The breakdown of social capital — the relational links and “norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness” within our families, neighborhoods, and larger communities that sustain our individual and collective well-being — was documented by Robert Putnam in his 1995 groundbreaking book, Bowling Alone. Since Putnam presented his research, societal trust has further eroded, and with it, many rites of passage that have traditionally marked key moments and movements of our woven lives.
Reenacting Rites of Passage
In his 1909 book, Les Rites du Passage, French anthropologist Arnold van Gennep (1873–1957) first coined the phrase “rites of passage.” It is commonplace in academic and spiritual formation communities to identify and describe rituals that mark life’s meaningful liminaliti