“I thought that we could build our nest high up – fly away like birds to the mountains…” These are the first words that we hear in Terrence Malick’s new movie A Hidden Life. Shortly afterwards, we’re plunged into a world of startling beauty – the forested mountain slopes of Austria. Here, in the tiny villageContinue reading “Walking the Way of the Cross: Glimpsing Christ in “A Hidden Life””
Author Archives: jeshuahayden
Breaking and Entering: Santa Claus and the Perilous Adventure of Christmas
There’s a moment near the beginning of Klaus, a 2019 animated film about the origins of Santa Claus, that I can’t stop thinking about. Here’s the scene: Jesper, a skinny and anxious post officer, is standing in the snow with a package in hand, peering through a foreboding iron gate at an even more foreboding house, andContinue reading “Breaking and Entering: Santa Claus and the Perilous Adventure of Christmas”
The Bittersweet Burden of Leaving and Letting Go
About a month ago, my little brother and I were driving through the hills of western Pennsylvania, watching the fiery colors of autumn flash by the windows. We had just left the home of one of my college roommates and were on our way to visit another roommate in Maryland. To pass the time, myContinue reading “The Bittersweet Burden of Leaving and Letting Go”
“Happy-Sad”: Sing Street and the Magic of Music
It’s 1985 in Dublin, Ireland. For fifteen-year-old Conor Lawlor, life is falling apart at the seams. The country is in the midst of a recession. Unemployment is rampant, prompting many young people to flee across the sea to England in search of work. Conor’s parents are separating, and their constant shouting matches reverberate through theContinue reading ““Happy-Sad”: Sing Street and the Magic of Music”
Stories to Share in the Autumn
Happy First Day of Autumn! Fall brings lots of wonderful stuff with it: leaves changing colors, thunderstorms, Halloween and Thanksgiving, ghost stories, pumpkins and cider and harvest. As a new season begins, here are a few great stories to hunker down with and share with others! Books:Peace like a River by Leif Enger – After committingContinue reading “Stories to Share in the Autumn”
Finding Fellowship
One of my earliest memories is of my dad reading to my brothers and me before bedtime. I remember laying propped up on my elbows, listening as Dad worked his way through old paperback copies of Watership Down and The Fellowship of the Ring. As he read, my head swirled with images of dark forests where strange beastsContinue reading “Finding Fellowship”
Movie Review – Kubo and the Two Strings
“If you must blink, do it now. Pay careful attention to everything you see and hear, no matter how unusual it may seem. And please be warned: if you fidget, if you look away, if you forget any part of what I tell you, even for an instant, then our hero will surely perish.” TheseContinue reading “Movie Review – Kubo and the Two Strings”
Movie Review – How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
On the island of Berk, vikings and dragons had been enemies for as long as anyone could remember. Dragons were a scourge on the villagers’ livelihoods, torching houses and gobbling up livestock. In response, vikings feared dragons and hunted them mercilessly. For generations, no one dared to question the logic of this war. No one,Continue reading “Movie Review – How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
4 Really Good Reasons Why You’ve Got to Listen to Andy Gullahorn
The first Andy Gullahorn song that I ever heard was an ode to someone’s dismembered toe. I ran across the song in a concert video, where Gullahorn recalled hearing that his friend had lost a toe to a lawnmower blade. Titled “Roast Beef,” the song began this way: “He had roast beef for his lastContinue reading “4 Really Good Reasons Why You’ve Got to Listen to Andy Gullahorn”
The Knucklehead, the Drunkard, and the Warrior Heart
If you want to know what I was like as a kid, picture Hiccup from the movie How to Train Your Dragon, and that about sums it up. I was a shy, quiet daydreamer with the physicality of a string bean. Instead of listening to class lectures, I doodled pictures in the margins of my notebooks. MyContinue reading “The Knucklehead, the Drunkard, and the Warrior Heart”
Words for Wayfarers 