When I was in college, my favorite singer-songwriter was a guy named Rich Mullins. If you aren’t a member of Gen X or a millennial, or if you didn’t grow up in the evangelical church, that name probably won’t ring any bells. A gifted multi-instrumentalist, Mullins composed staples of contemporary worship music like “Awesome God,”Continue reading “Derek Webb’s “Survival Songs” is a Pride-Themed Masterpiece for Our Time”
Author Archives: jeshuahayden
C.S. Lewis’ Greatest Mistake
Many people, on encountering scenes of beauty, whip out their phones and begin snapping photos. I take mental pictures. Whether I’m gazing up at the watercolor wash of a sunset, watching rainwater pool beside streets and sidewalks, or stopping to appreciate the blossoms on a magnolia tree, I spend lots of time looking at thingsContinue reading “C.S. Lewis’ Greatest Mistake”
Spinning at the Crossroads: My Life With Religious OCD
A perilous beautiful move, choosing to throw yourself at the future, even if it means one day coming down in the sea. – Leif Enger, Virgil Wander I. I’m standing in the middle of a country intersection, drenched in rain, and the fields around me are singing. I can hear their music in the soundContinue reading “Spinning at the Crossroads: My Life With Religious OCD”
Maybe There Are Banshees: Friendship, Fault Lines, & the Fractured Conscience of American Christianity
In the opening shots of Martin McDonagh’s film The Banshees of Inisherin, we’re introduced to a fictional Irish town that, at first glance, seems totally idyllic. We descend from the sky, taking in the emerald sweep of pastureland. As the camera drifts along the seaside, we hear strains of an ethereal chorus sung in Gaelic.Continue reading “Maybe There Are Banshees: Friendship, Fault Lines, & the Fractured Conscience of American Christianity”
Rethinking the Rainbow: What I Learned About Queer Pride by Leaving Christianity
“Wow, that sounds a lot like coming out!” Recently, while sharing the story of my deconversion from Christianity, I received this same response from two friends – one straight, the other queer. Both of them recognized similarities between the struggles I faced as an apostate and the hardships encountered by queer people embracing their sexuality.Continue reading “Rethinking the Rainbow: What I Learned About Queer Pride by Leaving Christianity”
Deconstructing Cinema: The Top 10 Movies for People Leaving Religion
The acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert, whose reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times influenced generations of moviegoers, once described his appreciation for movies in this way: We are all born with a certain package. We are who we are. Where we were born, who we were born as, how we were raised. We are kind ofContinue reading “Deconstructing Cinema: The Top 10 Movies for People Leaving Religion”
The Child in the Library: My Spiritual Deconstruction
I never expected to write this post. When I started the blog that became wordsforwayfarers.com several years ago, I saw my writing as a kind of ministry. By exploring echoes of the Christian message in contemporary books, movies, songs, and albums, I hoped to demonstrate the relevance of Christianity to all of life. Many ofContinue reading “The Child in the Library: My Spiritual Deconstruction”
Beautiful Words: My Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2024
One morning, at an old social work job of mine, I chatted with my friend and coworker, Will, about our mutual love of Bruce Springsteen’s music. Will told me that “Thunder Road” is the best song ever written, and I excitedly agreed with him: “It’s so good!” When Will mentioned that the song contained someContinue reading “Beautiful Words: My Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2024”
Love and Time: My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2024
Okay, so here’s the deal. Every year for the past five or six years, I’ve compiled a list of the ten best films I saw in that year. Usually, when people make similar lists, they focus on movies that were released in a given year. However, since I’m too poor to attend the cinema regularlyContinue reading “Love and Time: My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2024”
Choosing Hope: My Top 10 Favorite Books of 2024
In September of 2018, singer-songwriter Nick Cave began a project called The Red Hand Files, in which he invited fans to write to him. “You can ask me anything,” Cave told them. “There will be no moderator.” A flood of letters ensued, and Cave has now published more than three hundred of them on hisContinue reading “Choosing Hope: My Top 10 Favorite Books of 2024”
