Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully In a World of Difference is a unique collection of stories from different vocational voices on what it means to live faithfully when the very act of defining faithful living is itself a point of division. Tim Keller and John Inazu assemble a cast of contributors who reflect on what it means to be faithful to the gospel while moving through a world of deep division. One reviewer writes, “It is a compilation of stories rather than a mere compilation of prescriptions,” and I hope that is true. I was grateful for the opportunity to contribute a chapter, and to share personally and not prescriptively was the goal set before us when we assembled to talk about the direction of the book. All in all, this is the beginning of a conversation, and not the end. Contributors include Tish Harrison Warren, Trillia Newbell, Rudy Carrasco, Lacrae, Claude Richard Alexander Jr., Kristen Deede Johnson, Tom Lin, Shirley V. Hoogstra, Warren Kinghorn, Tim Keller, John Inazu, and (yours truly) Sara Groves. Order the book here.

I have been thinking about the word ‘liminal’ - occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold. The word threshold captures it best - to be in a liminal space is to have left one place, but to not yet have entered the place where you are heading. It is the door between two rooms - a passing place, but not always passed quickly (the Israelites found themselves in a liminal place for 40 years - oh Lord, please don’t let this last for 40 years!). Our friend Judy said it pretty simply, “We have left the world as we knew it, and we have not yet entered the world as it will be.” Liminality can be uncomfortable, unsettling, unpredictable, but it can also be a time of incredible growth, creativity and insight.

I was first introduced to the word in some of Makoto Fujimura’s writings on the role of the artist in the community. Liminality is good for the arts - it forces good questions, and all good art begins with a good question. 

I don’t know about you, but when I am in physical (moving houses), spiritual (examining ideas/belief), emotional (recovering from loss, celebrating life transitions) liminality, it helps to recognize where I am and have grace for myself and those around me. That is my prayer for all of us - that this time will help us ask good questions and that we will have grace for each one another as we map out the places we are moving into.

— Sara Groves