Deconstruction isn’t easy. It isn’t sexy. It’s pretty much the most brutal spiritual experience you could imagine, for many of us.
One question turns into another, one doubt turns into several, and before you know it your family thinks you’re going to hell, your friends pretend not to recognize you at the grocery store, and you’re not welcome to teach Sunday School anymore.
It can be a lonely, painful journey.
My friends Karl and Laura Forehand know this. They’ve written a brand new book that’s out today from Quoir Publishing called Out Into The Desert and I was honored to provide the Foreword for their story.
Here’s a taste of that for you:
There’s nothing in this book you probably don’t already know in your bones.
That’s not to say you won’t learn anything new by reading it, or that what Karl and Laura have written here isn’t worth your time or attention.
On the contrary, it’s precisely because you already know the same pain, struggle, doubt, anxiety, fear and loneliness they speak of in these pages that this book will become more precious, necessary and healing for you.
Because you know this desert well. You’ve become accustomed to wandering alone where there is no path, no marker, no landmark, no guidepost to point the way. You’re familiar with the feelings of isolation as those who once called you “brother” or “sister” suddenly pretend not to recognize you at the grocery store. You’ve known the anguish of doubt as the faith that once comforted you suddenly evaporates in the heat of unanswered questions.
None of us finds ourselves in this desert because we wanted to be here. We never set out to make our home in this wasteland. We merely asked a question, which turned into another question, and before we knew it we were being asked to keep quiet, to stop rocking the boat, and then, eventually, to leave – either because they couldn’t tolerate our doubt, or because we couldn’t bear to listen to their toxic theology for one more minute.
Either way, we found ourselves spiritually homeless, wandering like nomads in a desert of uncertainty, searching for an oasis of truth and, who knows, maybe even a tribe that welcomes our questions and embraces our uncertainty.
If any of this resonates with you, let me be the first to inform you: you are not alone. There are hundreds of thousands – perhaps millions – of people just like you all around the globe who have pulled those same threads, asked the same questions, removed the same Jenga pieces, and watched their entire spiritual identity unravel, collapse and vanish like a mist.
Still, the fact that, statistically, there are innumerable nomads wandering this desert somewhere out there does nothing to comfort you here and now. You’re still the only person you know in your zip code who knows what it’s like to be who you are now, and to be where you’re at in this moment.
That’s why this book, and others like it, are so important. Because they serve as necessary reminders that, while we feel so alone, we are nevertheless surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who understand our pain and have walked this path before us.
Karl and Laura are both wise, experienced guides for the journey you find yourself on at this moment. They have walked this path and found hope when it wasn’t easy to find. They’ve struggled, suffered, wept, given up, walked away, fallen down, and then, when anyone else would have given in to despair, they found the inner resolve to keep going, and keep searching for hope when there was simply no good reason to do so.
I’ll be you know what that’s like. I’m sure you know how it feels. I know I do. My wife, Wendy, and I have felt called to follow the Spirit out into the desert – into the great unknown – and we’ve
wandered out into the darkness, not sure of where we were going, but certain that where we were wasn’t home, and where we’d been wasn’t right for us. That holy discontent drove us out of our comfort zones, away from our paid church staff positions, and out where all we had were questions and not a lot of answers.
The good news is, we found our way. Karl and Laura did, too. You’ll make it, just as we did, by learning to listen to the voice of the Spirit, ignoring the naysayers and the cynics who try to discourage you, and setting your face towards the polar north star that pulls on that invisible compass needle somewhere deep in your chest.
You know the one. That irresistible yearning for truth that you cannot let go of, and that will not – ever – let you go; it calls to you, it knows your name, it seeks you, it draws you, inevitably, out into the desert, out where every mystic, and prophet, and messiah has always felt drawn.
In these pages, you will hear echoes of truth that vibrate with the frequency of your inner tuning fork. You will find yourself nodding along with the words you read. You will hear your own inner voice ringing in unison with theirs in these pages.
Best of all, you’ll realize that it’s possible to not only survive this journey but to actually thrive.
Welcome to the desert, my friends. We’re glad you’re here.
Keith Giles, author of the 7-part “Jesus Un” series, and the recently released SOLA MYSTERIUM, all from Quoir Publishing.
Pick up a copy of Karl and Laura’s new book on Amazon in Paperback or on Kindle today.
If you’d like to find a supportive, thriving community of people who understand the pain of Deconstruction and you’re looking for someone who can walk with you through this process towards Reconstruction, I invite you to join us for Square 1 starting Monday, August 22nd. We still have a few seats available for 75% off HERE>
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Keith Giles is the author of the hot new bestseller, SOLA MYSTERIUM: Celebrating the Beautiful Uncertainty of Everything, available now on Amazon. Keith is also the host of Second Cup with Keith [a new solo podcast available now on the Ethos Radio App, for Apple and Android and on Spotify.
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