Michael Ash is the founder of Route 66, a movement that produces contemporary Christian music and provides an online platform to discuss mental health and the human experience that is part of our faith. It started three and a half years ago on a trip to Marsay, when the first song was penned on top of a hill in the blistering heat looking out at the Mediterranean. The goal is to share honest music that allows people to connect and talk about faith in a different way. 

Music is a really good way of getting in tune with feelings. When listening to music, I feel all the raw energy and emotion that I can’t express in a conversation. Music helps put labels to the emotions that you’re feeling and is a really powerful way of getting those feelings across. The Route 66 Movement songs and social media posts have succeeded in getting people talking about their spiritual lives. It’s not about having all the answers - it’s about listening.

Listening is the backbone of anything in life, but especially mental health. It’s about hearing what someone is saying and understanding that this is their viewpoint and life-experience before responding. There’s a fear when people open up that they may be laughed at or ridiculed or simply told not to worry about it. The listener needs to be accepting and validate what the speaker is saying even if you respond, “I might not understand, but I’m going to support you however I can.” 

We all take things in differently. We read things differently and interpret them differently. It’s one of the wonders of creation that we are all so different. Everyone has mental health and, just like physical health, it fluctuates. Just as someone may struggle with a physical infirmity, someone with poor mental health may be struggling with their brain. Similarly, you can’t have faith without doubt so the same fluctuation applies to our faith journey. It’s all part of the human experience and that’s what Route 66 is - it’s about being human. 

It’s important to realize that mental health is not necessarily mental illness; it’s all a big spectrum, but for me it’s usually anxiety and depression related. When they come up, I find it’s important to try and center myself by grounding myself in the present. Instead of overthinking things I have to focus on one thing at a time to pull myself back. Another strategy that reaffirms my belief is going out into nature, seeing something amazing or incredible such as the changing trees and it pulls me back. There is a lot of research on different mental health tools so what works best varies for each person. The statistics on poor mental health, especially in young people, have been on the rise. Then the pandemic caused lives to be completely turned upside down and was disastrous to mental health. So in terms of what Route 66 does there’s a great opportunity to reconnect with younger people through music. 

In some Christian communities there may be a barrier to addressing mental health because some see poor mental health as sinful when it really isn’t. There are scriptural references to mental health conditions. Jonah and Elijah are both recorded as having suicidal tendencies. They both experienced such awful periods of depression that they requested God to kill them. David as well wrote a lot of Psalms that are seriously sad and clearly come from a depressed mind. So we see even the most holy of men struggled with mental health. It’s not a sin - it’s just part of being human. 

It’s important to note that not all people want to talk when they are dealing with their mental health and that is ok too. Young people are always on their phone so sending a text message to check in with people is a way of letting them know you are there for them. As the person reaching out though you need to accept and understand that sometimes people don’t want or need to talk so you may not get a reply. When my head’s not right sometimes I just need some space and time off to clear my head and get back on track. Other times, while I like my own space, I enjoy time with friends. Being quiet put me on the fringes growing up at church. It was usually older folks who came over, but it was nice to feel noticed. We need to notice those that are quiet and overlooked within our own community so they don’t get forgotten. 

Our Christadelphian community needs to be a more accessible, safe space with no judgement or pressure to be someone we’re not. There’s a lot of emphasis on studying scripture, which is good, but for those that don’t understand everything it can be depressing when they don’t feel worthy. It’s also not helpful to pretend our problems don’t exist. Our ecclesias need to be a space where we can talk about our problems and discuss what we’re struggling with in our faith and our lives. One idea would be to run mental health workshops where a professional comes in and presents mental health conditions and how to deal with them. Having training on basic mental health safeguarding is important for ourselves and for helping others. This shows that the ecclesia takes responsibility for the wellbeing of its members and that it cares to be a safe space. Likewise, Route 66 will continue to be a safe space to listen and talk about mental health and produce music that can touch people’s hearts.

To listen to the full podcast with Michael and Helen please check out A Little Faith