I live in Melbourne, Australia. We don’t have such a strong culture of the “holidays” (plural) as in the United States and other places - our language is still about “Christmas” and the undercurrent of colonial Christianity endures in an unconscious privileging of the Christian rituals. A “secular” Christmas is most commonly imagined as a … Continue reading The Liminal Space in Between the Holiday Rituals: When None of the Festivals Really Fit
In the Shadow of the Possible: Reconstructing the Journey Between Bethlehem and Golgotha
The significance of the birth of Jesus logically rests upon Calvary. This is not just the logic of faith. It builds from the logic of human lived experience. Is it not in the face of death that we tend to contemplate the value of the life that was lived and thereby ascribe new meaning to … Continue reading In the Shadow of the Possible: Reconstructing the Journey Between Bethlehem and Golgotha
The Secret Gift of Christmas
You can listen to a reading of this essay here. “A secret always makes you tremble.”[1] Christmas seems to tantalize my imagination like no other holiday. I can’t explain it, but there’s something I find enticing about this time of year. There’s a joy in waiting, in anticipating something I know arrives every year, and … Continue reading The Secret Gift of Christmas
Conversations: The Challenge of Christmas (Episode 17)
Emmanuel Buteau is back for another special “Conversations” episode of the Liminal Theology Podcast. Here Emmanuel and Jonathan Best explore contemporary issues and concerns through practical theology and liminality. In this episode, Emmanuel and Jonathan look closely at the challenge of Christmas. It begins with an exploration of “What’s next?” but swiftly turns into a … Continue reading Conversations: The Challenge of Christmas (Episode 17)
When is Christmas?
Have You really already come? Was it really You, the God we were expecting when we poured forth our longing for "Him who was to come," for the Mighty God, Father of the Future, Prince of Peace, The God of Light and Truth and Eternal Happiness? Indeed, Your coming is promised in the very first … Continue reading When is Christmas?
Liminal Theology 