Episode 7 When the Sacred Divides Us

Some divisions arrive with fanfare - loud, forceful ruptures that no one can ignore.
Others happen quietly, in living rooms and kitchens and prayer circles…where sacred stories are supposed to unite, but end up wounding instead.

This is one of those stories.

When we speak of Sacred Imagination, we do so with reverence - not to destroy the past, but to walk through it with open hands.
But for many of us, this walk has come with cost - especially when our shift in belief, or in how we understand belief, touches the people we love most.

What happens when the sacred no longer means the same thing to both of you?

When metaphor becomes more honest than doctrine…

When myth becomes more nourishing than certainty…

When the stories you once shared now signal different worlds?

This isn’t theory.
It’s not intellectual gymnastics.
It’s the ache of a marriage. A friendship. A family.
Where one person still clings to inherited faith - and the other, still honoring it, can no longer believe it literally.

And so…a wall rises.
Not of anger or hatred, but of misunderstanding.
Where once there was common bread, now one eats with grief and the other prays for repentance.

We don’t share this story for pity.
We share it because it’s real.
Because so many are walking this path - quietly, painfully, lovingly - and feel like they’re the only one.

Let it be known: you are not alone.

The path is still sacred, even when it diverges.
Even when one of you still says “Jesus is Lord” and the other says, “Jesus is myth” - and both mean something heartfelt.

Bread still nourishes.
Fire still warms.
The cup still passes.

We walk on, not to erase what others believe, but to live with integrity…and to love even when we are misunderstood.

This is what Sacred Imagination dares to hold:
A faith beyond belief.
A table with no litmus test.
A path where presence matters more than proof.

And sometimes, when we’re very honest, we grieve the distance.
But even in grief, the journey matters.

And even divided, we still carry the fire.
We still break the bread.
We still drink from the mystery.

—P. Glenn – Myth Walker