Before coming to write at Busted Halo™ I was already a fan. At that time I was a high school theology teacher so I LOVED how real and relatable everything was on the website. I showed quite a few of the Busted Halo™ videos to my classes, and they loved them. They appreciated that a ministry of the Church was vibrant and modern and tech-y. They ate it up. They were especially impressed with the video explaining the Church’s stance on evolution.

By a completely fortuitous string of events, I submitted my first La Lupe post (after asking permission to write about her), and since then I have really come to value being part of the Busted Halo™ family.

I think that being a young adult is hard but being a faithful young adult is even harder. There is so much transition after leaving college. In college you find insta-friends and don’t have to look far for people that are like you and interested in the same things — for the most part. Then you’re thrown out into the real world. You could move to Seattle and work on an organic farm. You could join the Peace Corps. You could pack fish in Alaska. You could accept that job at Deloitte or ExxonMobil. You could move back in with your parents to save some money (c’mon, we’ve all been there). You could backpack across Europe. You could get married and have babies. You could join the seminary or convent. Ugh. The possibilities are exhilarating and a huge burden at the same time.

Then you do it. You make a choice. From one day to the next you have no friends, are living in a strange and foreign city, and are alone. You continue going to church but you might not really see any other young faces and maybe are too shy to introduce yourself even if you do. It’s at this point that Busted Halo™ is so crucial. For people that may not have found a faith community yet, Busted Halo™ is their faith community. It’s for those who are hanging on by their fingernails just waiting for a reason to really dig into their faith.

What I love about Busted Halo™ is how far reaching it is. It covers every topic, every question unabashedly. Just in my short year here I’ve seen articles on weddings, moral dilemmas, exorcism, immigration, homosexuality, and other big questions. This website is for the super-faithful and the maybe-not-so-faithful and everyone in between.

And the discussion that happens is the cherry on top. Right off the bat I realized that the readers and commenters on the site were no slouches and I needed to be on my game. This has made me much more knowledgeable about the Church and a lot more meditative about my life and the world. It has made me accountable for my faith. Whenever I write something I double-check my sources. I read up on things in the Catechism or in canon law. I poke around reading church documents and church news. And while I do this, I know that I don’t have to have all the answers. I know that I can write about things that I don’t completely understand because readers help me to muddle through it. The comments on my writing really help me to clarify and understand whatever I am writing about and that is such a gift.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, “Thanks.” After a year, my halo is still busted but it’s nice to not be on the journey alone.