philosophy |

A Happy Story of Death

by Nick Hayden
December 9, 2016

Advent wreath – waiting for Christmas
ASSY / Pixabay

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we made the six-hour trip from Peoria, IL, back home. By the last hour, all the kids (and the adults) were tired and bored and ready to be done. I put on the Muppets Most Wanted soundtrack and we bounced to the ridiculous songs. (The “Interrogation Song” is simply wonderful.) I was caught up, as I often am at unsuspecting moments when lively music is playing, in an almost aching sense of joy and expectation.

And it hurt, because while I felt a sort of inexpressible life, I knew it would pass, that it would drift away, and that I could not hold onto it. Next time I listened to those songs, it would not feel quite the same. The joy was destined to be short-lived. It was, by its very nature, transitory–and that is partly why it ached.

And, yet, I think this ache might be one of the truest marks of real joy. In a broken world, among fallen men, what else could real joy be but the merest glimpse of what we were destined for–and still are, if we will accept Jesus at his word.

When one of my friends read my new short story collection, Behind the Curtain, he joked that I should call it “Happy Stories of Death.” In many ways, that’s a valid summary. The stories circle around the search for something beyond–like that glimmer of joy with which, if you could just capture it and hold onto it, you would be happy to live forever. But these stories are filled with death and madness and deceivers, because the glimpse comes amid pain and confusion and the source of it cannot be found, really, in this life.

I’ve told my wife that sometimes I think I only really have one story to tell, and that I just keep attempting variations of it. That story is faith, man’s struggle to believe, the journey to fill the hole within, the quest to find God. Take Obed, from The Unremarkable Squire, who finds he serves one he doesn’t quite know yet; or Strin, from The Remnant of Dreams, trying to save all his people by his own efforts because he cannot believe in God; or Fitzwilliam Fitzwallace, from The Isle of Gold, who desires not only a drink of water, but to taste the experience of everything within the Sea; or Calea, from The Well’s Orphan, who is afraid to die, but doesn’t know why she lives. Everyone is looking for something, in fiction…and in life.

I started writing this blog only wishing to somehow collect my thoughts from my Thanksgiving trip home. But now that I’ve come this far I find myself thinking on Christmas. The answer to all my stories, to all the searching, is found ultimately in the stable, in the child who is somehow God, in the immortal man willing to suffer and die, in God seeking us out first.

That is where my stories are wrong. It’s good drama to have your hero search and overcome. But we aren’t the heroes. We’re the rebels. We aren’t looking for him; but he has found us. And He has offered us Himself.

Someday we will have Him completely. We will know as we are known. But for now, in this still-waiting world, we have glimpses. A moment of glorious happiness, tinged by sorrow, upon a road trip is one of them. Because everything will disappoint until we are with Him; and then we will dwell in the fullness of joy forever.

This blog was originally posted at Works of Nick.

December 9, 2016 - Tags: christianity, holidays, Nick Hayden, other projects, personal, philosophy Posted in: Blogs

Tell Me A Story, Daddy!

By Nick Hayden
November 11, 2016

Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay

We here at Children of the Wells began this project because we’re storytellers and we thought it would be fun to tell a longer, interconnected story together. We’ve sometimes stalled along the way, partly because, since we are storytellers, we each have other individual stories we’re also working on. (Excuses, excuses, I know.)

There’s a thing about being a storyteller that, for me, starts to make each project a drawn-out affair. I’ve gotten more and more concerned on writing well, on making things interesting, in editing completely, in somehow making the tenuous web that is fiction hang together. And this is very good. But it is sometimes paralyzing. So, now and then, it’s freeing to just throw the rules of well-structured fiction out the window and do things crazy and off-the-cuff.

Exhibit A is a live brainstorm my podcast partner-in-crime Timothy Deal and I did in the second half of Episode 70 of our podcast on storytelling.

But, more personally, it happens with my daughter Serenity. Her new favorite thing (though the Shopkins voices are still active) is for me to tell her a story. Usually, it needs to involve at least one Minion, since Despicable Me 2 is her current watch-it-every-day movie. And whenever I try to move toward an ending, she helpfully adds, “But there were still 200 problems in the world,” which is her way of adding conflict — because a hero’s job is never done. (more…)

November 11, 2016 - Tags: family, Nick Hayden, personal, philosophy Posted in: Blogs

A Perfect Failure

By Natasha Hayden
April 29, 2016

I’m back! After months of silence and a lot of change (Baby #3 is three months old already!), I’m venturing to contribute more than just baby pics to the web world. In thinking about what I might say on this very unnoteworthy occasion, I’ve been reflecting on what is meaningful to me of late. Clearly, family would be near the top of that list, and Children of the Wells…perhaps not so near.

