Christmas is for the dreamers and fools,Providing light for the lost,Giving life to the dying.It carries them forward,Into the spaces they would never go,And into forbidden places. The ones that dwell on the edges of our dreams,Teasing us with a dangling Truth of meaning,Motivating us toward the inexpressible.At this time, at this hour, we await … Continue reading Who is Christmas for?
Christmas Imagination
As the father of a 3-year-old girl, I’m always struck by the way she engages in imaginative play. Rooms and furniture around the home often take on new roles as forts and tents. The world around her can be transformed in a variety of ways. I often find myself dwelling in her world of imagination … Continue reading Christmas Imagination
Advent of the Impossible
When Mary explains to the angel Gabriel that this is madness, that she could not possibly be with child, the angel . . . tells her that with the unconditional, all things are possible, even the impossible. The name of God has from time immemorial been the name of the possibility of the impossible.[i] Why … Continue reading Advent of the Impossible
Conversations: Rediscovering Imagination (Episode 24)
Emmanuel Buteau returns for a new episode of the Liminal Theology Podcast! Emmanuel and Jonathan Best explore contemporary issues and concerns through practical theology and liminality. In this special Christmas episode, Emmanuel and Jonathan reflect on why things never seem to change. Their conversation begins with a look at the Haitian migrants’ situation at Del … Continue reading Conversations: Rediscovering Imagination (Episode 24)
The Liminal Space in Between the Holiday Rituals: When None of the Festivals Really Fit
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