered by a social media post or the latest email…
Dear Bible, It’s Not You, It’s Me: Reframing Our Relationship with the Bible
“People are leaving faith these days not because of what they don’t know about the Bible...It’s because of what they do know.” —Marcus Borg. Several years ago, I (Gary Alan) broke up…
God Our Father…and Mother
It hasn’t been a good year for the patriarchy (male headship). Beth Moore finally denounced complementarianism. Beth Allison Barr’s book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood…
Have You Arrived?
The wind changed yesterday. After six months of cold arctic air blowing in from Canada, the Chinook winds from the south arrived here in Colorado, bringing with…
Your Thoughts Aren’t Bad
Despite dating back thousands of years, and despite Jesus engaging in it as an integral part of His spirituality, meditation is a spiritual practice that is largely lost in the…
Trauma Waits for No One
It never waits till we’re ready. It never cares when it’s convenient. It simply comes when it comes, and we can either face it or run away from it. But one way or another, trauma will make itself known…
Be Kind to Yourself
I am tired. Physically tired because of the time change, yes, but also spiritually and mentally and emotionally tired. More than I have been in a while. (And that’s saying…
Why Are We Afraid of Change?
Springtime in the Rockies is a volatile season. Seemingly endless days of sunshine and warmer weather suddenly turn to blizzard conditions. Locals know most of our snow…