In preparation for Easter this year, during the time of Lent, rather than sacrifice something, I spent some time in a devotional book written by my favorite fiction author, Ted Dekker. His message in The Forgotten Way is simple but profound and profoundly different from society’s way of thinking. Essentially, it’s this: my identity is not based on what I do or the costumes, as he puts it, that I wear in life. My identity is not writer, mother, wife, daughter, or any other role that I play. Those are just that: roles. My identity goes much deeper. Who I really am is not how I or anyone else sees me; it is how God sees me. And because I am His, bought with the blood of his son, Jesus, I am His perfect creation, made in His likeness, complete and completely loved, not condemned. Even my body, though special and made by God, is not who I am but just the vessel for the real me, which is spirit. (more…)

April 29, 2016 - Tags: christianity, Natasha Hayden, personal, philosophy Posted in: Blogs

The Unexamined Character is Not Worth Writing

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I have a number of book shelves filled with books. (Everyone does, right?) While either my wife or I have read the majority of them, there are those lonely volumes that wait for the day for someone to pick them up and read them.

My reading since Baby Hayden #3 arrived on the scene has consisted of 1.5 Star Wars novels, a SAO light novel, and a Brandon Sanderson YA novel. As I adjust to the new life-as-I-know-it, I began to hanker for something a bit denser. I know, I’m weird like that. I nearly started a Russian novel but I ended up pulling an old Harvard Classics collection off the shelf, which I’d received from somewhere but never read. It contains some works by Plato as well as other classic writers.

An ‘excellent’ portrayal of So-crates.

I’ve never read any Plato–or, in this case, any Socrates as recorded by Plato. But after finishing Apology of Socrates (Socrates’ defense before the Athenians who were accusing him), I plan on reading more. Certainly, the language and rhetoric is enjoyable, but what hooked me was the focus and discussion of virtue.

I won’t pretend to be a philosophy buff or an expert on anything Greek, but it seems to me that part of Socrates’ appeal is that he places such an unrelenting emphasis on the development of the soul. (more…)

April 22, 2016 - Tags: books, morality, Nick Hayden, philosophy Posted in: Blogs

When the Fate of the Nation is at Stake

By Timothy Deal
March 11, 2016

First off, yes, this is a commentary on the current political races. At least, in general terms. While the staff at Children of the Wells shares similar political viewpoints, this website is not the place to engage in debates or campaigning. (That’s what Facebook is for! …I’m kidding.) But what is worth talking about here is the high stress levels politics inflicts on all of us.

Both politicians and 24/7 news media are keen to remind us of the high stakes involved with election season, wherein every outcome bears heavy consequences for the good or bad of our country and very way of life. Politicians use the threat of impending doom to galvanize their followers into action. News media hype up the drama as if it was a sporting event in the world’s largest arena, filling up their air time with endless commentaries and soundbite replays. As an audience of voters, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the inundation of speeches, inane comments, angry rhetoric, and angrier responses, and sense an increasing loss of civilized discourse or even the erosion of what we feel are America’s best values. After all, even though we know politicians and media have their own agendas for pumping up the election drama, the consequences of an election are not all exaggerated. (more…)

March 11, 2016 - Tags: christianity, philosophy, politics, Timothy Deal Posted in: Blogs

Read 200 Pages and See Me In The Morning

By Nick Hayden
September 18, 2015

The cure for what ails you.

stevepb Pixabay

Beware, I am now going to write on something I only know a bit about–bibliotherapy. What is it? It’s prescribing specially chosen books to help you deal with what ails you, whether that be anxiety or depression or fear of death. There’s even a neat book to help you find the “medicine” you need.

Now, I haven’t had the opportunity to peruse the book linked above or do any deep study on bibliotherapy, but I find it fascinating that such a thing even exists. The fact that studies show reading fiction improves empathy, social understanding, and happiness are not surprising to any book lover. What’s surprising is that such a thing as a book lover exists. (more…)

September 18, 2015 - Tags: christianity, Nick Hayden, philosophy, reading Posted in: Blogs

The Allure of the Dark

By Natasha Hayden
July 3, 2015

Our library is having a superhero-themed summer of reading, where even the adults get to participate a little. For an entry into the grand prize drawing, I had to write a tiny paragraph about who my favorite superhero is and why I like him/her. I will also get to do the same with my favorite villain. I found it hard to pick my favorite superhero and explain in 20 or so words why. I ultimately picked Batman and Green Arrow, similar characters who thrive on their thirst for justice, their ingenuity, and their own human skills and strength. Characters who must hide their goodness behind the masks of rich, shallow, uncaring men, when they are really anything but. I admit, my understanding of these characters is based almost solely on Christian Bale’s movies and Stephen Amell’s TV portrayals, but their interpretations have impressed me. Daredevil from the dark, gritty Netflix show is growing on my list of favorites now, too, though he’s a bit of a different sort of character (not rich, and possessing super-senses my other fav’s don’t).

Oliver Queen aka Arrow. (Not Jaysynn) From arrow.wikia.com

Though Daredevil is possibly the darkest of the superheroes (his show is, anyway), Green Arrow and Batman go to dark places, as well. While Superman is all light and Wonder Woman is truth, these others are creatures of the night and shadows, vigilantes in cities that are more corrupt than not, administering justice according to their own rules and laws. Is it right? Is it moral? What I like about these characters, especially Arrow and Daredevil, is that they struggle with these questions but are always guided by an internal moral compass that points straight and true. You know that whichever way they choose, they will always save lives and the bad guys will pay.

