Really glad to see you invoking Hart in this one (he might be one of my favorite authors!). Really good take. I couldn’t agree with you more.
And I should add, I particularly liked the end of this sentence: “It is not unreasonable for one to question a God whose ‘plan’ involves a dispassionate indifference to the senseless suffering of the innocent.” That’s some well-crafted prose!
I really appreciate you saying so! I've spent so many years focused on screenwriting that regular prose sometimes feels foreign to me...a big part of making this Substack is incentivizing me to actually finish pieces and improve my own writing.
I share your admiration for Hart. His older brother Addison is one of my favorite Christian writers working today (subscribing to his publication was actually what got me on Substack in the first place), and I expect both of them will be invoked on my page with some regularity.
Ah man so much. I’ve always been more of a “head” Christian than a “heart” Christian, never had much in the way of experiential engagement with my faith, nor did I have a particular desire for it, I was fairly content with “intellectual” engagement. But somewhere down the road of attempting to walk away from the “feelings” side of things and engage “intellectually,” it’s like I looped back around the globe and came at it from the other side and suddenly my academic interest in Christian mysticism and contemplative practice was indistinguishable from a desire to engage with it more actively.
I actually credit Martin Laird for initially bridging that gap for me (no book changed my prayer life more than his “Into the Silent Land”) but Addison Hart, to me, is a perfect balance of the pragmatic skepticism that is my default and the mystical contemplative I aspire to be. He exudes full appreciation for the mysteries of faith, genuinely applicable pastoral wisdom in how to apply these mysteries in our day to day life, and just so much wonderful insight into every subject he tackles. He’s like Lewis in that he evokes a childlike wonder but never makes you feel like you’re abandoning the mature reasoning of adulthood (David does this most excellently as well).
I’ll also add a big part of it is probably relatability. I see a kindred spirit in the general disposition of his writings and I’ve found it validating how many of his conclusions match my own (albeit, his are more mature while mine are in a cruder state). I distinctly remember taking a photo of a page from “Strangers and Pilgrims Once More” and sending it to a friend of mine saying something like “Haven’t you heard me say EXACTLY THIS with almost this exact same phrasing?”
I could go on, but all to say, he embodies (in my eyes) the perfect balance of the “head” and “heart” Christian (a “Hart” Christian, if you will, ha!) and I find that example to be aspirational. I can't think of a better summary of the type of Christian I want to be than a "pragmatic mystic."
Basically I think I just wanna be him when I grow up.
That is so good! I actually resonate with that a lot—my own projects are speculative rooted in an ecclesial mysticism (Sergius Bulgakov is my hero; sophiology is my bread and butter), and the Harts have had such a profound influence on my own piety. I really appreciate you opening up about your love for them and their work.
Haha I read about half of your Substack archive on Sunday ((you are an EXCELLENT writer) and had the same "I'm so glad you're at Ascension" reaction. I think Bulgakov is still a bit beyond my abilities to really engage with yet but I'm working my way towards him.
You didn’t!—That’s amazing. And very kind. I’d love to hear any feedback you have over what you read.
Not a lot of people are working on this kind of thing at Trinity, so if you’d ever like to discuss mysticism, eastern theology, whatever you’re reading, let me know and we can go grab a beer or something. I always appreciate another comrade at arms. 😂
Most of my feedback so far has been "more please" but I will keep that in mind.
And I'd love to! I'm discerning joining ya'll at Trinity in the next couple years to actually round out all this reading and thinking I do. I have no sense whatsoever of what is mostly being worked on there (though I guess I shouldn't be surprised that eastern mysticism doesn't feature too prominently at an Anglican/Lutheran seminary xD) or how my own angles might fit in, so I would be delighted to grab a beer and hear what you have to say on that and other topics.
I really like this, and perhaps ESPECIALLY the Hart quote at the end from Doors of the Sea. So many books, they say, so little time....you must be one very disciplined dude!
So little time indeed, and the problem with Hart is philosophically uneducated luddites like myself have to read his books at least twice to make sure I understood them 😂
Really glad to see you invoking Hart in this one (he might be one of my favorite authors!). Really good take. I couldn’t agree with you more.
