Episode 9 - Phantom Faith

While they’ve left their former religious tradition behind, Sarah and Corinne now must begin the arduous task of creating a new paradigm through which to live and understand. When Sarah’s beloved father-in-law passes, she falls back on her old ways and walks into a Christian church – only to be confronted with triggering music and environment that send her running outside in a panic. Corinne listens to Robyn Sherwell’s cover of “Landslide” and begins to identify with it in ways she did not before.

Both women come to see that they gave up their own agency in order to live within the Christian tradition and that stepping outside of it requires a conscious change in habitual behaviors. Echoes of their former belief structure and church ecosystem ripple through their lives, leaving in their wake a phantom faith akin to an amputee’s sensation of the lost limb.

They examine the intentions behind the oft-repeated Christian phrase, “I’ll pray for you,” and find that, while it could be about trying to affect a desired outcome, it also could simply be an expression of “with you.” It is this latter sentiment that still rings true amidst the ghostly waves of the phantom faith reverberations.

Far from needing answers or outcomes for everything, they’re learning that questions don’t always need answers. Unknowing from an attitude of marvel and presence – sitting with each other in the uncertainty - can sometimes be the full experience.

In the Christianity they practiced before, they outsourced wisdom and power to a being beyond themselves. Now they’re now coming to wonder if what they’ve been waiting for and needing has actually been within them all along.

To connect with Sarah or Corinne, find them on Instagram: @heysarahcarter @thesaltyshark @sarahandcorinne 

For more information about Spiritual Pyro, visit www.spiritualpyro.com. 

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