I’ve never been one to re-read or re-watch things. Outside of the Scriptures, a few select books or poems, or a couple of movies, the 2nd or 3rd time through just never added anything. Someone told me once it is the Germanic besetting sin of novelty. Although anyone who knows how much I love my daily routine would never say that. Which is why the last few months have been strange for me. I’ve found myself re-watching some TV series.
Television has changed. It started before streaming with HBO. A season of say The Sopranos was 13 episodes. That’s about half a season of older TV. A third of a season of really old TV. And the stuff coming out today, say Stranger Things, are 8 to 9 episodes per season. The difference being between the older serial nature of television and the current story nature. Every episode of Gunsmoke was exactly the same story. You tuned in every week for 20 years because you liked the characters of Marshall Dillon, Doc and Miss Kitty. Every Episode of Star Trek was the same. But you liked the adventures of the characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy or Picard, Riker and Data. If you wanted a story, you went to the movies. HBO and streaming changed that. But the shows I’ve found myself rewatching – because they are easily available on streaming – are something of a blend. They have a story that runs through usually a season, but also what I’ll label a meta-narrative story over the entire series. They also were producing 20-24 episodes a year, so each episode has roughly the same serial nature. They eventually fail as a show when the story is played out. House and Cuddy were never going to get married and raise a family. It took a season to play that one out. The Baker Street Irregulars of his team eventually had to stand on their own. The real story was always Sherlock and Watson, House and Wilson. It is the rare story of male friendship that was not sexualized. Will the genius ever recognize his own need? “He saved others, let him save himself.”
Being a Pastor’s Corner and not The Critical Drinker, this should eventually turn to Jesus. So here goes, maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. We’ve all been cast in our own serial story. Shakespeare as always has the deep intuition. “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances.” I know that it’s a joke – main character syndrome – the guy who thinks that nothing else happens in the world because the spotlight is always on him. But this world is more complex than any single stage. Another show that I’ve been rewatching has been Person of Interest. And the Machine is watching you, every minute of every day. Every one of you. You are all main characters. It is an interesting metaphor for God. Does the machine intend your story for ill, or for good. Will He intervene on your behalf? And the only way The Machine intervenes in the world is through Mr. Reese and Mr. Finch. Although occasionally The Machine is seen to break its own rules. Bad characters are redeemed, others wish to serve in inappropriate ways and good characters hate the machine.
The story – our story – eventually runs out. We reach the judgement; the show gets cancelled. And we want to say “The Way of the LORD is not just (Ezekiel 33:17).” We’ve been given this life – those serial episodes each day – to solidify our character. Are we the character, like Mr. Reese, who turns from his injustice? And even though he dies, lives. Do we decide in faith that we are living in a Comedy, even through we have our daily tragedies, we know the wedding feast is at the end. Or is this life a tragedy, and we should get our pound of flesh today? Whether your story is in Act 1 or Act 5 it is right to ponder the arc. As Paul says, “these things took place as examples for us (1 Corinthians 10:6).” What story are you in?