Breathing Again: Finding Peace While Navigating Faith Reconstruction - Hardcover

by Kristen Neighbarger (Author)

The struggle of faith deconstruction can look like some combination of a night in a rage room, weeks in therapy, and finding yourself stranded on a desert island. Now that you're through that part of your journey, you're probably no longer confident with how you fit in your old faith community, if you fit at all, or if you'll ever fit again. While you may feel like you have some things nailed down, you still have many questions about others. The process of deconstruction was daunting enough, but now you find yourself asking, "What now?" as you try to figure out where to go from here. You're wondering if you'll ever be able to fully breathe again.

There is hope, friend. Reconstruction might feel just as daunting to you as deconstruction. It doesn't have to be that way, though. Instead, you can navigate this process in a way that allows you to breathe freely as you find peace. For what may feel like the first time, Breathing Again will validate your feelings around deconstruction and reconstruction as you identify the catalyst for your deconstruction and what triggers might affect you in your reconstruction journey. You can go on to analyze the damaging tenets of your faith before deconstruction while gaining an understanding of your foundational beliefs, your individual faith, and your priorities for faith reconstruction.

During the reconstruction process, finding community can be challenging. By the end of this part of your journey, you'll better understand who your circle is and who it isn't. You'll also have a blueprint for what to do when you are ready to return to church or find a new faith community. Most importantly, when you struggle with different questions in the future, this book will equip you with the tools you need to tackle those questions or sit with them in peace.

Ultimately, when you put this book down, you will have found the freedom and the ability to breathe again.