Walking Through Walls: Creativity, Mystery, and the Practice of Listening with Jeremy Begbie and Sandra McCracken

In this episode, recorded live at Clare College in Cambridge, England during Goldenwood’s Annual Fallow Retreat earlier this year, David Kim is joined by theologian and musician Dr. Jeremy Begbie in conversation with Sandra McCracken, singer-songwriter and Dean of Imagination for the Goldenwood Institute.Together, they trace the development of Sandra’s song “Walking Through Walls,” commissioned by Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts (DITA). The song debuted acoustically at Life Unbound, an orchestral concert led by Dr. Begbie at DITA’s 2025 Conference. As they revisit the song’s creation, they explore the mystery of the resurrected Christ, the creative power of silence and delay, and what happens when we make room for something we cannot fully understand.From the particularity of a commission to the improvisational nature of music, Jeremy and Sandra consider what creative practice can teach us about attentiveness and responsiveness. The conversation also includes a special appearance by visual artist and mutual friend Makoto Fujimura. Together, they invite us to cultivate the kind of attentiveness that allows us to listen more deeply, respond more freely, and notice what God might be doing in and through our work.