Take Up and Read
Two Newsletters I Recommend
I’m on a bit of a break from publishing this week, but I thought what I could do is recommend a couple of other Substack newsletters that I always find enlightening but that I’ve never had an occasion to mention in my own newsletter before. So, I’ve highlighted
’s Recovering Catholic on multiple occasions, and I’ve appeared on her podcast (paid subscribers to Recovering Catholic only, unfortunately). Similarly, I’ve frequently linked to ’s newsletter Pope Francis Generation, and likewise I was a guest on his podcast, as well. I’m also slated for an appearance on the new incarnation of his podcast, Third Space (which is connected with his newsletter of the same name), in the next few weeks, talking about the Catholic vote, so stay tuned for that.No, what I want to highlight today are two Substacks that I don’t think I ‘ve ever mentioned or linked to, but that I think many readers would be interested in following if they don’t already. I’ll also highlight a particular article from each that I found especially enlightening.
The first is SpEx, which is short for Spiritual Exercises, published by
. As the name suggests, the newsletter draws significantly on Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises, and Ignatian spirituality more generally, to reflect on personal growth, mental health, and our relationship with God. What makes the newsletter unique, however, is that although Clark is quite knowledgeable about Ignatian spirituality, he does not come from a Catholic background, but rather his background is with the Vineyard Movement, a tradition drawing on both evangelicalism and Pentecostalism (and which, coincidentally, grew out of the Jesus Movement, which I wrote about here). This gives a certain freshness to Clark’s interpretation of Ignatius, and the blending of these two traditions leads to spiritual insights in his work. Clark’s writings also draw on psychology, giving them even greater depth.Recommended article:
The second newsletter I want to recommend is
’s Graphs About Religion. Although the title might not be particularly titillating, twice a week, Burge delves into survey data to provide real insights into religious life in the United States, and sometimes elsewhere in the world, too. Burge is a professor of political science and, until recently, was a part-time pastor of an American Baptist church; not surprisingly, he combines analytical rigor and a passion for understanding the religious lives of Americans. Burge’s work focuses almost exclusively on quantitative data, particularly data from surveys and polls, and he is upfront about the limitations of that kind of data—they only provide us a snapshot in time, and don’t provide us the details of why people believe what they do or why they do what they do. But Burge is confident that there are still riches to be uncovered in the available quantitative data about religious belief and practice. This data, properly interpreted, can prove useful to religious leaders and others who want to understand shifts in religious belief, changes in political affiliation among religious believers, and why religious believers support or oppose certain policies or practices.Recommended article:
I hope you’ll give SpEx and Graphs About Religion a look, and if you like what you see, give them your subscription.
I’ll be back soon with more from Window Light, too!
Thank you, Matthew, for the recommendation.