Pop Xulture Newsletter # 45
Jonah, Handle with Pastoral Care & Metalheads. 8/15/26
Hola amigos, as summer wraps up (that might be sad for those of you not dealing with oppressive heat and wildfires), I want to share some updates. I recently published an article on the prophet Jonah and the first chapter of my new book and found an interesting theory on how heavy metal can help our authenticity in processing darkness.
Xurrent News
In early July Christ and Pop Culture (CAPC) published my article “The Prophet and The Pagans: Narcissism versus Humility in Jonah.” The piece explores how a prophet sent by God could be so pridefully unloving while the pagan sailors could be so receptive to the Lord’s call.
“And I love that these bilge rats were convinced by putting three separate things together: Jonah fled God before the storm, they performed the impartial litmus test of casting lots, and then they found out the storm was caused by the famous Yahweh! It’s no wonder they were terrified of an active God, despite Jonah’s arr-ogance (come on, pirate puns are always fun).
And speaking of an active God, I believe Jesus calming the storm was designed, on some level, to contrast Jonah’s similar predicament. As we know, Jonah slept peacefully in the midst of a storm, unencumbered by the fact that he was putting the sailors’ lives at risk.”
An innocent discussion on pastoral care with, shockingly enough, my pastor, galvanized me to think, pray and write on the subject. We might be on to a model that could be incredibly healthy and helpful for the church. Because it’s easy to forget moments and milestones, and because this particular journey could take around four years, I thought chronicling it as a book would be interesting.
My book is called Handle with Pastoral Care and I’ll be publishing each chapter exclusively for you here on my website. Please read and share the first chapter “Care-y the Conversation”! Here’s the crux of the idea:
“Dale responded that he would like the future Senior Pastor to have a support system. He described never having advisors making sure he wasn’t overwhelmed, or ensuring that his wife and family were okay, or advocating for cost-of-living raises, or counselors asking if he’d taken on too much, as a few examples. I stood a little dumbfounded at the rationality of the request and that somehow, I’d never heard of or considered something like this.”
Finally, as someone who loves heavy metal (what the kids call a “metalhead”), I found a new appreciation for the genre in reading a post by Yepicurus. But first, some context. The following term “shadow” is a concept popularized by Carl Jung meaning “subconscious” and has both positive and negative elements. “Shadow integration” is the belief that by accepting and incorporating these shadow elements into our lives, we’ll be healthier. Here is a truncated version of Yepicurus’ quote:
“Metalheads have greater potential for shadow integration than monks. Heavy metal and its subgenres deal with dark themes head-on that most people tend to repress, project or cast out.
The metal scene is filled with some of the most sensitive creative[s] who confront inner darkness and transform it into art…
But don’t get me wrong…PLENTY of people can be into metal without doing a shred of inner work. Some may even get stuck in the dark themes in a superficial, pessimistic or self- destructive way.
However, it has the potential to become a glorious path to engaging with the parts of the psyche that we deny. It allows rage, violence, death, disgust, grief to enter consciousness and take symbolic form. It can be a source of cathartic expression and alchemical change of ‘base material’ to inner gold.
This may be why so many metalheads tend to be really kind people. And the ones who are doing it right work through their dark material and leave it on stage/in the moshpit. Compare this with the “live, laugh, love” crowd that tends to deny, repress and project their darkness. [Metalheads] also often know what its like not to belong, and create spaces of belonging…for others [who] don’t belong…”
I don’t understand every aspect about “shadow integration” and I am admittedly not a professional (or unprofessional) philosopher. But when I consider Yepicurus’ theory through my biblical worldview, I see truth. I would argue that the best of metal helps us face external and internal darkness, while recognizing how light can transform and restore us.
To Speak of Wolves’ album Wasteland was my favorite of 2025. It is a perfect testament of using the despair of a dystopian theme to highlight the redemption and hope of Jesus Christ. Here is a link to the YouTube Wasteland album playlist and here is a link to buy the Wasteland album. Don’t worry, I’m still metal, I don’t get any proceeds if you click these links.
Xoncluding Thoughts
Thanks for reading and don’t forget to share Chapter 1 of Handle with Pastoral Care!
Thanks, in Him,
-Chris (the Bearded Wonder) Fogle