For country songwriter Casey Beathard, trusting God with justice helps him release the weight of vengeance after the death of his son, Clay.
“You know, I realized in the wake of this whole process that the more you dig into the Word of God, that He could be trusted with justice,” Beathard shared on the Fox Nation special CHORDS OF FAITH.
The special, narrated by FOX & FRIENDS co-host Ainsley Earhardt, explores Beathard’s songwriting career and the faith that carried his family through grief. It is now streaming on Fox Nation, where subscribers can watch the full program.
“It was just going to kill me to carry all this weight, all this stuff,” Beathard said, describing the burden he wanted to release. “And vengeance, you know, it’s not mine, because that was just gonna weigh on me.”
He explained how his faith helped him forgive Michael Mosley, the man convicted of killing Clay.
Clay and and his friend Paul Trapeni III died outside a Nashville bar on Dec. 21, 2019. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals’ June 2024 opinion affirmed Mosley’s convictions, including two counts of first-degree murder, and his sentence of two consecutive life terms plus 40 years.
Related: Songwriter Casey Beathard Says Son’s Death Helped Him Surrender to God
Beathard’s testimony centers on his own response to that loss: giving up vengeance and finding compassion for the person responsible. He described feeling sadness for Mosley, rather than speaking only about the pain his family had endured.
Clay played football for Long Island University who transferred from Iowa Western.
His older brother, quarterback C.J. Beathard, spoke in the special about watching their parents, Casey and Susan, face the loss. The experience affected the siblings, too, and C.J. said their parents’ response gave them an example to follow.
“It was hard on us, but for the parents, it’s tough,” C.J. said. “And to see the way my mom and dad handled that was very inspiring for us all as siblings.”
Country listeners may recognize Casey’s work before they recognize his name. His songs include country singer Kenny Chesney’s “Don’t Blink and The Boys Of Fall,” along with country singer Eric Church’s “Like Jesus Does “and “Hell Of A View,” according to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 2023.
Beathard had his first writing deal by 1998 and a cut on Kenny Chesney’s “I Will Stand “album. His first Top 10 song followed by 2001, the Hall of Fame biography noted.
That biography traced his move to Nashville to 1991, when he worked at the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Bluebird Café. It also credits him as a co-writer of Christian singer Zach Williams and country singer Dolly Parton’s “There Was Jesus,” bringing a familiar faith-centered song into his catalog.
Movieguide® previously covered Beathard’s I Am Second testimony in June 2024, when he discussed surrendering control and receiving support from fellow believers after Clay’s death. CHORDS OF FAITH returns to the family’s loss with his account of forgiveness, and C.J.’s view of how his parents lived through it.
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