“Train Dreams,” Terrence Malick, & the Transcendence of Secular Cinema
This essay contains spoilers from The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick. Back in high school, when I was still a devout Christian, I scribbled a quote from Marilynne Robinson’s novel Gilead in the front cover of my Bible: I have been thinking about existence lately. In fact, I have been so full of admiration for existence that…
You Don’t Want to Live Forever. Here’s Why.
It might be the greatest pickup line of all time. For twenty minutes, two young adults have been talking on a train. She’s French and he’s American. They met by happenstance, after the German couple in front of them began loudly bickering and a move to a quieter car became necessary. But now they’ve covered…
God, the Sea, and Me: How I Found Peace in the Chaos of Unbelief
I still love the sea, despite the fact that it almost ruined my life. On a windy day in the fall of 2017, while bodysurfing in the Indian Ocean, I was caught off guard by a huge wave that slammed my head against the seabed and swept the rest of my body over it. The…
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A note from the author
Hi, I’m Jesse! Thanks for checking out my blog. Here, you’ll find essays that reflect on life after religion. My writing attempts to answer the question: How does one rebuild their worldview in the wake of deconversion? When I’m not pondering faith and skepticism, I enjoy analyzing contemporary literature, cinema, and music, so many of my older posts (and hopefully some future ones) cover that territory. Whichever topics interest you, and wherever you may come from, I’m so glad that you’re here!
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Words for Wayfarers 