
What's Left When the System Fails? – With Anselm Society’s Terri Fisher
From The Signpost Inn Podcast by Signpost Inn Ministries
May 29, 2026 · 56 min · Episode 131
About this episode
Terri Fisher shares her journey of leaving a mechanized faith and finding a more durable spirituality after experiencing spiritual abuse.
When the structures we lean on for spiritual safety collapse, what remains? Terri Fisher joins Liv Booth and tells her story of leaving a “mechanized faith” and spiritually abusive past and discovering a quieter and more durable faith. After years in rigid ideological communities that promised predictable outcomes, Terri found herself without words, stripped of spiritual identity, and wondering whether to stay in the faith at all. Ancient prayers, creeds she didn't write, and a liturgy that turned out to be bigger on the inside, rescued her. Terri and Liv also discuss how Tolkien's daily mass shaped The Lord of the Rings, why humility matters more than confidence, and how attentiveness, to your kids, to the birds, to the onion you're cutting, might be the most practical spiritual discipline there is. Links: Terri Prays with Saints https://terriprayswithsaints.substack.com/ Prayer for Beginners by Peter Kreeft - https://amzn.to/4usVcoX Prayer: the Great Conversation by Peter Kreeft - https://a.co/d/0diRCjCZ The High Hallow: Tolkien's Liturgical Imagination - https://amzn.to/42VxvJN Anselm Society — anselmsociety.org That Thing Liv Wrote livbooth.substack.com Stand Up - U2…
People in this episode
Host: Liv Booth
Guest: Terri Fisher
Topics covered
- spiritual safety
- faith
- spiritual abuse
- Tolkien
- humility
- spiritual discipline
Keywords
- spiritual identity
- ancient prayers
- liturgy
- mechanized faith
- rigid ideological communities
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Anselm Society
Books & works: The Lord of the Rings
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