Dear Readers,
 
With the close of June comes our traditional summer hiatus. It has been a difficult year, but hopefully with somewhat better prospects for the immediate future than this time last year. I sincerely hope that summer offers you some small moments of much-needed respite from the very taxing work of continuing to live in a broken world. We look forward to resuming our columns in September; until then, please be sure to enjoy some of the following highlights of our most-read columns from the past year:

Religion and the Pandemic:
Blessings, History, and Pandemic Vulnerabilities, by Philippa Koch
Pandemic, Disability, and Worship Practices: What Next?, by Courtney Wilder
Science and Religion in Times of Plague, by Mark Lambert
A Year to Mask and Unmask, by William Schweiker
Loss and Continuation: Lessons from the Popol Vuh, by Alexus McLeod

Religion and Race in America:
A Legal Perversion of Justice, by Wil Gafney
The Difference Between Heroes and Martyrs, by Russell Johnson
Of Memphis and Washington, by Richard A. Rosengarten
Georgia's Senate Elections and the Life of the Black Church, by Lerone Wilder
Why White Evangelicals Stuck with Trump, by Myriam Renaud
Now Let us Sing! Juneteenth 2021, by Johari Jabir

Religion and Politics:
A Biblical Attack on the Capitol?, by Jeffrey Stackert
The 1776 Report: Mind the (Religion) Gap, by Joel A. Brown
The Problem with Calling Amy Coney Barrett 'Too Catholic', by Donald Heinz
The Soul of the Nation, by William Schweiker
The Creedal Orthodoxy of the RNC Platform, by Bradley Hansen
Putin's American Comrades and our Post-Truth Moment, by Sarah Riccardi-Swartz
Will There Be Life on Earth?, by Cynthia Lindner

Religion and Popular Culture:
A Professor of Religion in a Time of Pop Power, by Kathryn Lofton
TikTok and Cultural Criticism, by Brian Britt
Symphonic Politics, Sibelius, and the Immanent Messiah, by Scott Ferguson
Saturday Night, by Linn Tonstad
Secular Music in Seven Lessons, by Matthew Vanderpoel

Of course, this is only a sampling from the past year; more, as always, can be found at our archives.

On a more personal note, I must with regret bid you farewell, as I will be unable to continue on in the role of editor next year. I am so incredibly grateful to have had the privilege of editing Sightings for the past year, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who made the work not merely possible but pleasant: Willemien Otten, Joel Brown, William Schweiker, Cynthia Lindner, Richard Rosengarten, Russell Johnson, Emily Berkman, and the many others whose help has been indispensable. 

Most of all, thanks to you, the loyal readers of Sightings; on behalf of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion and all the people who make Sightings possible, thank you for your continued readership. We look forward to returning to your inbox once again in the autumn. 
 
Sincerely,
The Editor