It’s that time again to write my year-end reflection. With the magic of Christmas behind us and the cold January month ahead, I find myself weighted by the growing sense of disconnection in our society. Lingering in my mind has been Gallup’s recent research highlighting a term that was new to me–the “Great Detachment” where employees feel increasingly stuck, disengaged, and unable to see the deeper purpose of their labor. Despite the passing of the pandemic, employee well-being continues to erode, with negative emotions remaining above pre-pandemic levels.
A second piece forwarded by Amilee was an interview with Krista Tippett where Tippett highlights our “world of fracture” and notably discerns how much of this disconnection stems from fractures within ourselves. Beneath the anger, fear, and vitriol that dominate public discourse lie deep uncertainties about the ground on which we stand. Seismic cultural shifts around family, work, and community have left many feeling unmoored. As Tippett notes, the “death of a dream”—the loss of long-held cultural promises like the “American Dream”—carries significant weight, breeding isolation and scarcity mindsets.
We can choose to ignore the broader societal fractures that corrode our sense of connection—political polarization, rapid technological disruption, disillusionment regarding religion, and existential questions about identity and purpose. Or, we can press in further to uncover a deeper insight; these crises stem not just from economic, political, or technological challenges, but from a deep-rooted erosion of the spiritual. At the core we find a profound disconnection from meaning, from others, and ultimately from God—a fundamental malaise we cannot overlook.
Our Calling: Enlivened Work in the Liminal Space
From the very beginning, Scripture reveals the intentioned connection between the seen and unseen, between heaven and earth. In the Garden of Eden, humanity walked with God (Genesis 3:8) in the harmony of the spiritual and physical–beautifully interwoven, reflecting a fullness of God’s glory through work, relationships, and creation itself.
Yet sin ruptured this unity, severing our connection to God, one another, and the created order. This fracture severely curtailed our ability to perceive the unseen and ushered in a world of disconnection and longing. Work became disconnected from its true essence as it devolved into toil and mere productivity. But the biblical storyline doesn’t leave us in this brokenness. It reveals a divine plan of redemption that is steadily drawing the seen and unseen back together.
The call of Christ into this fragmentation is work that is enlivened by God’s Spirit, operating in a sacred liminal space. The in-between space is where we experience the tension of both despair and renewal–between a glimpse of a dream and its ultimate realization. This is the space where we labor with hope, attentive to both the cries of a broken world and the songs of heaven.
The culmination of God’s plan is found in the coming of New Jerusalem, where liminality dissipates and heaven and earth are finally and fully united. This is the place where God once again walks with humanity, where the seen and unseen are seamlessly integrated, and where all things are eternally enlivened. Until that day, our work resides in the tension of this liminal space, where heaven and earth are not yet fully joined but are still powerfully connected.
The Liminal Space: Between Dream and Reality
We are called to labor in this liminal space attentive to both its ache and its hope. We cannot ignore the disconcerting disconnection of our society, leaving it to others to resolve. We enter the pain of a world longing for connection, as we “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Enlivened work flows from this unseen vision, infusing our tasks, relationships, and moment with the Spirit-led opportunity to bring a glimpse of heaven to earth.
For this reason, we believe that Spiritual formation is foundational to our call to revive work with love. When we become increasingly aware of God’s active presence, we can boldly choose to enter into the liminal space holding both the brokenness of our world and the hope of its renewal. This resolve requires building and sustaining intentional practices over time, such as:
- Slowing down to become more attentive to God’s abiding and transforming presence.
- Crafting spiritual rhythms that integrate imaginative prayer, reflection, and action into our everyday routines.
- Strengthening relationships and communities in shared experiences that remind us of our divine image and sacred calling.
As we move forward in our mission, we are committed to helping you mature in spiritual permanence by designing new opportunities to learn, reflect, and grow in community offered through the Goldenwood Institute. We invite you to join us on this journey—whether through our upcoming Wintering Retreat with Re-Well, the Reimagining AI course, or one of our Trellis sessions which provide a daily practice of intrusive prayers to grow your capacity to see the unseen in your work and relationships.
I want to leave you with two gifts as we end one year and begin anew:
- A new exercise aimed to help you reconnect the seen and unseen at work, and
- A special rate to join me for the Reimagining AI course this month. [Use NEWYEAR30 for 30% off.]
As we start this new year, may God grant us the resolve to slow down and become more attentive to what truly brings connection, meaning, security, and purpose into our lives. Let us become a community maturing in spiritual permanence so that, in all we do, we may point to heaven’s beauty on earth.