Walking in Kierkegaard's Instant and Walking out of American Christendom

In the life of Søren A. Kierkegaard “the instant” had two distinct meanings. The first use of the phrase “the instant” is the point of intersection of time and eternity. It is the split second of decision, and the flash of a personal revolutionizing vision: a decisive “glint of an eye” to live in the existential moment. However, The Instant was also the title of a broadsheet Kierkegaard published at the end of his life that directly attacked “Christendom” and the idea of a Christian Nation. Through a layered account using narrative vignettes, I examine how “instants” and Kierkegaard's The Instant impacted my ideas of identity, community, and Christianity, leading me to a place of exile.