Introducing Waypoints!
I sat transfixed as the credits rolled and John Williams’ rousing, celebratory score played. My dad turned to me and asked, “So, do you think that can really happen? Could Darth Vader repent and be forgiven for years of evil at the very end of his life? Does repentance and forgiveness work like that?” We talked over the question for what felt like hours. It was wonderful.
To this day, Return of the Jedi gives me hope that the promises of redemption and forgiveness inherent in the gospel can be realized, even for the worst of sinners. My dad’s question began my lifelong pursuit of seeking wisdom out of the best books, films, music, and every other artistic and cultural expression. In many ways, that question and the subsequent discussion is the seed that has grown and blossomed today into Waypoints, the home of Wayfare’s (pop) culture coverage.
Waypoints believes that we are here on earth to have joy and that movies, books, music, and any other form of art and (pop) culture is a part of how we experience joy. For me, that joy continues in the generous, thoughtful attention paid to works of art and culture. This joy is derived in part from the particular pleasure of coming to know and love something and in part by the ways that paying careful attention to works of art and culture reveals truth and helps us understand and interpret previously revealed truths.
I hope that Waypoints will bring a taste of that joy to you, dear reader. That we can capture the delight of long, meandering conversations basking in the light of your local cinema marquee, thrumming with the energy of just seeing something that changed you. That we can share the wonder and passion of being transported so thoroughly to another world and perspective that closing the book leaves you feeling a little alienated from your reality.
Over the next few weeks, explore a sample of what Waypoints hopes to offer you. Read Lorren Lemmons’ exploration of the interiority of a tradwife in the year’s most talked about novel, Yesteryear. Enjoy Theric Jepson’s insights into some surprising thematic connections between Napoleon Dynamite and the LDS-classic short film, “The Phone Call”. Get a glimpse of the numinous in Jason Rhode’s wandering through Zelda. Delight in a sampling platter of some of the “Movies that Made Us,” featuring Mallory Everton and others. And, enjoy Shayla Frandsen’s exploration of the epic journey through masculinity and heroism in the movie event of the summer, The Odyssey (coming soon to a screen near you!).
May these pieces be the beginnings of ongoing, generative, joyful conversations! Read, comment, share, chat with your coworkers, stop your neighbor, call up an old family friend, preach in a public square!
If you like what you read and have some thoughts of your own along these lines, check out our “About” page for more information, and bring any questions, pitches, comments, complaints, beefs, and all manner of communication in-between to me, Conor B. Hilton (conorbhilton@gmail.com), Editor of Waypoints.
Thanks for reading!
Conor
Conor is a father of three, who loves to read Gothic novels, to watch everything Wes Anderson touches, and to dance to 90s ska-punk while doing the dishes.