And I should add, I particularly liked the end of this sentence: “It is not unreasonable for one to question a God whose ‘plan’ involves a dispassionate indifference to the senseless suffering of the innocent.” That’s some well-crafted prose!
I really appreciate you saying so! I've spent so many years focused on screenwriting that regular prose sometimes feels foreign to me...a big part of making this Substack is incentivizing me to actually finish pieces and improve my own writing.
I share your admiration for Hart. His older brother Addison is one of my favorite Christian writers working today (subscribing to his publication was actually what got me on Substack in the first place), and I expect both of them will be invoked on my page with some regularity.
Addison Hart is amazing, too. What draws you particularly to his work? 🙂
Ah man so much. I’ve always been more of a “head” Christian than a “heart” Christian, never had much in the way of experiential engagement with my faith, nor did I have a particular desire for it, I was fairly content with “intellectual” engagement. But somewhere down the road of attempting to walk away from the “feelings” side of things and engage “intellectually,” it’s like I looped back around the globe and came at it from the other side and suddenly my academic interest in Christian mysticism and contemplative practice was indistinguishable from a desire to engage with it more actively.
I actually credit Martin Laird for initially bridging that gap for me (no book changed my prayer life more than his “Into the Silent Land”) but Addison Hart, to me, is a perfect balance of the pragmatic skepticism that is my default and the mystical contemplative I aspire to be. He exudes full appreciation for the mysteries of faith, genuinely applicable pastoral wisdom in how to apply these mysteries in our day to day life, and just so much wonderful insight into every subject he tackles. He’s like Lewis in that he evokes a childlike wonder but never makes you feel like you’re abandoning the mature reasoning of adulthood (David does this most excellently as well).
I’ll also add a big part of it is probably relatability. I see a kindred spirit in the general disposition of his writings and I’ve found it validating how many of his conclusions match my own (albeit, his are more mature while mine are in a cruder state). I distinctly remember taking a photo of a page from “Strangers and Pilgrims Once More” and sending it to a friend of mine saying something like “Haven’t you heard me say EXACTLY THIS with almost this exact same phrasing?”
I could go on, but all to say, he embodies (in my eyes) the perfect balance of the “head” and “heart” Christian (a “Hart” Christian, if you will, ha!) and I find that example to be aspirational. I can't think of a better summary of the type of Christian I want to be than a "pragmatic mystic."
Basically I think I just wanna be him when I grow up.
Oh golly. No wonder I like you... Into the Silent Land is one of the most important books I have read....
That is so good! I actually resonate with that a lot—my own projects are speculative rooted in an ecclesial mysticism (Sergius Bulgakov is my hero; sophiology is my bread and butter), and the Harts have had such a profound influence on my own piety. I really appreciate you opening up about your love for them and their work.
Geez, I’m so glad that you’re at Ascension. Lol.
Haha I read about half of your Substack archive on Sunday ((you are an EXCELLENT writer) and had the same "I'm so glad you're at Ascension" reaction. I think Bulgakov is still a bit beyond my abilities to really engage with yet but I'm working my way towards him.
You didn’t!—That’s amazing. And very kind. I’d love to hear any feedback you have over what you read.
Not a lot of people are working on this kind of thing at Trinity, so if you’d ever like to discuss mysticism, eastern theology, whatever you’re reading, let me know and we can go grab a beer or something. I always appreciate another comrade at arms. 😂
Most of my feedback so far has been "more please" but I will keep that in mind.
And I'd love to! I'm discerning joining ya'll at Trinity in the next couple years to actually round out all this reading and thinking I do. I have no sense whatsoever of what is mostly being worked on there (though I guess I shouldn't be surprised that eastern mysticism doesn't feature too prominently at an Anglican/Lutheran seminary xD) or how my own angles might fit in, so I would be delighted to grab a beer and hear what you have to say on that and other topics.
I really like this, and perhaps ESPECIALLY the Hart quote at the end from Doors of the Sea. So many books, they say, so little time....you must be one very disciplined dude!
So little time indeed, and the problem with Hart is philosophically uneducated luddites like myself have to read his books at least twice to make sure I understood them 😂