Perspectives Magazine Substack Podcast

Perspectives Magazine

Perspectives is the international journal of The Christian Community in the English speaking world. We publish weekly contemplations on the gospels, currently as poems perspectivesmagazine.substack.com

  1. happy new year!

    HACE 3 DÍAS

    happy new year!

    I started this Substack in November 2024. For some years we had been sending contemplations on the weekly gospel readings to the Forest Row mailing list of about 300 people. I began to wonder whether these reflections might serve a wider circle, especially after a conversation with a young friend who told me that she and her friends no longer read much at all, preferring podcasts and audio instead. Soon after launching the Substack, and before I had even decided whether to offer a paid option, a few people discovered how to take out a paid subscription. Their generosity has enabled us to pay for support in other areas of my life, giving me the time needed to care for this growing community. In May, I was looking again at a prose contemplation and I suddenly wondered whether it would work better as a poem. I have written song lyrics and read poetry all my life, but this was new territory for me. Those of you who have been here a while will have seen the poetry evolve. I have been deeply grateful for the encouragement of Peter Howe, deputy editor of Perspectives and a poet himself. I count myself fortunate because I have been living with the weekly gospel readings for many years, so I don’t have to search for a long time to find the motif I want to write about; the real labour is always in finding the right form. I also learnt fairly quickly that writing a poem on Monday for Sunday publication leads to stress and thin poetry, so I now work several months ahead. With Peter, I have invited some poets who write for Perspectives to contribute here, with the hope of welcoming roughly one guest poet each month from May onwards. Remembering the creativity of the Covid years, we also began offering online talks and study sessions. So far we have held two gospel studies and an art-history talk, with nearly fifty people taking part. We now have 220 subscribers. I am writing first to thank you, and also to ask for your help. Publications like this grow through personal recommendation. If a poem speaks to you, and you can think of someone who might be touched by it too, please do pass it on. As a January offer, a paid subscription is available at a 25% discount. Aside from the reward of supporting our work, a paid subscription entitles you to full access to the archive of all posts, occasional anthologies of poems with notes and references and reduced price or free participation in online events. You will also receive a PDF copy of Perspectives every quarter. You’ll find the special offer here. With very best wishes for 2026, Tom Ravetz This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit perspectivesmagazine.substack.com/subscribe

    1 min

Acerca de

Perspectives is the international journal of The Christian Community in the English speaking world. We publish weekly contemplations on the gospels, currently as poems perspectivesmagazine.substack.com