But the question the library posed got me thinking, what is it about the dark that is so appealing? Why do I like Batman more than Superman? And why are the villains in stories some of the most interesting, compelling characters? What’s so fascinating about Lex Luthor in TV’s Smallville? Why is Regina, the Evil Queen, my favorite character in Once Upon a Time? Why is Loki, a villain, one of the most fun characters in the first Avengers movie?

Is there something wrong with me, or with all of us as a culture, that the dark overshadows the light? I think the answer is both “yes” and “no.” Our culture does gravitate toward darkness and evil, and it is not a healthy fascination. Witches and vampires and other mythological creatures, once purely evil, are now sympathetic, beautiful beings. I do find it interesting that to make them more palatable, we create goodness in them, but the allure of their power is what really attracts us, and power can be a dangerous, corrupting force. There’s a danger, too, in thinking that all dark heroes are above corruption, that somehow they are inhumanly able to shut out the darkness while living in the midst of it…because when we begin to emulate them, we will find we are not so incorruptible.

But is all shadow evil and irredeemable? Perhaps not. Though the show doesn’t share my Christian worldview, my favorite example of this is Regina in Once Upon a Time. She has become the show’s moral center, and she began as the most evil one of all. Love changed her, and though she’s still tempted by the dark side and still rough around the edges, she’s the voice of reason when the show’s supposed heroes are making very unheroic choices. Basically, she’s a balanced human being. She feels the pull of evil, knows its destructiveness, has learned from her mistakes, and chooses to live in the light, even though she would be more powerful in the dark. And isn’t that the choice we have before us every day? To rise above our mistakes and choose light, even when we live in dark times. To be light, even though our souls might be smudged by dark.

I think we gravitate toward the dark because it’s familiar. We more fully understand a heart torn in two directions than one guided purely by light and goodness. Superman is above all of us, but there’s a little Batman in each of us.

Anyway, that’s one simplistic way to explain my own fascination with the dark. I believe we should be aware of what we are absorbing in our entertainment and aware of how it affects our moral compass, and so, as you absorb our own stories on Children of the Wells, where we have our own brand of superhero, I implore you to think. In all that you read or watch, I implore you to do just that: think. Don’t go mindlessly into the dark.

July 3, 2015 - Tags: media, Natasha Hayden, philosophy Posted in: Blogs

No Great Master

by Laura Fischer
April 22, 2014

Thomas Hawk via Compfight

At our last meeting for Children of the Wells, I volunteered to write the blog for Easter weekend. It seemed like a subject that would be rife with ideas, and I thought I might be able to write something about my involvement with the Easter program at my church or something. But once I actually started thinking about what to write for this blog, I was stymied. Nothing that occurred to me seemed at all interesting or unique. What can I say about Easter that hasn’t been said a million times before? (more…)

April 22, 2014 - Tags: christianity, Laura Fischer, philosophy Posted in: Blogs

Oh, That Depressing Thing

by Nick Hayden
March 28, 2014

Calea’s lost arm?
Ben Andreas Harding via Compfight

When we–the writing collective that is Children of the Wells–discuss The Well’s Orphan, it’s usually referenced as “that depressing thing,” or by some equivalent phrase. Fellow writer Nathan Marchand accused me of being “downright nihilistic” in the story.

What’s interesting about these (playful) insults is that in person I’m an optimistic, glass half-full sort of guy most of the time. I have my deep philosophical funks, certainly, but they’re over quickly. In my writing, however, I tend to probe the spiritual dimensions of man. That’s the center of conflict, to me–how a person understands his place in the world and his relationship with God. (more…)

March 28, 2014 - Tags: christianity, Nick Hayden, philosophy, The Well's Orphan Posted in: Blogs

How to Tap into a Vision

by John Bahler

January 31, 2013

I recently watched an interview with one of my writing heroes, Canadian folk musician Gordon Lightfoot. He said that he never heard anyone do a cover of one of his songs that he didn’t like. “Every time someone covers one of your songs, they’re doing you a favor,” he said.

paul bica via Compfight

I suppose an arrogant or insecure musician might believe that no one else could do justice to his work, yet Lightfoot’s comment makes a kind of fundamental sense. If someone else chooses to pick up your work and do they own thing with it, it’s because your work has touched that person. In the case of a song, they wouldn’t cover it unless they had tapped into the power and feeling and meaning of it for themselves. Their cover is a testament to that fact.

Writing a sequel to someone else’s story has its challenges. Diving into a world created by a team of writers and visionaries multiplies those challenges. But as I’ve worked with the Children of the Wells staff and read their writing, I’ve admired their perspective on faith and imagination. I consider them to have an approach to storytelling that is richer than the perspective many of my writing teachers have had. (more…)

January 31, 2014 - Tags: creative process, John Bahler, philosophy, The Rules Change Posted in: Blogs